Photo of the Day: Florence from Above
On our second day in Florence we hiked up to San Miniato al
Monte, a small Romanesque basilica overlooking Florence, and we were rewarded
with this panoramic view. Florence is
still very much a city of the Renaissance, with its “skyline” dominated by the
profile of the Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) as seen here in today’s photo of
the day.
The ‘Duomo’ is an Italian gothic cathedral begun in 1292 by
the architect Arnolfo di Cambio. It is most
significant, however, for its dome which was designed, engineered and
constructed by Filippo Brunelleschi between 1420-1436. Brunelleschi is the quintessential Renaissance
man. He engineered this massive octagonal
dome and figured out how to build it without the use of wooden centering, or
formwork. The dome’s structure is a brilliant
double shell dome that is a combination of vertical and horizontal ribs braced
by chains. Brunelleschi also
incorporated a herringbone pattern of brickwork into the construction of the
dome so that it essentially supported itself during construction. Oh, and by the way, he also invented many of
the machines and hoists used during the construction of the dome.
Enjoy this panorama of Florence looking toward Santa Maria
del Fiore, a monument of the rebirth of humanism, in the city where the
renaissance was born.
Posts will resume next week.
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