Gothic? Few Italian architects accepted the northern Gothic style and the question has been raised as to whether it is proper to speak of buildings like Florence Cathedral as Gothic structures. Begun in 1296 by and so large that it seemed to the fifteenth century architect Leon Battista Alberti to cover "all Tuscany with its shade," the cathedral scarcely looks Gothic. Most of the familiar Gothic features are missing: the building has neither flying buttresses nor stately clerestory windows, and its walls are pierced only by a few relatively small openings. Like the facade of San Miniato al Monte, the building's surfaces are ornamented in the old Tuscan fashion, with marble-incrusted geometric designs to match it to the eleventh-century Romanesque  Baptistery of San Giovanni nearby. Beyond an occasional ogival (pointed arch) window and the fact that the nave is covered by rib vaults, very little identifies this building as Gothic. Florence Cathedral clings to the ground and has no as aspirations to flight. All emphasis is on the horizontal elements of the design, and the building rests firmly and massively on the ground Simple, geometric volumes are defined clearly and show no tendency to merge either into each other or into the sky. The dome, though it may seem to be rising because of its ogival section, has a crisp, closed silhouette!that that sets it off emphatically against the sky behind it. Sources: "Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Tenth Edition," by Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner. Harcourt Brace College Pub. 1996 "A History of Architectural Styles," by Fritz Baumgart. Praeger Pub. 1970

Facade " It should be noted that the facade of the cathedral does not date to the Renaissance, but instead to the nineteenth century.  Unlike in countries to the north, facades in Italy were considered to be lesser in importance and were put on at the end – and in this case, several centuries after the rest of the church was already built.  " - ItalianRenaissance.org (online April 2020)   ...   ...   Left: Baptistery    ...    Right: Campanile/Bell tower   ...  Cathedral facade has 3 bays, each of which will be considered separately below:

Center Bay Center Bay Corbel table   ...   Encrustation   ...   Bas-relief Center Bay Watch tower   ...   Parapets feature sexfoils    ...    Corbel table Center Bay Rose window Center Bay Rose window details:   Acanthus leaf molding   ...   Encrustation    ...   Trefoils   ...   Polychromatic marble Center Bay Encrustation Center Bay Three details below: Center Bay Detail #1 - Queen of Heaven Center Bay Detail #2 - Multifoil arch   ...   Twisted columns Center Bay Detail #3 - Mandorla Four mosaic details below: Center Bay   Mosaic detail #1 - Jesus depicted as Salvator Mundi   ...   Next to Jesus: Mary, his mother, and St. John the Baptist Center Bay   Mosaic detail #2 - Salvator Mundi Center Bay Mosaic detail #3 Center Bay Center Bay Reproduction bronze middle doors   ...   The original doors, as well as the two other  facade double doors, are  found in the  Museum of the Opera del Duomo located across the square behind the Cathedral    ...   8 details below: Center Bay - Top left door Center Bay - Top right door Center Bay - Middle left door Center Bay - Middle right door Coronation Center Bay - Lower middle left door Center Bay - Lower middle right door Center Bay - Lower  left door Center Bay - Lower  right door

Left bay 2002 photo   ...   Left bay  Left bay  Left bay Compound marble arch    ...   Mosaic Left bay Queen of Heaven mosaic Left bay Door surround    ...    Three details below: Left bay Door surround - Detail #1 -   Fabulous examples of incrustation Left bay Door surround - Detail #2 Left bay Door surround - Detail #3

Right bay Right bay Right bay Right bay Right bay Mosaic Right bay Right bay

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Photos and their arrangement © 2020 Chuck LaChiusa
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