Florence Cathedral - Table of Contents
South elevation - Florence Cathedral (S. Maria del
Fiore)
Florence,
Italy
Photos taken in
February 2020, unless indicated otherwise
 South elevation Far left dome: Baptistery ... Tall tower towards left: Campanile/Bell tower ... The shorter tower is part of the Palazzo Vecchio ... Work started on the Cathedral dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436 ... The altar, located under Brunelleschi's dome, faces the east (Jerusalem) and is in the front of the cathedral ... Opposite the altar is the main entrance in the facade which is the rear of the church. ... "Perhaps the most important part of this church, however, was the part that was not built with the rest of the church [1296-c.1367]. This was the enormous dome which covers the crossing, a dome so large and notable that after it was built, its name came to be synonymous with the church itself (“Il Duomo”). When the church was designed, it was done so by builders who did not know how they could surmount the space of the crossing with a covering. They assumed that it would be covered at a later date as technology or human ingenuity rose to the challenge, but until that happened it remained uncovered for many years. It was not until Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the greatest Renaissance minds, devised a plan to build the dome around 1425 that the crossing was finally covered." - ItalianRenaissance.org (online April 2020) ... See also: Mario Salvadori, Why Buildings Stand Up  Tall tower at left: Campanile ... Nave South elevation on the left ... Note the false front over the cathedral main entrance at rear of the building 2002 photo taken from the dome balcony |
First and second bays  Center building: Campanile/Bell tower ... Right: South elevation of the Cathedral The Cathedral marble bands repeated the already existing bands on the walls of the earlier adjacent baptistery and Giotto's Bell Tower.  South elevation - First and second bays Note bay dividing pilasters ... Note entrance, isolated below:  Three details below:  Entrance detail #1 - Incrustation  Entrance detail #2 - "Christ the Teacher" ... Incrustation  Entrance detail #3  Gargoyle  Gargoyle |
Second south elevation entrance  Second, third and fourth bays ... Dome ... South transept Bay ... Dome ... Transept Tall, left: Campanile/Bell tower - first and second bays not visible because of the angle ... Note entrance, detailed below:  Second, third and fourth bays Note pilasters that separate bays and a second south elevation entrance   Parapet ... Multifoils ... Corbel table ... Green and white Romanesque style encrusted marble   Protruding south transept    Details below:  Three tympanum details below:  Tympanum detail #1 - Archangel Michael  Tympanum detail #2 ... Evangelist with gospel ... Scrolling acanthus leaves ... Encrusted diamond molding ... Dentil molding(?) ... Corbel table  Tympanum detail #3 - Bas-relief   Acanthus leaves |
Dome  Dome ... Lantern atop dome ... "Brunelleschi
invented the
technology he needed to assist in building the dome. Not only did he come up
with an ingenious masonry idea for how to
build a freestanding brick structure with curved walls without the use
of a wooden frame, he also invented the tools he needed to do so. The
technology at the time for lifting heavy objects was similar to a
wooden gerbil exercise wheel, powered by a human, but only reached a
limited height. Brunelleschi used oxen walking in a circle for the
first time and created a type of mechanism that precedented anything
they had seen at the time using a three cogged wheel system to control
the lifting or lowering of heavy objects without moving the walking
direction of the oxen, now known as the Reverse Gear." - Culture
Trip (online April 2020)
Five details below: Detail #1 - Cross and ball finial ... Lantern conical roof ... Short pinnacles  Detail #2 - Octagonal drum on lantern  Detail #3 - Terra cotta dome tiles  Detail #4 - Lantern ... Ribbed dome ... Unfinished frieze ... Roundel  Detail #5 - Unfinished frieze |
