Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story Of The Great Cathedral In Florence

Author: Ross King

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General Fields

  • : 19.99 AUD
  • : 9780099526780
  • : Penguin Random House
  • : Penguin Books Ltd
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  • : 0.142
  • : July 2008
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  • : 34.99
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  • : books

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  • : Ross King
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  • : Paperback
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  • : 726.6094551
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  • : 192
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Barcode 9780099526780
9780099526780

Description

Even in an age of soaring skyscrapers and cavernous sports stadiums, the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, with its immense, terracotta-tiled cupola, still retains a rare power to astonish. Yet the elegance of the building belies the tremendous labour, technical ingenuity and bitter personal strife involved in its creation. For over a century after work on the cathedral began in 1296, the proposed dome was regarded as all but impossible to build because of its enormous size. The greatest architectural puzzle of its age, when finally completed in 1436 the dome was hailed as one of the great wonders of the world. To this day, it remains the highest and widest masonry dome ever built. This book tells the extraordinary story of how the cupola was raised, from its conception to its consecration. Also told is the story of the dome's architect, the brilliant and volatile Filippo Brunelleschi. Denounced as a madman at the start of his labours, he was celebrated at their end as a great genius. His life was one of ambition, ingenuity, rivalry and intrigue - a human drama set against the plagues, wars, political feuds and intellectual ferments of Renaissance Florence, the glori

Promotion info

The superb story of the architect Filippo Brunelleschi and the design and construction of the Great Cathedral in Florence - one of the most magnificent achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

Author description

Ross King is the author of two novels and the highly praised Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling. He lives near Oxford.