Filippo Brunelleschi

Italian sculptor and architect

• Born: 1377
• Birthplace: Florence (now in Italy)
• Died: April 15, 1446
• Place of death: Florence (now in Italy)

Brunelleschi’s architectural accomplishments, as well as his dedication to the principles of perspective, established a vigorous new classical Renaissance style that influenced building design for centuries.

Early Life

Filippo Brunelleschi (fuh-LEE-poh brew-nayl-LAYS-kee) was born the second of three sons of Ser Brunellesco di Lippi and Giuliana degli Spini, the daughter of an established Florentine banking family. His father was a notary and middle-level public official frequently employed in various capacities by the republican government. Young Filippo thus grew up in a household heavily involved in the complex politics of Tuscany’s leading city. His elder brother, Tommaso, became a goldsmith and died in 1431, and his younger brother, Giovanni, entered the priesthood and died in 1422.

As a child, Brunelleschi received the traditional education of boys of his class. Although his father may have wished him to follow him in a notary career, young Filippo early exhibited a penchant for art and mechanics. The elder Brunelleschi consequently apprenticed his second son to the Silk Guild for training as a goldsmith. His training there included a study of literature and the abacus as well as rigorous mathematical instruction. In 1398, Brunelleschi applied for registration as a goldsmith with the Silk Guild and was admitted as a full master six years later.

Even before this last event, the young artist had established a reputation for himself as one of the most promising figures in the Florentine artistic community. In the early 1400’, he made several silver figures for the altar of the cathedral in Pistoia. Two busts of prophets and two full-length figures of saints survive from this endeavor.

One of the turning points in Brunelleschi’s early career concerned his participation in the 1401 competition sponsored by the Signory and Guild of Merchants for the commission to do a series of relief sculptures for the north doors of the Florence cathedral baptistery. Brunelleschi was one of the two finalists, but in 1402, the judges selected a panel submitted by his fellow goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti as the winner. Brunelleschi’s competition panels on the theme of the sacrifice of Isaac have been preserved in the National Museum of Florence. Brunelleschi’s defeat in the competition had important consequences for his future. Virtually the rest of Ghiberti’s long career was consumed by the task of the north doors and a subsequent set for the eastern entry. Brunelleschi found himself free for other endeavors, and he increasingly became more interested in architecture in preference to sculpture.

Life’s Work

Although he was active in many artistic and engineering projects, Brunelleschi’s main contribution during the last four decades of his life was in the field of architectural inventiveness. He most probably left Florence shortly after his 1402 defeat and spent several years in Rome with his fellow Florentine, the sculptor Donatello. In Rome, he studied ancient buildings in minute detail, making careful drawings of classic arches, vaulting, and other architectural features.

The Florence to which he returned in the early 1400’s provided a fertile field of opportunities for the energetic and talented young Brunelleschi. The city’s wealthy elite had an increasing thirst to commission city palaces, country villas, and burial chapels. Even more important, the civic Humanists dominating the Florentine government were eager to employ painters, sculptors, and architects to make Florence the premier city in Italy. The most important project to the city fathers was the completion of the great cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, an undertaking that gave Brunelleschi his most challenging and famous commission.

Begun in 1296 and designed in the traditional Tuscan Gothic style, the cathedral essentially stood finished by the late fourteenth century except for the dilemma of constructing a dome to cover the 140-foot (43-meter) octagonal space created by the crossing at the east end. No previous architect had found a solution to the technical problems and expense entailed in this problem. It remained for Brunelleschi, who had been involved with various facets of the cathedral’s construction as early as 1404, to provide the answer.

In 1418, the cathedral’s officials announced a competition for a workable design for the dome. Based on his studies of ancient Roman and Byzantine vaulting, Brunelleschi proposed an innovative solution that entailed constructing the cupola without the traditional costly wooden centering or exterior scaffolding. After two years of feasibility studies, the commission finally jointly awarded the prize to Brunelleschi and his rival Ghiberti, but the latter soon largely retired from the project.

Brunelleschi personally invented much of the machinery necessary to erect his revolutionary dome. His eventual plan used a skeleton of twenty-four ribs (eight of them visible from the exterior) that enabled the cupola to be self-supporting as it rose from its base 180 feet (55 meters) from the ground. The ribs soared some 100 feet (30 meters) and converged in an oculus meant to be topped by a lantern tower. To keep the weight of the structure to a minimum, Brunelleschi designed the first double shell in architectural history and placed the brickwork in herringbone patterns on the framework of the stone beams. When completed in 1436, his masterpiece was by no means a mere copy of classical patterns, but a unique and daring creation notable for its visual impressiveness from the outside, unlike such Roman structures as the Pantheon. It became the single most identifiable architectural landmark in the city. In 1436, Brunelleschi won yet another competition, this one for the design of the lantern that anchored the top of his cupola. This lantern was not completed until 1461, fifteen years after his death. He also designed the lateral tribunes that graced the structure.

Despite its overwhelming importance, Brunelleschi’s work on the Florentine cathedral was not representative of the main thrust of his architectural style. Much more typical were his plans for the Ospedale degli Innocenti (foundling hospital), a building commissioned by the Silk Guild in 1419. His most important contribution to the project was a graceful portico of rounded arches that extended across the facade. The entire exterior reflected Brunelleschi’s dedication to proper geometrical proportions, symmetry, and classical detail.

Classical elements also dominate the two basilican churches that Brunelleschi designed in his native city, San Lorenzo and Santo Spirito. Although neither was completed before his death and each was somewhat modified from his original plans, both reflected his dedication to mathematical proportion and logical design to provide visual and intellectual harmony. Their interiors of Roman rounded arches and pillars became hallmarks of the Renaissance style.

One of the Florentine master’s greatest undertakings in church architecture was the Pazzi Chapel, a chapter house for the monks of the cloister of Santa Croce. Although his commission came in 1429, actual work did not begin until 1442 and continued into the 1460’. In this chapel, Brunelleschi again produced an edifice noted for harmonious proportions and clarity of expression, breaking with Gothic mystery and grandeur in favor of restraint and geometrical harmony. The interior, dominated by a dome-covered central space, became a highly influential model for future architects. Brunelleschi employed darkly colored pilasters against lightly colored walls to create a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere notable for its simplicity and classical beauty.

Churches were by no means Brunelleschi’s sole architectural preoccupation. Despite the proliferation of palace building in Florence during this time, only one such structure the Palazzo di Parte Guelfa was definitely designed by him. His model for a palace for Cosimo de’ Medici was rejected as too ostentatious and imposing. Florence and other cities throughout Tuscany frequently employed him as a consultant to design fortifications and bridges and to supervise other public works projects. In 1430, for example, he became involved in an unsuccessful scheme to divert the Arno River in order to turn the city of Lucca into an island.

Brunelleschi did not completely abandon sculpture after his loss in the competition of 1401. His polychrome wood statue of the Virgin for the Church of Santo Spirito perished in a 1471 fire, but several other works have been attributed to him, including the terra-cotta evangelists in the Pazzi Chapel.

A lifelong bachelor, in 1417, Brunelleschi adopted five-year-old Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti, more commonly known as Il Buggiano, as his heir. This foster son became his apprentice in 1419 and eventually collaborated with his mentor on many projects. Brunelleschi continued working actively on his numerous projects until his death on April 15, 1446. In 1447, city officials authorized the interment of his remains in the same cathedral that had played such an important part in his long and productive career.

Significance

At the time of his death, only a few of Brunelleschi’s designs had been completed. Most, such as the great basilicas of San Lorenzo and Santo Spirito and the lantern for his great dome, were finished many years after his death. Nevertheless, during his active career of nearly half a century, Brunelleschi established himself as the premier architect in Florence and the first architect of the new Renaissance style. Unlike his younger contemporary Leon Battista Alberti, he never produced a book about his architectural theory, but his landmark buildings served as textbooks for numerous future architects such as Michelangelo.

With his profound respect for classical values, Brunelleschi personified the self-confident optimism of the early Renaissance Humanists. Much like Leonardo da Vinci later in the century, he was interested in a wide variety of subjects, including hydraulics, watchmaking, and practical mechanics. Sometime between 1410 and 1415, he drew two panels, now lost, which effectively rediscovered the principles of linear perspective. This had a profound impact on painters of the era, such as Brunelleschi’s young acquaintance Masaccio. Linear perspective helped revolutionize the style of fifteenth century Italian painting.

It is through his architectural accomplishments, however, that Brunelleschi made his major contribution. He was undoubtedly the pivotal figure in assuring Florentine supremacy in the field throughout the fifteenth century. Works such as his great cathedral dome and the Pazzi Chapel revived admiration for classical styles without resorting to slavish imitation of Greco-Roman forms. Brunelleschi thus created a vibrant, self-confident classical Renaissance style that profoundly influenced architecture for centuries.

Bibliography

Battisti, Eugenio. Filippo Brunelleschi. London: Phaidon, 2002. A translation and revision from an earlier Italian version, this scholarly study thoroughly examines Brunelleschi’s life and career, including such aspects as his military engineering, theatrical machinery, and verse. Illustrated. Contains an index.

Funari, Michele. Formal Design in Renaissance Architecture: From Brunelleschi to Palladio. New York: Rizzoli, 1995. This study of Renaissance architecture examines the works of Brunelleschi, among others. Illustrations, map, and indexes.

King, Ross. Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. New York: Walker, 2000. King focuses on Brunelleschi’s construction of the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Illustrations and index.

Klotz, Heinrich. Filippo Brunelleschi: The Early Works and the Medieval Tradition. London: Academy Editions, 1990. Klotz examines Brunelleschi’s early architectural works, determining how they fit in with the Renaissance and Medieval traditions. Illustrations and index.

Saalman, Howard. Filippo Brunelleschi: The Buildings. London: Zwemmer, 1993. This work, part of the Studies in Architecture series, examines the architectural works of Brunelleschi. Illustrations, bibliography, and index.

Walker, Paul Robert. The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance: How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World. New York: William Morrow, 2002. Walker examines the interactions of Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, including their competitions. Illustrated with eight pages of plates. Bibliography and index.