The dome in Florence

For this midterm I immediately knew what I wanted to write about; the dome in Florence. When I learned about the dome in art history last year it really interested me. The dome was meant to be at the time, the largest in the world. This would have been a symbol of power for Florence. However, the original architects couldn’t finish it. It was meant to be bigger than the Pantheon but ended up being an embarrassment to Florence. For years it remained unfinished leaving a hole in the middle of the city’s church. The Medici family decided to find someone who could finish it, this would help gain them power. The person they picked for the job was Filippo Brunelleschi.
Brunelleschi studied the Pantheon trying to recover architectural knowledge that had been lost. He finally came up with a brilliant plan that would allow him to build the great dome of Florence. He was very secretive about his plans to build, even today there has been trouble understanding exactly how it was built. This build was such a great feat because he could not use any support while building it. The dome was finished and was finally the great symbol of Florence. Today the dome is still a beautiful place to go and very amazing to look at.
When I attended church I got my first look at the artwork on the inside of the dome. Even though my neck was hurting I couldn’t stop starting straight up at it. The very large fresco was started by Vesari in 1572 and then finished by Frederico Zuccaro. It depicts the last judgment. The fresco shows all the stages of the judgment from the angels to the depths of hell. The parts at the bottom of the dome representing hell show the pain and the torture of those who are getting tossed into it. Above hell we see the people getting judged and angels flying around. Even before researching the fresco I figured that it was something about heaven and hell. I thought it was the most interesting painting I have ever seen in a church. The dome itself is a beautiful piece of artwork and once I seen what was on the inside I only appreciated it more. I feel very fortunate to have been able to see it first hand and get the real experience.