History of
Architecture II
Sk. Hassan Al-Tanbin | Assistant
Professor
| Architecture Discipline | Khulna
1
University
CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE
CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE
PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL
• The cathedral of Florence
is built as a basilica,
having a wide central
nave of four square bays,
with an aisle on either
side.
• The chancel and transepts
are of identical polygonal
plan, separated by two
smaller polygonal
chapels. The whole plan
forms a Latin cross.
• The nave and aisles are
separated by wide
pointed Gothic arches
• resting on composite
The dimensions of the building are enormous:
• piers.
1. length 153 metres (502 ft) .
• 2. width 38 metres (124 ft). width at the crossing 90 metres (295 ft).
• The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 metres (75 ft). The height of the
dome is 114.5 m.
EXTERIOR
• The alternating colors show
rectitude and beauty, the two
basic principles of Florentine
art.
• The exterior has an
abundance of sculpted figures.
• Bronze doors.
• The main feature of the exterior of the
cathedral of Florence is the rich articulation
with colored marble - white from Carrara,
green from Prato and red from the
Maremma.
• There is marble everywhere -on the fa9ade
built in the medieval Gothic style, on the
sides of the aisles leading to the nave, on
the buttresses, the small side domes and
the massive main dome.
DOME
• Employed the Gothic pointed arch
cross sect ion instead of a
semicircular one
• To reduce dead load, he created a
double shell as was done in the
Pantheon
• Employed 24 vertical ribs and 5
horizontal rings of sand stone, as
observed in the ruins of Roman
construction
• The cupola on top was a temple of
masonry acting as a weight on top
of the dome.
• A wooden framework was laid on
which stone strings were attached
at 5 segments/levels.
• Bricks were laid on top of the
framework.
• Herringbone fashion of
construction was followed.
• The Ribs, 13 feet (4 meters) deep,
are supported by 16 concealed
ribs radiating from center.
• The ribs had slits to take beams
that supported platforms, thus
allowing the work to progress
DOME
• Lante rn
• O ute r Shell
• Horizontal
Connectors
• Main R i bs
• Round
Windows
• Inner She
• Octagonal
11
Suppo rt
• Seco ndary
INTERIORS
• The left hand nave
contains frescoes
by Paolo Uccello
and Andrea del
Castagno while
the Last Judgment
by Vasari -Zuccari
is painted in the
cupola.
• Three apses,
separated by the
two sacristies (bas
reliefs by Luca
della Robbia),
open into the
transept, each one
• Below the cupola stands the huge octagonal chancel curtained off by an
divided into five
elegant marble balustrade by Baccio Bandinelli (1555), which was once
chapels.
decorated with numerous basreliefs and statues, many of them now
conserved i the Museum of the Opera del Duomo
• The chapel behind the high altar contains Ghiberti's masterpiece of
goldsmithery: the Urn of St. Zanobus.
INTERIORS
• The center nave
is created by
great Gothic
vaults resting on
wide arches that
divide the space
in to four square
bays, giving a
more classical
than Gothic
harmony to the
structure.
• The arches rest in
their turn on
powerful
composite
pilasters
• similar to those
Francesco Talenti
used for
• What we the
see today, is probably the result of Talenti s variations on Arnolfo's
Loggia dei
design, Lanzi.
which foresaw a major number of bays and pilasters (and therefore
windows).
• The fresco of the old Santa Reparata in the Museum of the Bigallo also gives us
this impression.
INTERIORS
• The design and execution of
the polychrome marble
flooring is attributed to
Baccio d'Agnolo and
Francesco da Sangallo
(1520-26).
• The naves and the tribune
are illuminated by the
beautiful 15th century
stained glass windows
created by artists like
Ghiberti, Paolo Uccello,
Donatello and Andrea del
Castagno
• The lunette above the door
in fact contains a mosaic by
Gaddo Gaddi (early 14th
century), who also worked
• on the
The mosaics
three roundin the glass windows, together with the one in the
stained
Baptistery. carried out from paintin9s by Ghiberti (1403-13), and can be said
cupola,were
to be among the few remaining proofs of his pictorial activity..
INTERIORS
• The famous clock on the inner facade, with its quadrant and medallions, was
painted in fresco by Paolo Uccello (1443).
• It is one of the few mechanical clocks that still exists and works: it has only one
hand and tells the time by going round in the opposite direction compared to
modern clocks because it measures the time from sunset to sunset.
• The wall also contains the tomb of Bishop d'Orso (1321), one of the most
beautifulworks of sculpture in the Cathedral.
FLORENTINE LOGGIAS
• The narrow streets of Italian
cities consisted of hard
materials, stone and brick,
and because many of these
cities were confined by city
walls, open spaces were at
a premium.
• Parks and gardens did not
exist.
• Loggias—roofed-over
open outdoor spaces—
were highly valued and
served both functional and
symbolic purposes.
• Unlike an arcade, which
covers pedestrian traffic, a
loggia is a place to
assemble rather than to
traverse.
LOGGIA DEI LANZI
• The Loggia dei Priori (now
called Loggia dei Lanzi, 1376–
82) was built to service
visiting dignitaries and
ambassadors, and to
facilitate the celebration of
coronations and marriages of
kings.
• It was constructed
perpendicular to the entrance
of the Palazzo della Signoria
—the town hall—and
consisted of three lofty
arches rising from a stepped
platform.
• The columns, sitting on a
short, ornamented plinth, are
composed of pilasters bound
together into one massive
shaft 10 meters high
terminating in a rich and
beautiful capital of the
Corinthian order.
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Thank you all
