About this title: In this history, novelist Ross King chronicles the career of Filippo Brunelleschi, the 15th-century goldsmith and clockmaker, who designed the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence. King also considers Brunelleschi's contemporaries and how they were influenced by him.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover has wear. Has a marker line on the bottom edge. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 194 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 194 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 194 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Paperback Edition
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Very good+ 8vo-over 7 3/4"-9 3/4" Tall 0142000159 Used. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Minimal edge wear. Binding good, clean text, sturdy. 194 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 194 pp., illus., biblio., index; 22 cm. Good+. Tight, clean copy. Corner crease/back cover. Browning. Another copy available. "By all accounts, Filippo Brunelleschi, goldsmith and clockmaker, was an unkempt, cantankerous, and suspicious man-even by the generous standards according to which artists were judged in fifteenth-century Florence. He also designed and erected a dome over the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore-a feat of architectural daring that we continue ... read more
Edition: First paperback edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books, Harmondsworth
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 194 pp., illus., biblio., index; 22 cm. Tight, clean copy. Moderate shelfwear to wraps. Browning. Another copy available. "By all accounts, Filippo Brunelleschi, goldsmith and clockmaker, was an unkempt, cantankerous, and suspicious man-even by the generous standards according to which artists were judged in fifteenth-century Florence. He also designed and erected a dome over the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore-a feat of architectural daring that we continue to ... read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 194 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. proceeds to benefit mt lebanon pa library read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780142000151ISBN:0142000159
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 194 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
"In the city of Florence, there is nothing higher. You can see it for miles. If you have been there, you know it dominates the city. There is hardly a corner to be turned where you can't see it. My first time, it more than took my breath away-I think I almost fainted. I was eighteen or nineteen at the time and had never heard of Brunelleschi, but when I saw that immense pitched sphere sitting atop that weird multicolored cathedral my whole focus for being in Florence changed in an instant. I had come to see the Ghiberti doors which are on the piazza in front of the cathedral. I had seen lots of pictures of the cathedral, of course, but nothing prepared me for its size and height. Particularly the height. If only this book had been written earlier, I would have loved to have read it before my first visit to the cathedral.
The docents and guide books give the why's and wherefore's concerning the peculiar look to the building, and let's face it-there isn't a cathedral like it anywhere except maybe in Moscow-but this book gives the reader some wonderful detail concerning life at the beginning of the Renaissance. What 'The Pillars of the Earth' did for the 12th century, this does for the 14th.
The early chapters are an overview of the chaos created by the perpetual battles among Italian city states all jostling for dominance in the burgeoning post-Medieval trade boom. But it was the trade of ideas we remember most from the Renaissance and much of the profound changes in art, architecture, finance, government, literature and music are explored here. Brunelleschi's lifelong competition with Ghiberti over Florence architectural commissions-expanding knowledge of mathematics, stress, compression, design (borrowed from the Romans)-has led to historians dubbing each the 'father' of the Renaissance.
While plagues, wars, jealous arguments, and endless financial problems beleaguered Brunelleschi he managed to hoist 70 million pounds of brick, mortar and marble into the air and create something incomparable.
Personal note: I was pleased to learn my art history teacher in college was full of it. He claimed details of building the dome were a complete mystery and no one knew how it was done. Guess what Bubba? Brunelleschi left behind copious amounts of information and drawings. Pulley systems, the movement of supplies twenty stories high, the spacing of brick, the consistency of mortar, cranes, distribution of weight-it's all there. And none of this information takes away from the magic, or the brilliance or the sheer exuberance of a masterpiece.
"This book kind of reads like a college essay- full of details, footnotes and tangential information thrown in to increase the length. I found the building design parts the most interesting, but was kind of underwhelmed by the 'scandals' the author referred to. I think additional pictures of the dome would have helped at certain points, as I had to search through my own photos to see what the author was explaining from time to time.
An ok read if you have been or will be visiting Firenze, but otherwise the text never really pulled me in."
"A very interesting story of a fascinating man and his inventions he created to raise a dome in Florence, 15th Century, that challenged experience architects. A little heavy on the architecture information at times, but it was recommended by an architect! The story is told as a novel and King did a pretty good time. A nice snapshot of the period and the famous people surrounding Brunelleshi, names we still know today."
"I'm a fan of King's books and this is perhaps my favorite. I read it before a trip to Florence and it really helped make the ubiquitous dome that dominates the city (and every image you've probably ever seen of it) meaningful. Though an historical book, it reads very well and never feels like a slog through what could otherwise be some fairly dry storytelling. Recommended."
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