Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

In his architectural nonfiction Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture (2000), Ross King describes how a man reinvented architecture when he constructed a new style of the dome. Receiving widespread praise from critics, King has been commended for making a complex subject accessible to lay readers. The book won the 2001 Book Sense Book of the Year Award. King is a bestselling nonfiction writer who lectures across Europe and North America. He has given guided tours of architecturally significant buildings, including Rome’s Sistine Chapel and Florence’s cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Brunelleschi’s Dome tells the story of how one man, Filippo Brunelleschi, completed the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Work began on the cathedral in 1296, but no one could figure out how to construct and position a dome for the roof. Brunelleschi singlehandedly devised a solution, completing the dome in 1436. By completing the dome, Brunelleschi solved a problem plaguing architects for more than a century.

Brunelleschi’s Dome covers Brunelleschi’s personal life, upbringing, and his architectural achievements. King touches on fifteenth-century Renaissance Florence and how contemporary politics, philosophy, and intrigue affected Brunelleschi’s work. As a result, the book appeals to art and history students, as well as casual readers looking for more information on the period.



Brunelleschi’s story begins in August of 1418. Florence wants its cathedral completed, but there is a major problem with the construction. The cathedral needs a glorious dome larger and grander than any other, but no one knows how to build it. The city of Florence is willing to pay large sums of money to anyone capable of constructing the dome.

King describes the two major problems with the dome, both stemming from problems with engineering. During the early fifteenth century, Europeans used flying buttresses to support the weight and length of roofs and vaults, such as domes. King details what these buttresses looked like, how they functioned, and why they worked for most buildings.

The first problem with the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the weight and circumference of the dome. Flying buttresses are too weak to support the proposed dome and no one knows how else to support it. Furthermore, no one is allowed to use flying buttresses anymore in Florence. The second problem is that, even if someone designed stronger buttresses, no one knows how to physically erect the dome onto the cathedral because of its sheer size and bulk.



According to King, the competition between architects is fierce in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Florence. Everyone assumes a successful plan will come from one of the many talented architects living in the city. No one expects humble goldsmith and clockmaker Filippo Brunelleschi to deliver the winning plan. However, as King demonstrates, the other plans all had major flaws in the proposed construction and design, thus, Brunelleschi’s plan is the only one given serious consideration.

Unsurprisingly, Florence’s esteemed architects, who are very unhappy with Brunelleschi, do everything they can to destroy him before the construction is completed. Brunelleschi’s Dome is the story of a single man’s struggle against the odds and how he shocked everyone, not least of all himself, when he succeeded.

King takes readers through Brunelleschi’s early life to determine what drove him to design the dome. Brunelleschi’s father wants him to become a civil servant like him. Brunelleschi receives a mathematical education and very little artistic training. However, naturally excelling at art and creative pursuits, he becomes a goldsmith in 1398. He enters various architecture and design contests before constructing the dome, winning many of them. Nevertheless, the architectural circles in Florence don’t take him seriously.



King believes that Brunelleschi’s unusual fascination with Ancient Rome and study of the ancient ruins helped him devise his dome strategy, noting that traces of classical architecture can be seen in Brunelleschi’s work. King’s belief is that Brunelleschi found an innovative solution to the dome problem because he exposed himself to fresh ideas and new perspectives, unlike his contemporaries. Brunelleschi found new ways to link ideas together.

Interestingly, Brunelleschi didn’t leave behind any building plans or diagrams revealing the dome’s final structure, making it difficult for modern scholars to ascertain precisely how he designed the dome and how his reasoning developed. However, King considers what we do know in some detail.

First, Brunelleschi created a new hoist system. Again, King believes the system most closely resembles the structures used in Ancient Rome. Second, he designed the dome to resemble a hemisphere. The hemisphere shape supports itself, removing the need for flying buttresses. The specifics of Brunelleschi’s designs are lost to antiquity.



King posits that Brunelleschi’s mathematical talents, combined with his artistic leanings, allowed him to reshape architecture. Also concerned with workers’ welfare, he ensured his workers had proper breaks, shade, and food. It is likely that his builders worked harder and more accurately because they weren’t tired or frustrated. King notes that however Brunelleschi achieved it, one thing is certain—he is a founding father of Renaissance architecture.