Art and Architecture

Art and Architecture

Part 1

Filippo Brunelleschi was an Italian architect and sculptor of the early Renaissance. He made a decisive contribution to the discovery of central perspective also set new standards in architecture.

Filippo Brunelleschi was born in 1377 in Florence and died in the same city in 1446. Like many other artists of the Renaissance, Filippo Brunelleschi was lucky enough to receive inclusive education in his youth, which provided the conceptual background for his subsequent work. His father was a respected lawyer and gave his son an artistic career. The first contract as an architect to Brunelleschi was the "Ospedale degli Innocenti" (1419-1445). It was the first Florentine building, which was equipped with the ancient order of columns and capitals. In the same year, the order followed by the most important architectural works of Brunelleschi, when he won a competition to design the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. There was clear inspiration of religion in his works (Prager, Scaglia, pp. 24-31). He portrayed religious stories in his arts and architecture. Follwing are some of the greatest works of Brunelleschi, depicting the inspiration of religious values.

The Dome of Florence

Santa Maria del Fiore, the Dome of Florence, begun in 1296. The bell tower was built in Gothic style. Giotto had designed this. The rival states wanted to impress the audience with an ambitious project for building a dome (Saalman, 1933).

Brunelleschi's dome was vaulted, and seemed as a double-shell construction, the structure leverage itself and, therefore, needed no empty frames. After 16 years (1418-1434), the dome was completed. The diameter of the octagon is gigantic 42 meters. The structure is supported by eight and sixteen indistinct ribs.

The lantern built after the design by Brunelleschi (Saalman, pp. 12-21). When the cathedral was completed the Pope was invited to observe the inspiration of religious architecture. The dome of Florence was also a magnificent work of engineering and science.

Part 2

The Thanksgiving of Noah

The painter of the painting, “The Thanksgiving of Noah” is Giovanni Battista Gaulli who is more famously known as Baciccio. This is an Italian painting that was painted during the painter's lifetime between 1685 and 1690. The painting has been made with oil on canvas and the size of the painting is ca 1700 (Frank, 2003).

In this scene, Noah and his family built an alter for burnt sacrifices in thanksgiving to mark the survival after the great flood. The rainbow in the heavens ...