King: Brunelleschi’s Dome

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Ross King, Brunelleschi’s Dome : How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. New York, N.Y. : Penguin Books, 2001. 194 pages; illustrated; includes bibliographical references and index.

I read this book since architecture is an aspect of art I know nothing about. It tells about the construction of Florence’s Santa Maria del Fiore dome in the 1400s. The dome is the largest in the world, so getting it built was a feat of genius and engineering. Brunelleschi did it without using wooden supports too, which was a big deal.

Unfortunately, I don’t think King gives quite enough big picture context, and he has a problem weaving together individual stories with background information. His writing style is accessible, and I enjoyed the actual reading, but when I finished it, I felt I had more questions than answers. While King included some sketches in the book, the only image of the dome is from the painting on the cover!

I think this is a book that could have benefited a lot from even two pages of pictures in the middle. Also, King’s bias towards Brunelleschi was so overt, it made me question his portrayal of some incidents. And I actually rolled my eyes over certain sentences, since they were so slavishly 'Fillipo is the best' or 'they were mean to Fillipo!'

That being said, I hold social-sciences nonfiction to a high standard, so more relaxed readers will probably enjoy this. The random tidbits about Florence were fun, and I’m glad I know about the existence of the dome now, since prior to reading this, I had no idea! But its focus is more engineering than art, and more personal than historical. If that appeals to you, go for it: King’s a good writer.

-- Notes by EVA