DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26747#0839
Chap. I.
CATHEDBAL OF FLORENOE.
775
marked, that the mere filling in is comparatively nnimportant. This
part is the great beanty of the church, and as far as it was carried up
according to the original design, is extremely beautiful. Even the
plainness and flatness of the nave serve as a foil to set off the beauty
of the choir. Above the line of the cornice of the side-aisles there is
nothing, except the first division of the drum of the dome, which
follows the lines of the clerestory, that can be said to belong to the
original design. It has long been a question what Arnolplio originally
intended, and how lie meant to cover tlie great octagonal space he
had prepared. All knowledge of his intentions seems to have been
lost within a century after his death: at least in the accounts we
have of the proceedings of the commission which resulted in tlie
adoption of Brunelleschi’s design for the dome, no reference is made
to any original design as then existing, and no one seems to have
known how Arnolpho intended to finislr liis work. Judging from the
work so far as it
was carried by him,
with the know-
ledge which we
nowhave of Italian
architecture of that,
age, we can form
a very probable
conjecture of his
design for its com-
pletion. Itislikely
that this consisted
of, internally, a
dome something
like the present,
but flatter, spring-
ing from the cor-
nice 40 ft. lower
than the present
one, and pierced
with openings on
each face.
Extemally, it
was probably to
be arranged some-
thing likc that
of Chiaravalle,
near Milan (wood-
cut No. 629), built
U1_ ^ ^ J 629. Dome at Chiaravalle, near Milan. From a drawing by
with dlfferent de- Ed. Falkener, Esq.
tails, but in sto-
ries, so as to render the construction easy; and this would have been
carried up to a hcight of not less than 500 ft., about equal to the length
CATHEDBAL OF FLORENOE.
775
marked, that the mere filling in is comparatively nnimportant. This
part is the great beanty of the church, and as far as it was carried up
according to the original design, is extremely beautiful. Even the
plainness and flatness of the nave serve as a foil to set off the beauty
of the choir. Above the line of the cornice of the side-aisles there is
nothing, except the first division of the drum of the dome, which
follows the lines of the clerestory, that can be said to belong to the
original design. It has long been a question what Arnolplio originally
intended, and how lie meant to cover tlie great octagonal space he
had prepared. All knowledge of his intentions seems to have been
lost within a century after his death: at least in the accounts we
have of the proceedings of the commission which resulted in tlie
adoption of Brunelleschi’s design for the dome, no reference is made
to any original design as then existing, and no one seems to have
known how Arnolpho intended to finislr liis work. Judging from the
work so far as it
was carried by him,
with the know-
ledge which we
nowhave of Italian
architecture of that,
age, we can form
a very probable
conjecture of his
design for its com-
pletion. Itislikely
that this consisted
of, internally, a
dome something
like the present,
but flatter, spring-
ing from the cor-
nice 40 ft. lower
than the present
one, and pierced
with openings on
each face.
Extemally, it
was probably to
be arranged some-
thing likc that
of Chiaravalle,
near Milan (wood-
cut No. 629), built
U1_ ^ ^ J 629. Dome at Chiaravalle, near Milan. From a drawing by
with dlfferent de- Ed. Falkener, Esq.
tails, but in sto-
ries, so as to render the construction easy; and this would have been
carried up to a hcight of not less than 500 ft., about equal to the length