the Renaissance lasted roughly two
centuries the high Renaissance or 1500s
is well known for the work of Leonardo
Michelangelo and Raphael but the first
half of the Renaissance the 1400s is
often overlooked
while the main structure of the Florence
Cathedral is medieval
it's remarkable dome much of the art
decorating its facade baptistry and bell
tower define this first century of the
Renaissance the Duomo that's Italian for
Cathedral is huge the largest anywhere
when finished in the 15th century and
still in the top 20
the church's claim to fame is its dome
the first of the Renaissance in the
first Great Dome built in Europe in over
a thousand years the church was built in
Gothic times but rather than being kept
by another spire it was left with a
gaping hole waiting for technology to
catch up with the city's vision in 1420
Filippo Brunelleschi won the job and
built the dome that kicked off the
architectural Renaissance Brunelleschi's
dome which inspired those that followed
from the Vatican to the US Capitol
showed how art and science could be
combined to make beauty and today it
rewards those who climb to the top with
a grand Florence field
while the dorm owes architecture and
statues are impressive the baptistry
across from the cathedral is centuries
older the baptistry is separate because
in medieval times you couldn't enter the
church until you were baptized it's
interior glitters with Byzantine style
mosaics created in the 13th century long
before the Renaissance these vivid
scenes bringing countless Bible stories
to life inspired the medieval faithful
Jesus sits at the center of it all
overlooking creation on Judgment Day
he gives the ultimate thumbs-up and
thumbs-down
on his right angel Gabriel blows his
trumpet bringing good news to the saved
and on the thumbs-down side well you
don't want to go there some say the
Renaissance began in 1401 over the
excitement caused by a citywide
competition to design and build new
doors for the baptistry Lorenzo Ghiberti
won the commission and spent decades
working on this project these bronze
panels ghiberti's gates of paradise were
revolutionary in their realism by
utilizing the mathematical laws of
perspective gibberty helped give the art
world a whole new dimension depth he
pulled out all the stops to create
maximum three dimensionality the tiles
have lines which converge to a vanishing
point
the bench is for short to accentuate the
depth elements are added to establish a
foreground distinct from the middle and
background the effect as viewers we
become part of the scene while the
panel's like most of the art you see
outside these days or copies the
originals of the cathedrals greatest
treasures are stored safely out of the
elements in the adjacent Cathedral
Museum