Organized by the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence

 

The exhibition is the first of the initiatives that the Opera will carry out celebrating of the 600th anniversary of Brunelleschi’s Dome which began in August 1420, even though as early as 1418 there were problems as how to “turn the dome” for the Workers of Santa Maria del Fiore. So they were invited to compete and asked for advice from various artists, architects and ellites of the time. It was a matter of finding the solution to cover the octagon of the drum (the Dome tax) of the Cathedral of Florence, that is to solve the greatest technical problem of the West of those decades.

With the masterpiece of Filippo Brunelleschi – which still today remains the largest masonry dome in the world with its 34 meters height and 45 meters and a half in diameter – conventionally begins the great season of Humanism and the Renaissance. The Dome is above all the symbol of the Universe, of its order and its beauty. For Christians it speaks of God and of his reunion with men.

“This exhibition, explains Luca Bagnoli, president of the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore, we want introduce Brunelleschi’s Dome to many people the multifaceted reality that has involved many branches of human knowledge, and its complexity is resurfaces by the exhibition “.

The exhibition, which will extend over a space of 500 square meters, it is developed around a large scale model of the Dome (8 meters and a half x 6 in diameter), it is built using various materials and on the internal sails, the frescoes by Vasari and Zuccari will be projected.

Inside, visitors will be able to listen to the testimony of experts who have dedicated their lives to the study of this magnificent building that remains an enigma today. The course will continue divided into various sections with the aid of audiovisuals and large panels with texts and images.

During the period of the exhibition, within the exhibition space will also be present an area dedicated to teaching and accessibility where issues related to the Dome will be addressed with workshops aimed at all age groups. For teaching, it will be possible to participate in workshops on the construction techniques of the Dome or on construction machines invented by Brunelleschi, The same machines that “the genius” used to build the roof of the Duomo of Florence.
For accessibility, sessions will be proposed that, inspired by the projects realized for people with cognitive or visual difficulties, will be addressed to all: sensory activities and sharing of thoughts and emotions aimed at constructing a creative narrative.

Finally, a space inside the exhibition will be dedicated to the multimedia projects of the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore: Sketch the Dome and Autography, the latter designed to dissuade the acts of vandalism on the monuments of the monumental complex of the Opera of Santa Maria del Flower.
The great model of the Dome, designed by Alessandro Moradei with Elena Mari, was kindly granted by PromoFirenze.