My Architect: Filippo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunelleschi

Born: 1377, Florence, Italy 

Died: April 15, 1446, Florence, Italy 

Periods: Early renaissance, Renaissance 

Known for: Architecture, sculpture, mechanical engineering 

Structures: Florence Cathedral, Basilica di San Lorenzo, Firenze, 

Introduction:

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the leading architect and engineer of the Renaissance period. His best work is on the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in FLorence, Italy.

He was born in Florence, Italy. He was one of the pioneer architect and engineer at that time. He was the first modern engineer and an innovative problem solver. His major work, the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was built with help of machines that specially he invented in that project.

Big Moment:

Brunelleschi lost during a commission of the baptistery which accounts his decision to concentrate his talents to architecture instead of sculpture. But he continued to sculpt but being architecture his first prior.

Surprising Fact:

There is however a unexplained fact that is how he moved to new architectural classicism from gothic. It is suspected that his surroundings and his  friends was a major influence. Donatello, nine years Brunelleschi's junior was his good friend. In times past, writers and philosophers had discussed the grandeur and decline of ancient Rome, but it seems that until Brunelleschi and Donatello made their journey.

Big Invention:

Filippo Brunelleschi "rediscovered" the principles of linear perspective. Brunelleschi displayed his findings with two painted panels (since lost) of Florentine streets and buildings. By using Brunelleschi's perspective principles, artists of his generation were able to use two-dimensional canvases to create illusions of three-dimensional space, crafting a realism not seen previously.  

With the foundation of these principles, one can paint or draw using a single vanishing point, toward which all lines on the same plane appear to converge, and objects appear smaller as they recede into the distance.

Linear perspective as an artistic tool soon spread throughout the whole of Italy and then through Western Europe, and has remained a staple in artistic creation since.

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