Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3) by S. Spooner (pdf to ebook reader .TXT) 📕

the extent of the upper part, where the lantern has to be placed, would

be so vast, that when a weight was laid thereon, it would soon give way.

Now it appears to me that those architects who do not aim at giving

perpetual duration to their fabrics, cannot have any regard for the

durability of the memorial, nor do they even know what they are doing. I

have therefore determined to turn the inner part of this vault in

angles, according to the form of the walls, adopting the proportions and

manner of the pointed arch, this being a form which displays a rapid

tendency to ascend, and when loaded with the lantern, each part will

help to give stability to the other. The thickness of the vault at the

base must be three braccia and three-quarters; it must then rise in the

form of a pyramid, decreasing from without up to the point where it

closes, and where the lantern has to be placed, and at this junction the

thickness must be one braccia and a quarter. A second vault shall then

be constructed outside the first, to preserve the latter from the rain,

and this must be two braccia and a half thick at the base, also

diminishing proportionally in the form of a pyramid, in such a manner

that the parts shall have their junction at the commencement of the

lantern, as did the other, and at the highest point it must have

two-thirds of the thickness of the base. There must be a buttress at

each angle, which will be eight in all, and between the angles, in the

face of each wall, there shall be two, sixteen in all; and these sixteen

buttresses on the inner and outer side of each wall must each have the

breadth of four braccia at the base. These two vaults, built in the form

of a pyramid, shall rise together in equal proportion to the height of

the round window closed by the lantern. There will thus be constructed

twenty-four buttresses with the said vaults built around, and six strong

high arches of a hard stone (macigno), well clamped and bound with iron

fastenings, which must be covered with tin, and over these stones shall

be cramping irons, by which the vaults shall be bound to the buttresses.

The masonry must be solid, and must leave no vacant space up to the

height of five braccia and a quarter; the buttresses being then

continued, the arches will be separated. The first and second courses

from the base must be strengthened everywhere by long plates of

_macigno_ laid crosswise, in such sort that both vaults of the cupola

shall rest on these stones. Throughout the whole height, at every ninth

braccia there shall be small arches constructed in the vaults between

the buttresses, with strong cramps of oak, whereby the buttresses by

which the inner vault is supported will be bound and strengthened; these

fastenings of oak shall then be covered with plates of iron, on account

of the staircases. The buttresses are all to be built of _macigno_, or

other hard stone, and the walls of the cupola are, in like manner, to be

all of solid stone bound to the buttresses to the height of twenty-four

braccia, and thence upward they shall be constructed of brick or of

spongite (spugne), as shall be determined on by the masters who build

it, they using that which they consider lightest. On the outside, a

passage or gallery shall be made above the windows, which below shall

form a terrace, with an open parapet or balustrade two braccia high,

after the manner of those of the lower tribunes, and forming two

galleries, one over the other, placed on a richly decorated cornice, the

upper gallery being covered. The rain-water shall be carried off the

cupola by means of a marble channel, one third of an ell broad, the

water being discharged at an outlet to be constructed of hard stone

(pietra forte), beneath the channel. Eight ribs of marble shall be

formed on the angles of the external surface of the cupola, of such

thickness as may be requisite; these shall rise to the height of one

braccia above the cupola, with cornices projecting in the manner of a

roof, two braccia broad, that the summit may be complete, and

sufficiently furnished with eaves and channels on every side; and these

must have the form of the pyramid, from their base, or point of

junction, to their extremity. Thus the cupola shall be constructed after

the method described above, and without framework, to the height of

thirty braccia, and from that height upwards, it may be continued after

such manner as shall be determined on by the masters who may have to

build it, since practice teaches us by what methods to proceed.'

"When Filippo had written the above, he repaired in the morning to the

tribunal, and gave his paper to the syndics and wardens, who took the

whole of it into their consideration; and, although they were not able

to understand it all, yet seeing the confidence of Filippo, and finding

that the other architects gave no evidence of having better ground to

proceed on,--he moreover showing a manifest security, by constantly

repeating the same things in such a manner that he had all the

appearance of having vaulted ten cupolas:--the Syndics, seeing all this,

retired apart, and finally resolved to give him the work; they would

have liked to see some example of the manner in which he meant to turn

this vault without framework, but to all the rest they gave their

approbation. And fortune was favorable to this desire: Bartolomeo

Barbadori having determined to build a chapel in Santa Felicita, and

having spoken concerning it with Filippo, the latter had commenced the

work, and caused the chapel, which is on the right of the entrance,

where is also the holy water vase (likewise by the hand of Filippo), to

be vaulted without any framework. At the same time he constructed

another, in like manner, for Stiatta Ridolfi, in the church of Santo

Jacopo sopr' Arno; that, namely, beside the chapel of the High Altar;

and these works obtained him more credit than was given to his words.

The consuls and wardens feeling at length assured, by the writing he had

given them, and by the works which they had seen, entrusted the cupola

to his care, and he was made principal master of the works by a majority

of votes. They would nevertheless not commission him to proceed beyond

the height of twelve braccia, telling him that they desired to see how

the work would succeed, but that if it proceeded as successfully as he

expected, they would not fail to give him the appointment for the

remainder. The sight of so much obstinacy and distrust in the syndics

and wardens was so surprising to Filippo, that if he had not known

himself to be the only person capable of conducting the work, he would

not have laid a hand upon it; but desiring, as he did, to secure the

glory of its completion, he accepted the terms, and pledged himself to

conduct the undertaking perfectly to the end. The writing Filippo had

given was copied into a book wherein the purveyor kept the accounts of

the works in wood and marble, together with the obligation into which

Filippo had entered as above said. An allowance was then made to him,

conformably with what had at other times been given to other masters of

the works.

"When the commission given to Filippo became known to the artists and

citizens, some thought well of it, and others ill, as always is the

case with a matter which calls forth the opinions of the populace, the

thoughtless, and the envious. Whilst the preparation of materials for

beginning to build was making, a party was formed among the artists and

citizens; and these men proceeding to the syndics and wardens, declared

that the matter had been concluded too hastily, and that such a work

ought not to be executed according to the opinion of one man only; they

added, that if the syndics and wardens had been destitute of

distinguished men, instead of being furnished with such in abundance,

they would have been excusable, but that what was now done was not

likely to redound to the honor of the citizens, seeing, that if any

accident should happen, they would incur blame, as persons who had

conferred too great a charge on one man, without considering the losses

and disgrace that might result to the public. All this considered, it

would be well to give Filippo a colleague, who might restrain his

impetuosity (furore).

"Lorenzo Ghiberti had at that time attained to high credit by the

evidence of his genius, which he had given in the doors of San Giovanni;

and that he was much beloved by certain persons who were very powerful

in the government was now proved with sufficient clearness, since,

perceiving the glory of Filippo to increase so greatly, they labored in

such a manner with the syndics and wardens, under the pretext of care

and anxiety for the building, that Ghiberti was united with Filippo in

the work. The bitter vexation of Filippo, the despair into which he

fell, when he heard what the wardens had done, may be understood by the

fact that he was on the point of flying from Florence; and had it not

been that Donato and Luca della Robbia comforted and encouraged him, he

would have gone out of his senses. A truly wicked and cruel rage is that

of those men, who, blinded by envy, endanger the honors and noble works

of others in the base strife of ambition: it was not the fault of these

men that Filippo did not break in pieces the models, set fire to the

designs, and in one half hour destroy all the labors so long endured,

and ruin the hopes of so many years. The wardens excused themselves at

first to Filippo, encouraging him to proceed, reminding him that the

inventor and author of so noble a fabric was still himself, and no

other; but they, nevertheless, gave Lorenzo a stipend equal to that of

Filippo. The work was then continued with but little pleasure on the

part of Filippo, who knew that he must endure all the labors connected

therewith, and would then have to divide the honor and fame equally with

Lorenzo. Taking courage, nevertheless, from the thought that he should

find a method of preventing the latter from remaining very long attached

to that undertaking, he continued to proceed after the manner laid down

in the writing given to the wardens. Meanwhile the thought occurred to

the mind of Filippo of constructing a complete model, which, as yet, had

never been done. This he commenced forthwith, causing the parts to be

made by a certain Bartolomeo, a joiner, who dwelt near his studio. In

this model (the measurements of which were in strict accordance with

those of the building itself, the difference being of size only), all

the difficult parts of the structure were shown as they were to be when

completed; as, for example, staircases lighted and dark, with every

other kind of light, with the buttresses and other inventions for giving

strength to the building, the doors, and even a portion of the gallery.

Lorenzo, having heard of this model, desired to see it, but Filippo

refusing, he became angry, and made preparations for constructing a

model of his own, that he might not appear to be receiving his salary

for nothing, but that he also might seem to count for something in the

matter. For these models Filippo received fifty lire and fifteen soldi,

as we find by an order in the book of Migliore di Tommaso, under date of

the 3d October, 1419, while Lorenzo was paid three hundred lire for the

labor and cost of his model, a difference occasioned by the partiality

and favor shown to him, rather than merited by any utility or benefit

secured to the building by the model which he had constructed.

"This vexatious state of things continued beneath the eyes of Filippo

until the year 1426,[3] the friends of Lorenzo calling him the inventor

of the work, equally with Filippo, and this caused so violent a

commotion in the mind of the latter, that he lived in the utmost

disquietude. Various improvements and new inventions were, besides,

presenting themselves to his thoughts, and he resolved to rid himself of

his colleague at all hazards, knowing of how little use he was to the

work. Filippo had already raised the walls of the cupola to the height

of twelve braccia in both vaults, but the works, whether in wood or

stone, that were to give strength to the fabric, had still to be

executed, and as this was a matter of difficulty, he determined