Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3) by S. Spooner (best ebook reader under 100 TXT) 📖
- Author: S. Spooner
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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
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