The 15th Century Renaissance and the Space Program Today

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The Puzzle that would last over a Century

The flourishing optimism of the Florentines was to hit a breaking point, however, when it finally came time to build the dome, its coronating piece, for which 44 years went by where a big gaping hole stood instead. The Florentines started to believe that they had embarked on an impossibility and pessimism ran amok. By the time Filippo Brunelleschi came onto the scene in 1420 (over 100 years after its first conception), with the effects of the dark age ongoing, there was not only a loss of faith that a solution could be found but a hostility to the very suggestion, as Antonio Manetti (a contemporary of Brunelleschi) accounts in his biography 'Life of Brunelleschi':

"From the words of Filippo [Brunelleschi], the wardens deduced the verdict that such a building so big and of such a nature could not be terminated and that it had been a naivete', from those architects of the past and of those who conceived the whole project, to believe so. When Filippo said, contesting that wrong opinion, that it could be done, they all answered in choir: 'How will the centering be done?', but he insisted again that it could be built without such centering. Since they discussed the matter for several days, it was so that twice, the wardens had him thrown out by their people and the Wool guild, as if he was thinking stupidly and saying only ridiculous things; to the point that he often recalls that during that lapse of time, he didn't dare to walk in the streets of Florence, having the impression that the people were telling behind his back: 'Look that foul which has such pretensions!"

Despite this, Brunelleschi set out his plan for a dome within a dome, octagonal in shape, capped by a lantern to let in light, all of which would be constructed without scaffolding or a centering piece. This was something entirely unfathomable at the time and would be the only dome to be built not only without an internal or external support during its construction but would also stand on its own, without any form of buttressing or barrelling support. The magnitude of the project was behemoth, Brunelleschi was not only setting out to construct the largest masonry dome ever built, but it would be the only dome to be built with absolutely no support! It is for this, that even though Brunelleschi managed to win the competition propelling him to the helm of the project, the people of Florence thought him to be an absolute lunatic for what he was proposing to do. Antonio Manetti writes of the situation:

"To those who invoked that impossibility, Brunelleschi sharply answered that the dome was a sacred building and that God for whom nothing is impossible will not abandon us."

Brunelleschi was not promoting blind faith, since the discovery was ultimately made by himself, but rather the faith that there is always a solution to a problem, and that most importantly, that solution can become known. The Florentines had known this to be true when first conceptualising the project but had lost faith in their ability to find a solution after years of despair within a dark age. Brunelleschi would solve the over 100 year old puzzle by not looking at the hole standing in place of the dome as an empty space that needed to be filled, as his counterparts made the mistake of doing, but rather as something that would actually be held in place and stabilised by external physical forces, otherwise known as, the catenary effect. This was a completely revolutionary idea in a field of science that had not even been discovered yet, and which would only be much further developed by Gottfried Leibniz over two centuries later, who in turn had to create a mathematical language to describe it- the calculus.

Brunelleschi successfully saw through the building of the dome in only 16 years, and lived to see its completion in 1436. To this day in Florence, no building can exceed a certain height, such that the magnificence of the dome can be appreciated no matter what part of the city you are in. A Renaissance is Found

The placement of Verrochio's bronze sphere on top of the lantern of the cathedral was to be the finishing touch in 1469 (Brunelleschi had passed away in 1446 at a ripe old age of 69). Da Vinci, 17 years old at the time, was an apprentice of Verrochio and likely participated in the design of the bronze sphere. Undoubtedly, Da Vinci studied how the dome was built, and Brunelleschi never leaving a full blueprint behind, had left a puzzle of his own for those great minds that would follow him, almost as if to say, 'if I could solve it so can you!' and it is clear that this must have had an immense influence on Da Vinci.

Da Vinci would be, it seems, the only one to study in detail the inventions of Brunelleschi that were made in order to fulfill the task of building the dome, and had been left in the basement of the cathedral to collect dust until a suitable mind would be able to appreciate them once again. There was no other account of their existence and for a certain period of time the mistake was made of giving Da Vinci the credit for those inventions which he sketched. It is clear now from notes found written by himself that Da Vinci clearly stated they were those of Brunelleschi. Looking on Da Vinci's own work, it is very apparent that, especially in his formulations of gear systems, he had been very much influenced by his studies of Brunelleschi's work, which he would advance significantly. It is interesting to think how Da Vinci's life could possibly have been very different if the Santa Maria del Fiore never existed, and if he had not come across the inventions of Brunelleschi tucked away in the basement of the cathedral.

And there you have it! How the great minds of Dante, Brunelleschi and Da Vinci overlapped in one of the greatest projects ever to be embarked on, turning a dark age into a budding Renaissance. We will forever be eternally grateful to great minds such as these, who shine like a beacon of heavenly light no matter how dark the despair, a reminder to us all that however desperate or futile a situation might seem there is always a solution that will lead us towards a Paradiso.

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