菲利波·布鲁内莱斯基Filippo Brunelleschi

菲利波·布鲁内莱斯基的父亲是Brunellesco Di Lippo，他是佛罗伦萨的一名公证人，即公职人员，而布鲁内莱斯基的母亲是Giuliana Spini，她与Spini家族和Aldobrandini家族都有亲属关系。Brunellesco和Giuliana有三个儿子，布鲁内莱斯基有一个哥哥和一个弟弟。当然，Brunellesco本希望布鲁内莱斯基学习法律，以成为像他一样的公证人为目标，但他被艺术生涯所吸引，并决心走这条路。

布鲁内莱斯基在佛罗伦萨的一家作坊接受金匠和雕塑家训练，于1392年开始学徒。此时对他产生重要影响的是Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli，他是一位商人和医生。Toscanelli对科学和数学的兴趣尤其重要，因为他教他的年轻学生几何原理。他还激发了布鲁内莱斯基对技术的兴趣，这在他后来的职业生涯中得到了很好的利用。

1401年在丝绸行会任教期间，布鲁内莱斯基参加了佛罗伦萨领主提议的竞赛，为佛罗伦萨洗礼堂设计青铜门。他的参赛板：-

……马克斯·亚伯拉罕献祭以撒的场景中，显示一个仆人一边等待亚伯拉罕，一边在驴吃草时从脚上拔刺。

布鲁内莱斯基是参加竞赛的七位艺术家之一，但尽管他的作品质量很高，他并未获胜。他的参赛板被评为与Lorenzo Ghiberti相当，但Ghiberti被委以重任，并提议布鲁内莱斯基作为他的助手。然而这并不适合布鲁内莱斯基，他退出了（根据Vasari [13]所述）：-

……渴望在其他艺术中成为第一，而不仅仅是平等，或许在那项事业中处于次要地位。

Ghiberti和布鲁内莱斯基制作的宏伟参赛板至今仍可在佛罗伦萨的巴杰罗宫内的巴杰罗博物馆看到。

A picture of Brunelleschi's panel 位于 THIS LINK

这对布鲁内莱斯基来说是一个转折点，在这次挫折之后，他转向了建筑。此时对他产生重要影响的是他的朋友Donatello（1386-1466），他是一位杰出的艺术家。Vasari [13]讲述了一个有趣的插曲：-

多纳泰罗制作了一个木制十字架，被放置在圣十字教堂，他急于听到布鲁内莱斯基对它的看法；但布鲁内莱斯基告诉他，他展示的是一个悬挂在十字架上的农民。这激得多纳泰罗反驳道：“拿些木头自己去做”……布鲁内莱斯基沉默了几个月，同时他制作了一个同样大小的木制十字架……

A picture of Brunelleschi's crucifix 位于 THIS LINK。

他们一起在罗马度过了几年，布鲁内莱斯基 [16]：-

……沉浸于对古代的研究，并特别关注罗马工程的成就。他绘制了许多古代建筑的图纸，包括浴场、巴西利卡、圆形剧场和神庙，尤其研究了建筑构件的构造，如拱顶和穹顶。然而，他进行建筑研究的目的不是学会复制罗马建筑，而是丰富他那个时代的建筑并完善他的工程技能。

布鲁内莱斯基在数学上最重要的成就是在1415年左右，当时他利用镜子重新发现了线性透视的原理。他明白，除了画布平面之外，一个平面中所有平行线都应汇聚到一个单一的消失点。同样重要的是他对比例的理解，他正确计算了一个物体的实际长度与其在画中长度之间的关系，这取决于它在画布平面之后的距离。利用这些数学原理，他绘制了佛罗伦萨的各种场景，透视正确。这些布鲁内莱斯基的透视画此后已经失传，但马萨乔的一幅“三位一体”壁画仍然存在，它使用了布鲁内莱斯基的数学原理。

A picture of Masaccio's Holy Trinity 位于 THIS LINK。

[17]的作者们对这幅由马萨乔于1425年绘制、悬挂在佛罗伦萨新圣母大殿的壁画进行了测量。他们发现了其基本原理：-

测量是使用脚手架直接从壁画上进行的。我们找到了透视方案的中心点，并且……计算出画面的理想观看距离大约为教堂侧廊的宽度。……我们发现所采用的数学技术的性质倾向于证实传统观点，即布鲁内莱斯基对这幅画做出了一些贡献，并且进一步使我们提出，布鲁内莱斯基关于透视的发现可能正是中心点的存在及其性质。

大约从1409年起，布鲁内莱斯基开始对部分完工的佛罗伦萨大教堂圣母百花大教堂产生兴趣。大教堂的建造始于1296年，由阿诺尔福·迪·坎比奥主持，进展非常缓慢。参与大教堂建造的建筑师之一是著名画家乔托，他从1334年起负责钟楼，直到1337年去世。中殿的拱顶于1378年完工，侧廊的拱顶两年后完工。当布鲁内莱斯基对这个项目产生兴趣时，建筑师们面临的主要问题是穹顶的建造。在八角形洗礼堂上放置穹顶面临着巨大的工程问题，关于如何解决这个问题有过许多争论，布鲁内莱斯基开始着手寻找创新的解决方案。

从青年时代起，布鲁内莱斯基 就对机械装置感兴趣，特别是钟表、轮子、齿轮和重物。当大教堂的工程管理员于1418年设立竞赛，以寻找设计和建造穹顶问题的最佳解决方案时，他结合了自己的艺术技能、数学技能以及对机械装置的理解，向管理员提出了建议。布鲁内莱斯基 提出了一个双自支撑外壳和一个肋结构来支撑巨大的重量。他提议使用砖作为建筑材料，以旋转的人字形图案铺设。他的建造方法包括将建筑材料提升到位的方法，避免了使用脚手架，但包括使用他为此目的专门设计的机器。

A sketch of the construction platform 位于 THIS LINK。

获得委托的竞争非常激烈，布鲁内莱斯基再次不得不与吉贝尔蒂竞争。1420年，布鲁内莱斯基获得了委托，建造开始了。使用让人想起阿基米德的技术（根据瓦萨里[13]）：-

……通过使用配重和滑轮进行提升，他使得一头牛就能举起以前六对牛几乎无法移动的沉重负载。

Brunelleschi's sketches of his machines在THIS LINK。

这仍然是一个漫长的建造过程，但到布鲁内莱斯基于1446年去世时，穹顶几乎完全完工。唯一缺失的部分是他设计悬挂在穹顶中央的巨大采光亭。采光亭不仅用于装饰目的，也是结构自我支撑方式的一部分。它是在布鲁内莱斯基去世后按照他的规格建造的。

大教堂的图片在THIS LINK，穹顶的图片在THIS LINK，大教堂穹顶内部的图片在THIS LINK。

尽管圣母百花大教堂是布鲁内莱斯基最著名的建筑成就，但他在佛罗伦萨还有许多其他令人惊叹的建筑实例。其中最早的一个是圣洛伦佐教堂。

Pictures of San Lorenzo在THIS LINK。

1419年，当布鲁内莱斯基受科西莫·德·美第奇雇用建造圣器收藏室时，教堂的计划已经存在，但不到一年，布鲁内莱斯基就获得了重新设计和建造整座教堂的委托。他开始了这项工作，到1428年施工停止时，圣器收藏室和唱诗班礼拜堂已经完成。其风格在运用直线排列的柱子和平面方面是数学性的。比例被极为详细地计算出来，他特别在内部比例设计中运用了他对透视的新理解。教堂在布鲁内莱斯基去世后完成，他的一名学生接手了中殿和穹顶的工作。

布鲁内莱斯基的另一件著名作品是帕齐礼拜堂。大约在1428年，安德烈亚·德·帕齐委托他承担这项工作，希望他设计一座建筑，既作为圣十字修道院教堂的议事厅，也作为帕齐家族的纪念碑。建造仅在布鲁内莱斯基去世前两年才开始，但他的设计再次非凡[1]：-

布鲁内莱斯基在帕齐礼拜堂的平面图和立面图中使用了数学模数和几何公式，正如他在圣洛伦佐教堂所做的那样，但他在后来的建筑中以更复杂和精致的方式安排了空间。一个半球形穹顶覆盖中央正方形，正方形向两侧延伸，使其成为一个矩形的中心。次要空间隔间从主正方形的第三边开口，是一个相应的方形后殿，覆盖着穹顶并包含祭坛。帕齐礼拜堂的奶油色墙面被深灰色石头划分成几何图案。

Pictures of the Pazzi chapel在THIS LINK。

佛罗伦萨的其他建筑或建筑部分由布鲁内莱斯基设计，例如育婴院的凉廊、从未完工的中央平面教堂圣玛丽亚·德利·斯特凡诺‧德力‧安杰利，以及在他去世后完工的圣灵教堂。

Ospedale degli Innocenti的图片在THIS LINK，Santa Maria degli Angeli的图片在THIS LINK，Santo Spirito的图片在THIS LINK。

布鲁内莱斯基还有更多值得称道之处。1421年，他成为第一个获得工业专利的人。这给了他三年垄断权，制造一种带有起重装置的驳船，用于将大理石从卡拉拉采石场运到佛罗伦萨城门，沿阿诺河逆流航行。最后，按照古希腊建筑师的传统，我们应该提到他为演出和节日制作舞台布景这一事实。

他被安葬在圣母百花大教堂，但直到1972年，他失落数百年的坟墓才被发现。

Filippo Brunelleschi's father was Brunellesco Di Lippo who was a notary, that is a public official, in Florence while Filippo's mother was Giuliana Spini who was related to both the Spini and Aldobrandini families. Brunellesco and Giuliana had three sons, Filippo having one older and one younger brother. Certainly Brunellesco would have liked Filippo to have studied law with the aim of becoming a notary like himself but he was attracted to an artistic career and determined to follow that route.

Brunelleschi trained as a goldsmith and sculptor in a workshop in Florence, beginning his apprenticeship in 1392. An important influence on him at this time was Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli who was a merchant and medical doctor. Toscanelli's interest in science and mathematics was particularly significant for he taught his young pupil the principles of geometry. He also brought out Brunelleschi's interest in technology which he would put to good use later in his career.

While teaching at the Arte della Seta in 1401 Brunelleschi entered a competition proposed by the Lord of Florence to design the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery. His panel:-

... of Abraham sacrificing Isaac showed a servant who, as he waits for Abraham and while the ass is grazing, is drawing a thorn from his foot.

Brunelleschi was one of seven artists who entered the competition but despite the high quality of his work he did not win. His panel was rated equal to that of Lorenzo Ghiberti, but Ghiberti was given charge of the commission with Brunelleschi proposed as his assistant. This however did not suit Brunelleschi and he withdrew (according to Vasari [13]):-

... desiring to be the first in some other art, than merely an equal, and perhaps secondary in that undertaking.

The magnificent panels produced by both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi can still be seen in the Bargello Museum housed in the Palazzo del Bargello in Florence.

A picture of Brunelleschi's panel is at THIS LINK

This was a turning point for Brunelleschi who, after this setback, turned towards architecture. An important influence on him at this time was his friend Donatello (1386-1466) who was a superb artist. An interesting episode is recounted by Vasari [13]:-

Donatello made a wooden crucifix which was placed in Santa Croce [and] he was anxious to hear Filippo's opinion of it; but Filippo told him that he had shown a peasant hanging on the cross. This provoked Donatello to retort: "Get some wood and do it yourself"... Filippo kept quiet for a few months while he worked on a wooden crucifix of the same size ...

A picture of Brunelleschi's crucifix is at THIS LINK.

Together they spent several years in Rome, Brunelleschi [16]:-

... immersing himself in a study of antiquity, and paying special attention to the triumphs of Roman engineering. He made drawings of a great many ancient buildings, including baths, basilicas, amphitheatres, and temples, particularly studying the construction of architectural elements, such as vaults and cupolas. The object of his architectural researches, however, was not to learn to reproduce Roman architecture, but to enrich the architecture of his own time and to perfect his engineering skills.

Brunelleschi's most important achievement in mathematics came around 1415 when he rediscovered the principles of linear perspective using mirrors. He understood that there should be a single vanishing point to which all parallel lines in a plane, other than the plane of the canvas, converge. Also important was his understanding of scale, and he correctly computed the relation between the actual length of an object and its length in the picture depending on its distance behind the plane of the canvas. Using these mathematical principles, he drew various scenes of Florence with correct perspective. These perspective drawings by Brunelleschi have since been lost but a "Trinity" fresco by Masaccio still exists which uses Brunelleschi's mathematical principles.

A picture of Masaccio's Holy Trinity is at THIS LINK.

The authors of [17] made measurements of the fresco, painted by Masaccio in 1425, which hangs in Santa Maria Novella, Florence. They discovered its underlying principles:-

Measurements were made directly from the fresco, using scaffolding. We found the centric point of the perspective scheme, and ... calculated the ideal viewing distance of the picture to be about the width of the aisle of the church. ... The nature of the mathematical techniques that we found to have been employed tends to confirm the conventional view that Brunelleschi made some contribution to the picture, and, further, leads us to suggest that Brunelleschi's discovery in regard to perspective may have been the existence and properties of the centric point.

From about 1409 onwards Brunelleschi became interested in the partially completed Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathedral in Florence. Work on the cathedral had begun under Arnolfio di Cambio in 1296 and proceeded very slowly. One of the architects to work on the Cathedral was the famous painter Giotto, who worked on the campanile from 1334 until his death in 1337. The vault of the naves was completed in 1378 and that over the aisles two years later. When Brunelleschi became interested in the project the main problem facing the architects was the construction of the dome. Huge engineering problems faced the placing of a dome on the octagonal Baptistry, and much argument had taken place on how to solve this and Brunelleschi set to work on finding an innovative solution.

From his youth Brunelleschi had been interested in mechanical devices, in particular clocks, wheels, gears and weights. He now combined his artistic skills, his mathematical skills, and his understanding of mechanical devices when he made a proposal to the wardens of works of the cathedral when they set up a competition in 1418 to find the best solution to the problem of designing and constructing the dome. Brunelleschi proposed a double self-supporting shell and a rib structure to support the enormous weight. He proposed brick as a building material, laid in rotating herringbone patterns. His method of construction included ways of lifting construction materials into position, avoided the use of scaffolding but included the use of machines which he had designed specially for the purpose.

A sketch of the construction platform is at THIS LINK.

The competition to be awarded the commission was tough and Brunelleschi again had to compete against Ghiberti. In 1420 Brunelleschi was awarded the commission and construction began. Using techniques reminiscent of Archimedes (according to Vasari [13]):-

... by using counterweights and wheels for lifting he made it possible for a single ox to raise a load so heavy that previously it would hardly have been possible for six pairs of oxen to move it.

Brunelleschi's sketches of his machines are at THIS LINK.

It was still a lengthy construction process, but by the time Brunelleschi died in 1446 the dome was almost completely finished. The only missing part was the huge lantern that he had designed to hang from the centre of the dome. The lantern was not only for decorative purposes but was also part of the way that the structure supported itself. It was built following Brunelleschi's specifications after his death.

Pictures of the cathedral are at THIS LINK, pictures of the cupola are at THIS LINK and a picture of the inside the cathedral dome is at THIS LINK.

Although the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore was the most famous of Brunelleschi's architectural achievements, there are many other examples of his stunning architecture in Florence. One of the first of these was the Church of San Lorenzo.

Pictures of San Lorenzo are at THIS LINK.

Plans for the church already existed in 1419 when Brunelleschi was employed by Cosimo de' Medici to build the sacristy but within a year Brunelleschi was given the commission to redesign and build the whole Church. This he began and by 1428, when construction was halted, the sacristy and choir chapel were completed. The style was mathematical in its use of columns in straight lines, and flat planes. The proportions were worked out in great detail and he used his new understanding of perspective particularly in proportioning of the interior. The church was completed after Brunelleschi's death, one of his pupils taking over the work on the nave and dome.

Another famous work by Brunelleschi was the Pazzi Chapel. He was commissioned to undertake this work by Andrea de' Pazzi around 1428 who wanted him to design a building to act both as a chapter house to the monastic Church of Santa Croce and also as a monument to the Pazzi. Construction only began two years before Brunelleschi's death, but his design is again remarkable [1]:-

Brunelleschi used mathematical modules and geometric formulas for the plan and elevation of the Pazzi Chapel, as he had in San Lorenzo, but he arranged the space in a more complex and sophisticated manner in the later building. A hemispherical dome covers a central square, which is extended on either side so that the square forms the centre of a rectangle. The minor spatial compartment, opening off a third side of the main square, is a corresponding square apse covered by a dome and containing the altar. The creamy wall surface of the Pazzi Chapel is marked off in geometric patterns by dark grey stone.

Pictures of the Pazzi chapel are at THIS LINK.

Other buildings, or parts of buildings, in Florence were designed by Brunelleschi, for example the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, the central-plan church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which was never completed, and the Church of Santo Spirito which was completed after his death.

A picture of Ospedale degli Innocenti is at THIS LINK, a picture of Santa Maria degli Angeli is at THIS LINK and pictures of Santo Spirito are at THIS LINK.

Brunelleschi has yet more claims to fame. In 1421 he became the first person to acquire an industrial patent. It gave him a three-year monopoly on the manufacture of a barge with hoisting gear which was used to carry marble from the Carrara quarries to the gates of Florence, sailing upstream on the Arno. Finally we should mention the fact, in the tradition of ancient Greek architects, that he made stage sets for shows and festivals.

He was buried in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore but it was only in 1972 that his tomb was discovered having been lost for hundreds of years.