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Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) - Indian Chief Travel
ITALY  |  Florence, Italy Travel Guide
Friday, March 29, 2024
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Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)

Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza del Duomo)

From the climb to the top of the Cupola, you’ll already have a good idea of the size of this vast and luminous cathedral, at 153m (502 ft) long and 38 m (125 ft) wide at the nave, the fifth-largest in the world after St Peter’s in Rome, Yamoussourkro Basilica on the Ivory Coast, St Paul’s in London and Milan Cathedral. It was built to replace the original fifth-century Chiesa di Santa Reparta. It had been enlarged and modified since the eighth century until it was finally decided in the 13th to replace it with something bigger and better. The remains of the original church, including Brunelleschi’s tomb, were discovered in the 1960s and they can be visited during Duomo opening hours, i3.

The new building, dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio to reflect the city’s increasing style and ambition, but it was a succession of architects who carried out the work of his original and partly unexplained plan after Arnolfo died. The size and nakedness of the interior are all the more apparent in contrast to the detail of the exterior façade, which, though in the style of the time, dates only from the end of the 19th century and uses the same marble from Carrara (white), Maremma (red) and Prato (green) that is used inside. Look for the frescoed tributes on the wall of the left aisle to the two equestrian condottieri (mercenary commanders), the first Niccolò da Tolentino (1456) by Andrea Castagno, followed by the earlier Giovanni Acuto (1436) by Paolo Uccello (in reality showing the English commander John Hawkwood). Uccello also created the clock depicting four Evangelists on the entrance wall and a couple of the stained glass windows below the dome (Ghiberti, Castagno and Donatello are responsible for the remainder).

Just beyond the horsemen can be seen Michelino’s representation of Dante, Florence and his The Divine Comedy (1465), while the terracotta lunettes above the two sacristies on either side of the altar are the work of Luca della Robbia (a Resurrection above the North Sacristy and an Ascension above the Sacrestia dei Canonici); he also created the bronze doors of the North Sacristy.

Last updated November 11, 2008
Posted in   Italy  |  Florence
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