Saving Michelangelo’s Dome: How Three Mathematicians and a Pope Sparked an Architectural Revolution
By Wayne Kalayjian
Pegasus Books
ISBN: 978 -63936-586-9
Examines the efforts to repair and restore the dome atop St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in the 18th century. The book also delves into how this church was designed and built during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Excerpt:
When Nicholas V was elected pope in 1447, the Roman metropolis was in steep decline, its population in retreat, and its people thoroughly discouraged. He was startled, too, that by this time the basilica on Vatican Hill was “now deplorable” and in “serious disrepair”; it was in such a sorry and perilous state that its southern wall (which faced the former circus) “leaned six feet out of the perpendicular [with its] mosaics… covered with dust as hardly to be visible.” The damage was so severe that notable architect Leon Battista Alberti warned after his personal inspection “that very soon some slight shock or movement will cause it [the south wall] to fall.” Under these circumstances, it was only prudent that Nicholas V consider wholesale replacement of Constantine’s basilica, and for this he hired the Florentine architect and sculptor Bernardo Rossellino to prepare a new design (with likely guidance from Alberti). But Nicholas V, “who had been turning the city upside down with all his building projects,” died before much new work could advance at St. Peter’s, and the next six papal administrations deferred any discussion about Rossellino’s proposal by opting instead to repair rather than replace the celebrated shrine.
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Who is this book for?
While there is not much medieval content in this book, even medievalists will find some interest in reading it. Those studying church architecture, the Papacy, the city of Rome, or even the afterlives of medieval and Renaissance-era buildings should check it out.
The author
Wayne Kalayjian is a civil and structural engineer who also lectures at the University of Southern California. You can learn more about Wayne through his personal website.
Saving Michelangelo’s Dome: How Three Mathematicians and a Pope Sparked an Architectural Revolution
By Wayne Kalayjian
Pegasus Books
ISBN: 978 -63936-586-9
Examines the efforts to repair and restore the dome atop St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in the 18th century. The book also delves into how this church was designed and built during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Excerpt:
When Nicholas V was elected pope in 1447, the Roman metropolis was in steep decline, its population in retreat, and its people thoroughly discouraged. He was startled, too, that by this time the basilica on Vatican Hill was “now deplorable” and in “serious disrepair”; it was in such a sorry and perilous state that its southern wall (which faced the former circus) “leaned six feet out of the perpendicular [with its] mosaics… covered with dust as hardly to be visible.” The damage was so severe that notable architect Leon Battista Alberti warned after his personal inspection “that very soon some slight shock or movement will cause it [the south wall] to fall.” Under these circumstances, it was only prudent that Nicholas V consider wholesale replacement of Constantine’s basilica, and for this he hired the Florentine architect and sculptor Bernardo Rossellino to prepare a new design (with likely guidance from Alberti). But Nicholas V, “who had been turning the city upside down with all his building projects,” died before much new work could advance at St. Peter’s, and the next six papal administrations deferred any discussion about Rossellino’s proposal by opting instead to repair rather than replace the celebrated shrine.
Who is this book for?
While there is not much medieval content in this book, even medievalists will find some interest in reading it. Those studying church architecture, the Papacy, the city of Rome, or even the afterlives of medieval and Renaissance-era buildings should check it out.
The author
Wayne Kalayjian is a civil and structural engineer who also lectures at the University of Southern California. You can learn more about Wayne through his personal website.
You can learn more about the book through the publisher’s website
You can also buy this book from Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
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