EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
The Renaissance and Baroque City
David Mayernik, University of Notre Dame
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Reading a City's Skyline: Florence Notes taken on March 15, 2016 by Edward Tanguay |
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a city's skyline
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tells something about the city's values and hierarchy
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traditional European city
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clear diagram of
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what was ordinary
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what the decided could rise above the skyline
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below the skyline
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the fabric of life
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where everyone lives and works
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whether you are the wealthiest or the poorest, your building operates as part of that datum
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above the skyline
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buildings that have particular political or religious significance
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church and bell tower
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town hall and bell tower
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Florence
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below the skyline: the datum
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palaces
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humble houses
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monastic complexes
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church buildings of various kinds
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above the skyline: what is highlighted
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Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
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main church of Florence
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1296 begun
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1436 completed structurally
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located in Piazza del Duomo
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Florence Baptistery
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Giotto's Campanile (bell tower)
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town hall
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as you approach Florence
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you see what the city values
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these high buildings were used to call people together to meet
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they both have bell towers that are high and thus can be heard
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Medici family made dome for their tombs
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originally an Italian banking family
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the family became very important
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made themselves dukes of the city
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became a kind of nobility
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produced three Popes of the Catholic Church
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skyline represents a diagram of the city's hierarchy and values
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this is an old way of thinking about cities
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the skyline was a structure defining shared values
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today we essentially allow market forces to define the skyline of the city