Climbing Brunelleschi’s Dome…
by Rodney Campbell on Feb.18, 2018, under Life, Photography
Consisting of two interconnected ogival shells, the cathedral’s octagonal dome was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.
A masterpiece capable of withstanding lightning, earthquakes and the passage of time, it continues to enchant all those who observe it from afar. The dome has a diameter of 45.5 metres.
Brunelleschi’s astonishingly innovative approach involved vaulting the dome space without any scaffolding by using a double shell with a space in between. The inner shell (with a thickness of more than two metres) is made of light bricks set in a herringbone pattern and is the self-supporting structural element while the outer dome simply serves as a heavier, wind-resistant covering.
Climbing the Duomo
NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 16 mm, 1/15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 5000
If you wish to visit the various Duomo sites you will need to purchase a ticket online. The fairly expensive €15 ticket allows you access to each of the locations including the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo), Brunelleschi’s Dome, the Baptistery, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Crypt of Santa Reparata and the Opera Museum.
The queues for entry were insanely long so we only used our tickets to climb the bell tower and the dome.
Thankfully you can book an entry time for the dome climb online so I picked 4:15PM with the expectation that we’d be at the top before sunset (which was 4:50PM) and we could view the city in late afternoon light, watch the sunset and then see the city in twilight as night fell, before heading back down.
Unfortunately what I hadn’t factored in was just how insanely slow it is to make your way to the top. Essentially the way up is the same as the way down. There are many points where the corridor is extremely narrow, so people are queuing or backtracking inside waiting for people coming the other way.
Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.
The Dome Within
NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 16 mm, 1/15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
The inner shell of the dome was frescoed by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari from 1572 to 1579.
Nearly There
NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 16 mm, 1/15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 7200
463 steps later we actually made it to the top a few minutes after scheduled sunset. The view from the top however is spectacular.
Giotto’s Bell Tower
NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 16 mm, 1/15 sec at f/7.1, ISO 200
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