The consuls asked Filippo if he would cooperate with Lorenzo, but he refused to do so as he was determined to be supreme in some other art rather than merely be a partner or take second place in that particular project. So he gave the bronze he had done to Cosimo de’ Medici, who subsequently had it placed in the old sacristy of San Lorenzo, at the back of the altar, where it is today. Donatello’s work was given to the Bankers Guild.
Filippo and Donatello were left to themselves after the work had been commissioned from Lorenzo Ghiberti, and they resolved to leave Florence and to spend several years at Rome, where they would study, the one architecture, and the other sculpture. Filippo chose architecture as being more useful to mankind than either sculpture or painting, and he hoped that what he did as an architect would enable him to surpass both Lorenzo and Donatello. He sold a small farm that he owned at Settignano, and then in company with Donatello he left Florence for Rome. And when he walked through Rome seeing for the first time the grandeur of the buildings and the perfect construction of the churches he kept stopping short in amazement, as if thunder-struck. He and Donatello made arrangements for taking the ground-plans of the buildings and measuring the cornices, and they set to work regardless of time or expense. They saw everything there was to see, both in Rome and in the countryside around, and they recorded the measurements of every good piece of work they came across. As Filippo had no domestic ties he was able to give himself completely to his studies, not caring whether he went without food and sleep and concentrating utterly on the architecture of the past, by which I mean the good ancient orders and not the barbarous German style which was then fashionable. Filippo conceived two tremendous ambitions: first, to restore the practice of good architecture, in the belief that if he did so his name would be regarded by posterity as highly as Cimabue’s and Giotto’s; and secondly, if he could, to discover a way to raise the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore at Florence, which was so difficult an undertaking that after the death of Arnolfo Lapi no one had ever had the courage to contemplate attempting it without allowing for vast expenditure on a wooden framework. He confided his ambition neither to Donatello nor to any other living soul, although while he was in Rome he continually investigated all the problems that had been involved in vaulting the Pantheon. He noted and made drawings of all the ancient vaults and was always studying their construction. And if he and Donatello unearthed any remains, such as pieces of capitals, columns, cornices, or the bases of buildings, they would start excavating and have them completely dug out in order to make a detailed examination. This led to their becoming known throughout Rome as ‘treasure-hunters’, which was what they were called by the people when they passed carelessly dressed through the streets on their expeditions. It was thought that they studied geomancy in order to discover buried treasure, the reason for this being that they had once unearthed an old earthenware pot stuffed with medals.
Filippo ran short of money and had to meet his wants by setting jewels for some friends of his who were goldsmiths. He was now alone in Rome, as Donatello had gone back to Florence, and even more intently and energetically than before he carried on studying the old ruins. There was no kind of building of which he did not make drawings: round, square, and octagonal temples, basilicas, aqueducts, baths, arches, colosseums, amphitheatres, and all the brick temples, from which he noted the methods used in binding and clamping with ties and encircling the vaults. He recorded all the methods used for binding stones together and for balancing and dovetailing them; and he investigated the reason for there being a hole hollowed out in the centre and underside of all the large stones, discovering that it was for the iron used to haul them up, which we call the ulivella. He subsequently brought this into use again and employed it himself. Then he distinguished the several orders, namely, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian; and his studies were so thorough and intelligent that in his mind’s eye he could see Rome as it had stood before it fell into ruins.
However, in 1407 the climate in Rome caused him some upset and he was advised by his friends to seek a change of air. So he went back to Florence. Many building projects had suffered because of his absence, and on his return he provided various plans and suggestions.
The same year1 the wardens of works of Santa Maria del Fiore in company with the consuls of the Wool Guild called a congress of local architects and engineers to discuss how to raise the cupola. Filippo was among those who took part, and his advice was that Arnolfo’s plans should be disregarded and that instead of raising the fabric directly from the roof they should construct a frieze thirty feet high, with a large round window in each of its sides, since this would take the weight off the supports of the tribunes and also make it easier to raise the cupola. Following this, models were designed and executed.
Now one morning, a few months after he had recovered from his indisposition, Filippo was on the piazza of Santa Maria del Fiore discussing antiquities and sculpture with Donatello and several other artists. Donatello was saying that when he came back from Rome he passed through Orvieto in order to see the famous marble façade of the Duomo, on which a number of artists had worked, and which in those days was considered very remarkable; and when he was travelling through Cortona, he added, he went into the parish church, where he saw a very beautiful antique sarcophagus on which there was a scene carved in marble. At that time, before the wealth of antiquities that we enjoy today had been brought to light, this was a very remarkable discovery. Donatello went on to describe the way in which the artists had executed this marble, and he praised its finish and the perfection and excellence of the workmanship. While Donatello was talking, Filippo conceived a tremendous desire to set eyes on the work, and so, just as he was in his cloak and hood and wooden shoes, without saying where he was going he trudged off to Cortona, drawn there by his love and enthusiasm for the art of sculpture. He saw and admired the sarcophagus, made a sketch of it, and with that went back to Florence before Donatello or anyone else realized that he had been away. On his return he showed Donatello the drawing he had executed so painstakingly, filling him with amazement at his dedicated enthusiasm.
Filippo stayed in Florence for many months, quietly making models and machines for the cupola, talking and joking every day with the other craftsmen. (This was the time when he made the joke about the Fat Man and Matteo.) And very often he would amuse himself by going along to help Lorenzo Ghiberti polish some part of his doors. However, after a time he took it into his head to return to Rome; for there was talk of arranging for some engineers to vault the cupola, and Filippo thought that he would be valued more highly if he had to be sought after than if he stayed in Florence. While Filippo was in Rome the project was discussed, and at the same time men recalled how shrewd he was, since he had shown in his suggestions a confidence and courage lacking in the other artists who were now standing along with the masons inactive and frustrated, convinced that they would never find a way to vault the cupola or beams to make a bridge strong enough to support the framework and mass of so tremendous an edifice. Determined to see the enterprise through they wrote to Filippo in Rome, begging him to return to Florence; and this being just what Filippo wanted, he very politely did what they asked.
After Filippo had arrived, the wardens of Santa Maria del Fiore and the consuls of the Wool Guild assembled together and explained all the difficulties, great and small, that had been raised by all the other artists, who were also present at this meeting. Filippo listened to all this and then he said:
Sirs, naturally great projects always present great problems, and especially this enterprise which raises even more difficulties than you may be aware of, because I wonder if even the ancients ever raised a vault as daunting as this will be. I have often thought about the framework that is needed both on the outside and within, so that the work can be done safely, and I have never been able to make up my mind, being appalled by the breadth no less than by the height of the construction, since if the cupola could be round it would be possible to follow the me
thod the Romans used when they vaulted the Pantheon, that’s to say the Rotunda, whereas in this case we have to follow the eight sides, using ties and dovetailing the stones. And that will be a far more formidable undertaking. But when I remember that this is a church dedicated to God and to the Virgin I am confident that since it is being built in her honour she will not fail to give us the knowledge which is lacking and to grant strength, wisdom, and understanding to whoever is responsible for the work. But how can I help, since the project has not been entrusted to me? All I can say definitely is that, if it were, I would be bold and resolute in finding a way round the difficulties in order to vault the cupola. I have not yet given this much thought; and yet you want me to explain what method to use! All the same, if you, sirs, were to make up your minds to go ahead you would have to make a trial of more people than just me, since I don’t think I could advise on such a great undertaking by myself. You would also have to go to the expense of arranging for many architects, from Florence and Tuscany but also from Germany, France, and other countries, to come together in Florence during the coming year; then you would have to explain the enterprise to them, so that after it had been discussed and settled among so many artists a start might be made and the commission given to the one showing concrete proof of his ability or demonstrating the best working method and judgement. And I know no better plan or advice you could follow than this.
The consuls and wardens were delighted with Filippo’s scheme and suggestions, but for the time being they urged him to make them a model which they could study. However, he showed no inclination to provide one; and instead he took his leave of them, saying that he had been approached by letter to go back to Rome. When the consuls saw that neither their pleas nor those of the wardens had any effect on Filippo they got many of his friends as well to beg him to stay. But he still refused. And so one morning, 26 May 1417, the wardens decided to grant him an allowance (which can be seen credited to Filippo in the accounts of the Office of Works) in order to win him over. However, Filippo still refused to change his mind; and he left Florence for Rome where he spent all his time studying how to vault the cupola, rightly believing that he was the only one who could do it. As for his advice that other architects should be consulted, this was given by him more because he wanted to prove his superior intelligence than because he thought they would be able to vault the tribune or even undertake the task, which was much too difficult for them.
After a considerable time the architects arrived from their various parts of the world, summoned long distances by orders given to Florentine merchants, living in France, Germany, England, and Spain, who were told to spare no expense in securing from the rulers of those countries the services of the most skilled and intelligent artists and sending them to Florence. When the year 1420 arrived there were at last assembled in Florence all those experts from north of the Alps and from Tuscany, along with all the most able Florentine designers; and Filippo himself returned from Rome. They assembled in the Office of Works of Santa Maria del Fiore, in the presence of the wardens and consuls and a number of the most able citizens, all of whom were to listen to each artist’s suggestions and then reach a decision on how to vault the cupola. So they were all called into the audience and everyone spoke his mind in turn, each architect explaining his own plan. It was wonderful to hear their strange and diverse opinions on the subject: some said that piers should be constructed from ground-level and that the arches should turn on these and support the wooden bridges for sustaining the weight; others said it would be as well to make the cupola out of pumicestone so that it would be less heavy; many others agreed that there should be a central pier and that the cupola should be raised in the form of a groined vault, like that of San Giovanni at Florence. And there were even some who suggested that the best method would be to fill it with a mixture of earth and coins so that when it was raised those who wanted to could be given permission to help themselves to the earth, and in that way they would quickly remove it all without expense. Filippo alone said that it could be raised without a great deal of woodwork, without piers or earth, at far less expense than arches would entail, and very easily without any framework.
To the consuls, who had been expecting to hear him expound some beautiful scheme, and to the wardens and all the citizens present, it seemed that Filippo was talking nonsense. They mocked and laughed at him and turned away saying that he should talk about something else, and that his ideas were as mad as he was. Filippo took offence at this and said:
Sirs, I assure you that it is impossible to raise it in any other way. You may well laugh at me, but you must understand, unless you are obstinate, that it neither should nor could be done otherwise. What is necessary, if the method I have devised is to be used, is that the cupola should be turned with the curve of a pointed arch and made double, with one vault inside and the other outside so that a man can walk upright between them. And over the corners of the angles of the eight sides the fabric must be bound together through its thickness by dovetailing the stones, and likewise the sides must be bound with oaken ties. Attention must be paid to the lights, the stairways, and the conduits to draw off the rain-water. And none of you has remembered that it will be necessary to provide for internal scaffolding for the mosaics, and for countless other difficult things. But I can already envisage the completed vaulting and I know there is no method or way of doing it other than as I’m explaining.
Filippo grew more and more heated as he was talking, and the more he tried to explain his concept so that they might understand and accept it the more sceptical their doubts about his proposal made them, until they dismissed him as an ass and a babbler. Several times he was told to leave, but he absolutely refused to go, and then he was carried out bodily by the ushers, leaving all the people at the audience convinced that he was deranged. This ignominious affair was the reason why Filippo had later to admit that he dared not walk anywhere in the city for fear of hearing people call out: ‘There goes the madman.’
The consuls remained in the audience chamber, thoroughly confused both by the difficult solutions proposed by the other artists and by Filippo’s own scheme. They thought his ideas absurd, and it seemed to them there were two reasons why he must fail: first, by making the vaulting double (which certainly meant a tremendous and unwieldy mass); and secondly, by raising the cupola without a framework. As for Filippo, who had spent so many years studying in order to win the commission, he did not know what to do with himself and he was more than once tempted to quit Florence. However, in order to triumph in the end he had now to arm himself with patience, and he was shrewd enough to know that in the city of Florence no one’s mind stays unchanged for very long. In fact, he could have shown them a small model he had made for the project, but he was reluctant to do so because he realized the lack of understanding among the consuls, the jealousy of the other artists, and the fickleness of the citizens, each of whom favoured now one and now another as it took his fancy. And this comes as no surprise to me, since everyone in Florence has pretensions to understanding art as much as the experienced masters, although there are very few who do in fact understand; and I say this without offence to those who are knowledgeable.
What he had failed to prove in front of the tribunal Filippo then tried to do elsewhere, talking now to this consul, now to that warden, and also to various other citizens. After he had shown them part of his design he led them to decide to commission the work either from him or from one of the foreigners. As a result, the consuls, the wardens, and the citizens who had been involved in the earlier discussions were encouraged to call another meeting and the architects once again disputed the matter. But with various arguments Filippo crushed and defeated them all. It was on this occasion, it is said, that there arose the dispute about the egg. It happened in this way. They wanted Filippo to explain his mind in detail and show his model as they had shown theirs. He was unwilling to do this, but he suggested to the other masters, both the foreigners and the Florentines, that who
ever could make an egg stand on end on a flat piece of marble should build the cupola, since this would show how intelligent each man was. So an egg was procured and the artists in turn tried to make it stand on end; but they were all unsuccessful. Then Filippo was asked to do so, and taking the egg graciously he cracked its bottom on the marble and made it stay upright. The others complained that they could have done as much, and laughing at them Filippo retorted that they would also have known how to vault the cupola if they had seen his model or plans. And so they resolved that Filippo should be given the task of carrying out the work, and he was told to give more details to the consuls and the wardens.
Lives of the Artists Page 15