双语+MP3|美国学生艺术史78 麻烦的圆顶

 
让我们以泰姬陵来结束我们所介绍的伊斯兰教建筑。让我们引用阿里巴巴的话来结束这一章，“芝麻关门。” 
78 DOME TROUBLE麻烦的圆顶
 
ONCE upon a time a cathedral was being built in Florence, in Italy. The cathedral was almost finished except for a huge dome on top. Then one day the workmen had to stop work and leave the cathedral unfinished. The architect had died and, as he was the only person who knew how to build a dome big enough for this cathedral, the cathedral remained unfinished for a long time. The architect had left no drawings or plans to guide the builders. He had told no one how he thought the dome should be built. So for over a hundred years the cathedral at Florence stood there with a big hole in the crossing where the dome ought to have been. Finally it was decided to hold a competition and see if any one could be found who could build the dome and thus finish the cathedral. 
In the competition many plans were suggested. One man said he was sure he could build the dome, but he would have to have a big column underneath the center to hold it up. Another man said he could build it, but he would have to have the help of a big pile of earth. 
“If,” said this one, “we mix gold coins with the earth and put this earth in a huge pile where the dome is to be, then we can build the dome around the pile. When the dome is completed, invite the people to carry off the earth to look for the coins. When all the earth is carried away, there will stand our dome.” 
It would have been like looking for the thimble and the ring in a birthday cake. 
The man who won the competition and got the job was named Brunelleschi. He had studied the old Roman buildings in Rome. He had worked as a sculptor, and he was a very good architect. Brunelleschi said he could build the dome, and build it, moreover, without the wooden centering that would use up such a lot of timber. But in spite of Brunelleschi’s confidence, the men in charge didn’t feel quite so sure he could do what he said he could. So they made the sculptor Ghiberti (Gee-bear’tee) an architect for the dome, too. 
Now, Ghiberti was a fine sculptor (his Gates of Paradise prove that) but he really hadn’t an idea of how to build the dome. He therefore did no work on it, although he was getting as much pay for the job as Brunelleschi, who did all the planning. Of course this didn’t please Brunelleschi at all. So Brunelleschi made believe he was sick and stayed home in bed. Then the workmen had to stop work, for Ghiberti didn’t know what to tell them to do next. So as long as Brunelleschi stayed in bed the work waited. 
But in spite of this Ghiberti was not taken from the job, so Brunelleschi had to try another way of getting rid of him. He told the men in charge that he thought it best to divide the work between the two architects. 
“There are two difficult things to be done,” said Brunelleschi, “the bridges upon which the masons must stand and the chain which is to bind together the eight sides of the dome. Let Ghiberti take one of them, and I will take the other, that no more time be lost.” 
This did the trick. Ghiberti chose the chain, but couldn’t make it work. He was soon taken off the job, and Brunelleschi could go ahead alone. 
Brunelleschi finished the dome successfully. It is a different kind of dome from the dome of the Roman Pantheon, and it is different from the dome of St. Sophia. The dome is of brick and it has ribs of stone running down from the top. These ribs divide the dome into eight parts or sides, so it isn’t smoothly round like most domes. For another thing, this dome has a little cupola or tiny tower on top known as a lantern, although there is no light burning inside. 
Just how Brunelleschi managed to build the dome without using centering is a mystery. But he did build it—and built it well. To-day it still rises above the roofs of Florence to be seen from far and near, one of the great domes of the world. It gives to the cathedral its name, the Duomo. If you go to Florence you will see near the Duomo a statue of Brunelleschi. He is shown seated, looking up at the dome, with plans on his lap. 
 
No.78-1 DUOM AND BELL TOWER FLORENCE（佛罗伦萨圆顶大教堂和钟塔） 
There is still another reason beside his work on the Duomo, for telling you about Brunelleschi. He was the first architect of a new kind of architecture known as Renaissance. 
The Renaissance was a rebirth of interest in life—in writing, painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was especially a rebirth of interest in everything left by the ancient Greeks and Romans. I have told you that Brunelleschi studied the old Roman ruins. He had measured them, drawn pictures of them, and learned all he could about them. So when Brunelleschi designed buildings, he used the kinds of columns and decorations and vaults and plans that he admired from studying the Roman ruins. I don’t mean he built copies of Roman buildings. He just used them to go by. And so did all the Italian architects after Brunelleschi. 
The Italians didn’t care for Gothic architecture much, anyway. There was too much sunlight in Italy for churches with walls of glass. The Italians liked their buildings dark and cool inside, instead of full of sunlight, even if the sunlight did come through the marvelous stained glass windows of a Gothic cathedral. 
This new Renaissance architecture was good in many ways, but in some ways it was not so good. The Gothic buildings had always been built so that every part of the building had its own special job to do. The buttresses were to push against the walls. The decorations carved on top of the buttresses were to give them more weight so they could hold more solidly. The stained glass windows and the statues were to tell the Bible stories to people who couldn’t read. There was scarcely any part of a Gothic building that was not honest or useful. 
But the Renaissance buildings weren’t always so honest. Often they were designed just to look well. Columns and pilasters were put on for decoration, without really helping to hold up anything as columns should. An ornament should look like an ornament, not like a column which should be a hard-working, load-bearing support. 
Sometimes a Renaissance architect would cover a Gothic building with Renaissance ornament, to make it look like a Renaissance building. 
But many of the Renaissance buildings were honest buildings. The best artists of the time became architects and designed buildings. New Gothic cathedrals ceased to be built. Indeed, there were almost enough churches already, and so most of the Renaissance buildings were palaces or government buildings or libraries.