Animal Prints Discovered on the Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence
Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence is a cathedral that in part is celebrated by the art and history that it holds. In our collective awe of the 15th Century work of art it is easy to only think about humans and their relation to this history. However, we share this building and it’s history with the animals that live around us and have lived before us. During the restoration of the Brunelleschi-designed cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, workers uncovered hundreds of animal footprints in the terracotta tiles. These animals being birds, cats, foxes, dogs, deer and weasels. At a height of 114.5m it’s shocking to realize that not only birds left their mark on the largest brick dome ever constructed.
The explanation for this is very simple. “They are imprints that animals made on the terracotta tiles left to dry in the sun before being cooked in the kilns of Impruneta. Where Filippo Brunelleschi had chosen the material to cover his dome,” said Samuele Caciagli, head of the technical area of the Opera. This further accentuates the feat that was building the Duomo in 1436. The Duomo di Milano was not built in a tame environment, which is easy to take for granted when one only has to complain about there being too many pigeons.
There are many ways in which human beings share a connection with animals, but it is rare that we share an artistic impression on a work of art especially at the scale of the Duomo. It is refreshing to know that even after 600 years the Duomo can still serve to inspire through it’s hidden and unintentionally placed details.
–Tatenda Chitima
