... of Automobiles... and Politics
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commentary by
Michael L. Bromley |
Bromleyisms
... of Automobiles
... and Politics
...and of history, of society, and a whole lot more.
| he, he... |
Suggestions and comments are welcome. Enjoy!
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Bromley's Book Reviews
This is a marvelous little book that ought to be much better than it is. Thankfully, the story tells itself, and it's an amazing story to tell. Santa Maria del Fiore, known as "The Duomo" must be the greatest church ever built. The man who made it so was all genius, just the thing of a 15th century Florentine -- those people who rebuilt the world in what is feebly called the Italian Renaissance. The first annoyance is King's use of the given name. Seems he's on a personal basis with his subject, so Brunelleschi is Filippo, a close friend, I suppose, as are most of the other actors in the story. Where King really loses me is when his inner novelist intrudes upon the historian. Every other paragraph, it seems, is made of supposition, full of "would haves" and "must haves" that King feels we just must know but that he can't in any way know from history. Worst of all is where King argues with his subject. He damns Brunelleschi in entire chapters for simple failures that ought play but a paragraph. Most historical characters are flawed, and those flaws mar the record. Whatever Brunelleschi's faults rather make for his supreme genius, and not debits the size of King's latter chapters. I wish the book was more a celebration than "balanced" survey of the building of The Duomo and the man who made it. (See Graphic of the Week for a shot of the warning signs at the entrance to the Duomo) It's an easy read, and enjoyable. **Update Mar/05: There's an amazing opportunity for those who can visit Washington, D.C. this Spring to see the actual model of St. Peter's Chapel commissioned by Michelangelo according to his design. While he didn't build it as a sales tool, as did Brunelleschi with his model of the Duomo, it's a great opportunity to get a real world feel for what was going on during the building of Brunelleschi's dome. The model is displayed at the
Pope John Paul II
Cultural Center in Washington, DC through May 31, 2005 Links to:
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