NOVA: Great Cathedral Mystery

Good explanation of the wonder of Brunelleschi's dome. How did he do it? "It was impossible, or should have been, at that time."Explains the decades of work of an Italian scholar searching for Brunelleschi's method.Covers briefly Brunelleschi's life, from his youth as a goldsmith, to his travel to Rome studying the ancient buildings. Persuaded Florence to commission him to construct the dome on this church.The church had already been under construction for hundred years!When started no one knew how to put on the dome. Now was the time. How? City fathers opened the bids. Brunelleschi won. The work took sixteen years.Amazing!One point I learned was that some scholars start the Renaissance with this dome. Changed the attitude of Italy (Europe) from feeling inferior to the ancients, to assuming superiority. Huge change.Easy to follow and interesting. Only one hour.

This dvd is a beauty if you are interested in the renaisance and the genius of that time . Every person who loves history should see it.

good job I love history I wish young people would read more history if you do not know where you came from how do where you are going bob

Worth every penny and more: show this to your wife and kids.

Excellent, interesting. If you love architecture, this is very interesting. It took centuries to discover Bruneleschi's secret.

Enjoyable, educational and fascinating. So wonderful to discover the imagination and intelligenceof those who have come before, and very satisfying to be part of the passion that crested Renaissancearchitecture, and art.I watched this three times to fully appreciate all that was being offered.Loved it !!!

Given as a gift which he enjoyed.

Filled with useful information ...

I saw this documentary recently on PBS and liked it so much that I bought my own copy.The dome that Filippo Brunelleschi built on the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore in Florence is an architectural and engineering masterpiece. As stated in the DVD package write up It's "still the largest masonry dome on earth after more than six centuries. It is taller than the Statue of Liberty and weighs as much as an average cruise ship."The technology to build the dome was unknown at the time it was commissioned but Brunelleschi devised a way to do it. Modern engineers would have difficulty replicating Brunelleschi's dome with modern construction technology. Unfortunately, Brunelleschi left no written record of how it was done so his construction methods have long been debated by engineers, architects and historians.This DVD proposes a very compelling theory of how Brunelleschi actually did it. It also gives a very interesting history of Filippo Brunelleschi and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore. This is an excellent DVD for anyone interested in history, art, architecture or engineering. A very well done DVD on a very interesting subject.

I can't believe how entertaining this was to my friends, it's intriguing to anyone.

It's a gift to our son, and I know he will just Love It

On time and as advertised

Okay