Brunelleschi’s Road Map to Architectural Perfection

I admit it. I’m not a map reader. That has been delegated to my built in genius wife, Carla, that I affectionately call Magellan. When we travel with Sue and Steve Lundgren, Steve and Carla always occupy the back seat of a rental and attempt to tell Sue and I where to go. It’s become a big game. If the two of them get us ALL lost, they are in a shitload of trouble.

I bring this up because living seasonally in Florence has changed my mind about caring for maps. This morning, I decided to draw my own map of Florence based on having lived here. This was a cool exercise. I actually know enough to be dangerous. At least if Magellan (aka Carla) wonders away, I’m not going to be found dead, nose down in the Arno!

Now equipped with my homemade map, we leave the apartment and I lead us to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. This is home to the burial place of the Medicis. Like the Californians on SNL, take THE 405 and exit on THE 101. Hold it, we are in Florence. Go across THE Ponte Vecchio, and take THE VIA POR SANTA MARIA headed toward THE train station.

If you get a chance to visit and spend 14 Euros each, you will enjoy this ancient church rebuilt by “startup artist” Filippo Brunelleschi. The Medici’s tomb were designed, none other than Michelangelo. The second you cross the threshold of San Lorenzo, you will be hit with boldness of symmetry. Clearly, this structure is proportionate and a wonder to behold.

Visualize this. If your sixth grade art teacher (mine was Miss Helvey) in your past taught you to draw railroad tracks reflecting linear perspective, you will fall in love with San Lorenzo. Miss Helvey would say…if you capture San Lorenzo correctly with foreshortening, the altar’s dimensions along the line of sight appear shorter than the dimensions across the line of sight. Really? Speak clearly…would you? All the objects recede to points in the distance in this place!

I choose to sit in the pews and hear some tourists murmuring about the rich Catholic church and how everything is gilded in gold. Little do they know that Brunellechi studied under a goldsmith. With his artistic skills, Brun fused rediscovery and recreation on the Sacristy, doming in gold to symbolizing the golden heavens.

My guess is that Brun had his own road map to finish this Basilica. He definitely created an architectural masterpiece to feast your eyes upon in 2020. Go see it for yourself and don’t rush through it.