Examining Subdivisions
When I start to read a book the first thing I look at is its cover; If I receive the cover as appealing, the chances of me choosing it as my next book is pretty big. In this case the cover shows a beautiful red and dark blue pattern which automatically makes me think of nature. This shows me that even though this is an educational book, the maker wanted to make it appealing to the eye. By just quickly flipping through the book one notices that it is neatly separated with the text at the beginning and the pictures, plans, etc. at the end. The pages are kept in black and white with a few exceptions of red words here and there.
Without even understanding the language one can quickly guess the topic of the book: the Florence Cathedral. Each chapter has its focus on an individual building component/part of the building such as for example the floor plan, cross section, dome, etc.. There is a corresponding picture to each chapter in the back of the book with the identical number for easy comprehension (Figure I, Figure II, etc.). This concept also helps a lot to understand the structure of the book. It makes me think about it as “a guide” to the Florence Cathedral. Therefor we could say that this book is a direct analysis of this historically crucial building structure.
In some way it also makes me think of an architectural dictionary. What impresses me the most about the book is the fact that Sgrilli managed to take apart a whole complex cathedral piece by piece in around 80 pages.
Something I found really funny and surprising at the same time is that there are two sonnets separating the text and the picture parts. The first ones title (“Applauso di un Pastore arcade all’ edizione della presente Opera”) translates to “Applause of an arcade pastor at the edition oof this work” which makes me think that it might be a reading recommendation. The second one with the title “Per la non mai descritta fabbrica del duomo di Firenze opera erudita del signor Girolamo Ticciati Scultore e Architetto Fiorentino” which roughly translates to “for the never before described building of the Florence Cathedral, an erudite work by Girolamo Ticciati (Florentine sculptor and architect) seems to be a contribution by one of Sgrilli’s helpers/ partners for this book.
Key Words: detailed, erudite, elaborate