Filippo Brunelleschi

Brunelleschi (1377-1446), a pioneer of the early Renaissance--the architect credited with ``overcoming the Gothic''--himself followed the Florentine Gothic tradition, according to this challenging monograph. Supposedly the rediscoverer of classical antiquity, this Florentine builder-engineer used virtually no marble, a material beloved of the Greeks. Instead he built with sandstone and covered his walls with plaster. In this amply illustrated study, originally a postdoctoral thesis, Klotz ( 20th Century Architecture ) shows how Brunelleschi evolved an elegant, transparent style by synthesizing classical, medieval, Gothic and Romanesque elements. Among the projects analyzed with the aid of documentary photographs and plans are Brunelleschi's lofty, gently curving dome for Florence Cathedral--predecessor of Michelangelo's cupola for St. Peter's--plus the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo and the Barbadori Chapel in Florence. (July)