History of early modern period domes

1953:, the building had the more difficult supporting structure of four main arches between four free-standing pillars. A dome for Sant'Alessandro was built in 1626 and demolished in 1627, perhaps due to the use of an inadequate number of iron ties. Although the dome had a timburio, it may also have had a lower and less stable hemispherical form. Autographed drawings from the period indicate it was a ribbed hemispherical dome with a lantern and timburio. Deep cracks in the arches supporting the dome caused the completed dome to be demolished, along with the supporting arches in February 1627. In 1629, the supporting piers were enlarged and the four round arches were strengthened with iron reinforcement and by adding pointed arches above them. An outbreak of disease stopped work in 1630 and the dome was not completed until 1693, with an extrados shape. 3540: 3242: 2764: 1592:

movement and were more vulnerable than vaults because movement in the drums beneath them could increase the damage. A large amount of movement in a single event or the cumulative effect of multiple earthquakes could result in collapse. Only a few examples from the 16th century survive. Domes were used in some of the earliest churches in Mexico and were also used in secular architecture. Early domes were commonly hemispherical and low, springing from the level of the roofline, rather than using an intervening drum. They almost always have an octagonal base and commonly have windows piercing each segment of the dome near the base, which correspond to

1417: 2457:(1638–41) has a novel oval plan that approximates an ellipse using four circular arcs based on the vertices of two large equilateral triangles; a complex geometrical coffer pattern of crosses, octagons, and lozenges is repeated eight times on the dome's inner surface. Because the dome uses a pattern of coffers that get smaller as they approach the oculus and because it is lit from both above and below, the dome appears lighter and higher than it would otherwise. The church inaugurated the high baroque style in Rome. A copy based on plans provided by Borromini was built as the church of 2810:. The use of the brick cone, in addition to other innovations, allowed the piers beneath the dome to be reduced in size. The thickness of the brick cone is 450 millimeters. The dome is supported by eight piers with a veneer of Portland stone over a core of rubble infill, which were damaged by the added pressure from the dome's construction and needed repairs in 1709. The dome was completed in 1710. Wren's structural system became the standard for large domes well into the 19th century. The iron chains used to encircle the 34-meter-wide dome have since been replaced by 2194: 3709: 1930: 1667: 4764: 2492: 584: 374:'s treatise, one of the most popular architectural treatises ever published, was responsible for the spread of the oval in late Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Book I (1545), on geometry, included techniques to create ovals, and Book V (1547), on architecture, included a design for an oval church. Churches with oval plans begin to be built in the middle of the sixteenth century. Churches with oval domes allowed for a synthesis of the two fundamental church types, longitudinal and central plan, and would become characteristic of 429:(1561) along with practical methods of achieving the shape using circular arcs, the technique used from the time of the ancient Romans. Alonso de Vandelvira published a description of the geometry of oval domes around 1580 with orthogonal projections of meridian and parallel rib curves. Oval domes often incorporated both elliptical and oval or semicircular curves and this ambiguity is reflected in the architectural literature. Builders relied on graphical or empirical solutions to such geometric problems. In 1640, mathematician 3041: 2239:(1667–90) in Turin is supported by six stacked hexagonal layers of six arches each, arranged such that each layer of arches spring from the peaks of the arches in the layer below them. Although the layers form a cone leading to the base of the dome, each is made progressively smaller to exaggerate the appearance of height. The dome itself is a lighter color than the lower levels of the church, also making it appear even farther away. The ribs in San Lorenzo and Il Sidone were shaped as catenary curves. 3260:, was completed in 1731 and is the largest masonry dome of its kind in the world. It measures 37.15 meters by 24.8 meters at its base and is pierced by eight oval windows and a central oval oculus with a cupola. Although iron rings were used as part of the original construction at three levels to hold the dome together, cracks developed as the foundation settled further over the centuries. Additional reinforcement was added from 1985 to 1987 to halt their spread. Oval domes are also found in nearby 1063: 1292: 1572: 1094:, an octagonal staircase tower for the Church of St. Martin d'Ackerghem, built in the beginning of the sixteenth century, had a bulbous cupola similar to a Syrian minaret. These cupolas were made of wood covered with copper, as were the examples over turrets and towers in the Netherlands at the end of the fifteenth century, many of which have been lost. The earliest example from the Netherlands that has survived is the bulbous cupola built in 1511 over the 38: 3388:(1743–72) uses a system of intersecting ovals similar to that at Banz Abbey. Unlike Banz, the bands at the intersection of the vaults are modeled in stucco, rather than being structural. The stone and mortar shells of the domed vaulting are reinforced by iron bars, a technique he also used in the 18 meter span domed vault covering the staircase at the Würzburg Residence. It was built in a rural area of Bavaria as a pilgrimage church, as was the 721: 204: 1632:, from around 1580, is the first Spanish scientific treatise and contains the first recorded definitions of the geometry of meridian and parallel ribs for six kinds of oval domes. It is evidence of the scientific and cultural exchange occurring with Italy in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Early oval domes built in Spain in the second half of the sixteenth century include the crossing dome of the 3414:, with an internal span of 33.7 meters, dates from 1768 and rests on a ring of columns. It has been seen as a "landmark in the transition from Italian to French models in South German architecture" and may have been inspired by the Church of St. Genevieve, although the structural system was controversial. The 15.4 meter wide center of the inner dome dates is a thin membrane structure that dates from 1910-1913. 3793:(1776-1784) for the Massachusetts State House exterior and the domed Great Room of James Wyatt's Pantheon (1772) for the Representative's Hall. In Massachusetts, the exterior dome is not visible from the interior of the building. The wooden exterior of the dome was initially painted white, then covered in canvas painted to resemble lead roofing with a gilded pinecone finial. The entire dome was later gilded. 1797:, is regarded as a masterpiece of stereotomy and the architect published a theory of the technique in 1567. The dome consists of thirteen courses of stone voussiors cut to form seven and a half courses of diamond coffers. The eighteen pairs of ribs between the coffers spiral in opposite directions to a lantern-covered oculus and shrink in size as they ascend, producing an illusion of greater height. 888: 295:

domes became popular in central and southern Germany and in Austria in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and influenced those in Poland and Eastern Europe in the Baroque period. However, many bulbous domes in the larger cities of eastern Europe were replaced during the second half of the eighteenth century in favor of hemispherical or stilted cupolas in the French or Italian styles.

3748:. This dome, which leaked and was criticized as "inadequate, unimpressive, and too small for the building" and constructed "contrary to the rules of architecture", was replaced with the taller present design after 1784. The present dome was made of wood held together with wooden pegs and the exterior was completed by 1788; the interior was completed by 1797. The dome is similar to that of 337:

20 meters. Materials were considered homogeneous and rigid, with compression taken into account and elasticity ignored. The weight of materials and the size of the dome were the key references. Lateral tensions in a dome were counteracted with horizontal rings of iron, stone, or wood incorporated into the structure. Other techniques used to reduce lateral thrust were to add a

1525:'s publication of the main dome's cross-section in 1589. The main dome over the church is a stone spherical dome and lantern on a cylindrical drum and has an internal diameter of 18.94 meters. Smaller versions with internal diameters of 6.68 meters top the two church towers. The influence of the dome at El Escorial is evident in domes at the church of the 811:

sixteen windows in the drum to act as buttresses, and are aligned with the sixteen ribs of the dome and the paired columns of the lantern. An artist and sculptor, rather than an engineer, Michelangelo did not create full engineering plans for the dome and his model lacked construction details. The dome of St. Peter's basilica was later built by

850:(the decorative strip above the drum), which are about 18 meters tall. The two shells of the dome are brick and each about 1.19 meters thick at the base of the dome. Because the shells separate from each other as they rise, the dome is 2.7 meters thick overall. The sixteen ribs connect the two shells together and are made of stone. 2235:. The four years he spent in Paris may have influenced the emphasis on forced perspective and optical effects in his domes, in contrast to the more formalistic architectural design of Rome at that time. He used form, color, and light to give the illusion of greater height in his centralized domed churches. His dome over the 2929:, wanted to surpass the dome of London's St. Paul's Cathedral and, like St. Paul's, the dome consisted of three shells. Unlike St. Paul's, and due to advances in mathematics and engineering, all three shells were built of stone and made a part of a structural system that permitted support by thinner piers and walls. 2330:(founded in 1631). In Poland, polygonal buildings and earlier medieval towers were often capped with domes in the Renaissance or Baroque styles. The Renaissance domes were generally onion domes stacked on top of one another and separated with so-called lanterns of openwork arcades. An example is the tower at the 2468:(1642–50), built for Pope Urban at a University in Rome. The ribbed dome has a unique and complex geometry with a large window in each of it six lobes and stucco ornamentation. The style of using ribs in a dome over a coffered background was first expressed over the small chapel of Filippo Neri in the church of 528:(and later others) argued that the dome could be thought of as sliced into a series of independent wedged-shaped segments meeting as arches. Therefore, a dome as a whole was stable if each constituent arch was stable and analysis of a dome could be performed the same way as analysis of an arch. He published his 270:

beneath domes increased, which introduced new structural difficulties. The spread of domes in this style outside of Italy began with central Europe, although there was often a stylistic delay of a century or two. Use of the oval dome spread quickly through Italy, Spain, France, and central Europe and

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was based on designs by Gagliardi and the 1755 vault over the church of San Giuseppe in Syracuse by Carmelo Bonaiuto is also related. The dome over the crossing of four ribs springing from the centers of it supporting arches and is also a self-supporting false vault made of wood covered in plaster.

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When finished, the dome had three layers: an inner dome with an oculus, a decorative outer wooden dome covered in lead roofing, and a structural brick cone in between. The brick cone ends in a small dome that supports the cupola and outer roof and the decorated underside of which can be seen through

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pattern. Work began in 1506 and continued under a succession of builders over the next 120 years. Bramante's project for St. Peter's marks the beginning of the displacement of the Gothic ribbed vault with the combination of dome and barrel vault. Proposed inspirations for Bramante's plan have ranged

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A combination of barrel vaults, pendentives, drum, and dome developed as the characteristic structural forms of large Renaissance churches following a period of innovation in the later fifteenth century. Florence was the first Italian city to develop the new style, followed by Rome, and then Venice.

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Analytical approaches were also being developed and debated in the eighteenth century, particularly between French and Italian mathematicians and architects, but were considered too theoretical to be used in construction. The study of dome structures changed radically, with domes being considered as

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The construction of domes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries relied primarily on empirical techniques and oral traditions rather than the architectural treatises of the times, which avoided practical details. This was adequate for domes up to medium size, with diameters in the range of 12 to

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was built about 100 km away from an active fault line. The dome was built with adobe-concrete and tiles. Although the cruciform arrangement of the church allows it to withstand some horizontal force, the materials used were chosen for their resistance to compression only and the earthquakes it

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The idea of a large oculus in a solid dome revealing a second dome originated with Guarini. He established the oval dome as a reconciliation of the longitudinal plan church favored by the liturgy of the Counter-Reformation and the centralized plan favored by idealists. Guarini's drawings, including

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by 4.8 meters, and changing the shape of the dome. Giacomo della Porta insisted on a vertically elliptical profile for the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, for structural reasons, and construction began in June 1588. The dome was completed up to the base of the lantern in May 1590, a few months before

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by stating "explicitly that the stability of a structure can be established unequivocally if it can be shown that the thrust line lies completely within the masonry." His observation of cracks in the outer shell by the ribs has more recently been attributed by computer models to the heavy lantern.

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and the hemispherical shape of Michelangelo's design for the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Cracks discovered shortly after completion necessitated the addition by Vasari of iron chains on the inside and outside, but structural problems have continued and additional chains have been added over the

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in 1588 to begin construction of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica to Michelangelo's model. They made modifications to his design estimated to have reduced the tensile stresses in the dome by 40%, including thinning the two shells near the top, reducing the thickness and exterior projection of the

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profiles to increase the proportional height of domes and increasing the angle at which they intersected with their lanterns, for both structural and aesthetic reasons. To counter the negative impact this raised profile has on the interior appearance, domes with two or three layers of vaults were

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technique and consisted of a wooden structural framework filled out with cane or bamboo and covered with plaster and stucco to resemble stone. The anti-seismic properties of this light and elastic system allowed the 36.9 foot wide double-shell dome of the church, a hemisphere and lantern resting

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wooden churches in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and Tatar wooden mosques in Poland were domed central plan structures with adjacent minarets. The fully developed onion dome was prominent in Prague by the middle of the sixteenth century and appeared widely on royal residences. Bulbous

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and southeast France since the 15th century. The original intended site of the mausoleum, begun in 1596, was found to have problems with uneven settlement due to the soil and this led to a halt in construction. After efforts to compensate for the settlement, and despite the mausoleum at Superga

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with eight ribs connected to each other by horizontal arches to resist outward force. It was completed in 1673 and he defended its proportions in print by both citing the measured proportions of other domes as well as the existing geometrical rules of proportion based on materials and supports.

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instead of a bell tower, although stone bell towers were often added in later centuries, typically topped by a small hemispherical dome. Vaults and domes were usually built with brick and, like towers, were particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. Domes developed vertical cracks from the lateral

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against anyone who altered his design, completed construction of the base for the drum by May 1558, and spent November 1558 to December 1561 creating a detailed wooden model. Construction of the drum was completed a few months after he died in 1564. Sixteen pairs of columns project out between

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in Dublin with a central rotunda. Built from 1769-1779 in the Neoclassical style, the Pantheon-inspired dome is low on the exterior behind axial porticos. On the interior, the coffered dome is 46 feet (14 meters) in diameter, with twelve circular windows at its base and an oculus at the top.

345:, or to give the vault a steeper profile. Architects followed authoritative opinions, especially those of ancient authors, and the evidence from ancient and contemporary buildings. The structural behavior of previous domed buildings acted as full-scale models to inform new ones and small 440:

from 1615 gives examples of a typology of vaults and domes, but not a general and thorough theory. Although some recommendations for the profile of a dome can be found in treatises from earlier centuries, the traditional geometric and proportional techniques for masonry domes and

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Bergdoll, Barry (September 1987). "Reviewed Work(s): Pierre Michel d'Ixnard, 1723-1795, Leben und Werk by Erich Franz; Friedrich Weinbrenner, Architect of Karlsruhe: A Catalogue of the Drawings in the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania by David Brownlee".

974:. The larger dome is 130 feet tall over an octagonal nave for public ceremonies and the smaller dome covers the choir used by the clergy for official celebrations. The architect attributed the shape of the domed church to a crown evoked by the dedication of the church to Mary, 3768:

but the design was subsequently revised and construction did not begin until 1822. Several states added prominent domes to their assembly buildings as a result of the choice for the national capitol, and completed them before the national capitol dome was finished. Architect

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to Benjamin Franklin's design, supported by a surrounding copper and gold acorn and pedestal. The Massachusetts State House, built in the decade after the Maryland State House dome, included a dome after it was decided that the national capitol building would have one.

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redesigned the dome to have two shells, a mostly brick internal structure, and three iron chains to resist outward pressure. His dome was a lower, hemispherical design. He further strengthened the piers by eliminating niches in them and the internal spiral staircase.

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In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many Renaissance and Baroque elliptical and oval plan domes were built over rectangular naves, using brick in Italy and stone in Spain. Later German oval domes in the Rococo style used different combinations of geometry.

3117:, has a complex arrangement of overlapping and subdivided transverse oval vaults with wide ribs at their intersections that make it difficult to understand the structural system, like Guarini's earlier church of Santa Maria della Divina Providenza in Lisbon. 859:

Cracks in the dome were noticed as early at 1603, when the mosaics covering the dome interior were completed, and additional cracks were recorded after 1631 and in 1742, demonstrating progression. Five more tie rings were added around the dome in 1743-44 by

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was the first to be built within Rome, and was designed in 1572 with seven windows between the eight ribs in its oval dome. The windows introduced structural complications that Vignola had avoided in his first oval dome over the rectangular plan church of

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but also was a continuation of the architectural style of the Marekerk and Oostkerk buildings. It was funded by wealthy members of the congregation as well as donations from Germany and Scandinavia, with the dome and lantern covered by copper donated by

3272:, but the use of stone in this region, rather than the brick predominant in the architecture of Piedmont, limited their size. The style of Piedmont spread to Vienna, where Italian architects built oval-plan churches and inspired the building of others. 1989:

In Spain, false vaults made of wood or reed and covered with plaster were used in the seventeenth century. The technique, dating from the medieval period, was applied to chapel domes to give the appearance of stone construction. The dome of Seville's

3800:, begun in the 1770s, had the first dome to be built on an American home. The octagonal saucer dome with skylight oculus was built with curved wooden ribs made of four layers of short overlapping curved planks joined together with iron nails. Wooden 2974:

Chiswick House. The dome was the only exterior indication of the interior arrangement, but its location and height were such that it could not be easily seen. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1792 but demolished after the building was sold to the

2794:, who first articulated that a thin arch was comparable to an inverted hanging chain, may have advised Wren on how to achieve the crossing dome. Wren may also have been informed of the structural problems of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica by 7991:

Tucci, G.; Nobile, A.; Riemma, M. (2012), "Laser scanner surveys and the study of the geometry and structure of the dome in the Basilica della Madonna dell'Umiltà in Pistoia", in Tampone, Gennaro; Corazzi, Roberto; Mandelli, Emma (eds.),

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was adapted from local Peruvian practice for domes and became universally adopted along the Peruvian coast. A similar lightweight technique was used in eastern Sicily after earthquakes struck in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

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mark the beginning of the displacement of the Gothic ribbed vault with the combination of dome and barrel vault, which proceeded throughout the sixteenth century. Bramante's studies for new church designs for St. Peter's coincided with

1459: 1583:, from the 16th to the 18th centuries, thousands of churches were built in Mexico. The churches vary, but surviving examples from central Mexico are typically on a latin cross plan with a brick dome on a drum at the crossing. 942:

among them. Commissioned by count and churchman Paolo Almerico, Palladio designed a dome for the residence because he believed that the Latin meaning of "domus" being "house" indicated that ancient Roman houses were domed.

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Niglio, Olimpia (2012), "A scientific approach to the Dome of St. Peter in Rome. The expertise of three mathematicians of the Dotti's Roman Republic (1742)", in Tampone, Gennaro; Corazzi, Roberto; Mandelli, Emma (eds.),

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led to a more precise formalization of the ideas of the traditional constructive practices of arches and vaults, and there was a diffusion of studies on what was considered the most stable form for these structures: the

702:. It also has ribs between the six windows in its dome, but they are concealed on the interior. The design of this church would inspire others over the next two centuries, aided by the building activity of the many new 6720: 250:

relied primarily on empirical techniques and oral traditions rather than the architectural treatises of the time, but the study of dome structures changed radically due to developments in mathematics and the study of

1098:. Multi-story spires with truncated bulbous cupolas supporting smaller cupolas or crowns became popular in the following decades. The onion shape was used at the top of important sixteenth-century spires such as the 1851: 3224:

above eight columns instead. Its use of bulbous domes on the lantern and side towers was also unusual in Italy, where bulbous domes remained rare. The basilica was built as the official dynastic mausoleum of the

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The spread of the Renaissance style dome outside of Italy began with central Europe. Although there was often a stylistic delay of a century or two, Poland has a number of important examples, such as the Polish

2366: 2338:. However, many bulbous domes in the larger cities of eastern Europe were replaced during the second half of the eighteenth century in favor of hemispherical or stilted cupolas in the French or Italian styles. 1341:(1571). However, the planned extradoxed dome of San Sebastiano had a timburio added and many domes continued to be planned with timburios from the outset. Examples include the Trivulzio chapel in the church of 1721:

churches maintained the forms developed during the Middle Ages, such as Greek cross plans or longitudinal plans in three parts with each part covered by a dome, but with updated styling. Examples include the

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was apparently little used, but the fully developed onion dome was prominent by the middle of the sixteenth century. The development of the onion shape in Prague architecture may have been an effort to blend

756:. He completed the four massive central piers and the arches linking them by 1512, but cracking in the arches was detected between 1514 and 1534, possibly due to settling. The two eastern piers rest on solid 791:. The dome design had been altered by Giuliano da Sangallo from being hemispherical to being 9 meters taller, segmental, and ribbed, and he had strengthened the piers and completed building the pendentives. 536:

built on this work and used a method of analyzing the thrust of domes as made of a series of masonry arch elements that could then be compared to the known thrust behavior of barrel vaults of the same span.

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Harnsberger, Douglas (1981). ""In Delorme's Manner..." An X-Ray Probe of Jefferson's Dome at Monticello Reveals an Ingenious 16th-Century Timber Vault Construction Concealed within the Dome's Sheathing".

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was built between 1717 and 1745. It is very similar to that of St. Peter's Church in Vienna, which the architect, Antonio Galli Bibiena, had briefly worked on, but is decorated instead by painting in the

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a composition of smaller elements, each subject to mathematical and mechanical laws and easier to analyse individually, rather than being considered as whole units unto themselves. In 1734, mathematician

2298: 2966:, which was off axis on the east side of the building, seemed to symbolize a political dominance by the House of Commons. The dome's outer shell was 31 feet above its inner shell and reminiscent of the 1587:

was widely used in early examples but these buildings were often destroyed by earthquakes or replaced. Thick rib cross-vaulting in a dome-like shape was used in the 16th century. Most churches used a

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Coisson, Eva; Ottoni, Federica (2015). "Structural monitoring of historical structures: increasing knowledge to minimize interventions". In Toniolo, Lucia; Boriani, Maurizio; Guidi, Gabriele (eds.).

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in a classicist style between 1659 and 1664, accommodating the unique political requirements with separate rooms for the different governing bodies that were grouped around a central domed hall.

2603: 2225: 1991: 3298:(1740-1744), the original of which had collapse in 1740, has been called "a lofty system of arches" due to the openings for light left in the pendentives and in the vaulting of adjacent bays. 3370: 2365:

wooden churches in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Of the many Polish Roman Catholic wooden domes built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, examples with domes include the

1489: 1361:(1568-1573). The use of drums beneath domes began in Milan following the trend in Rome and central Italy. They improved lighting for domes but also introduced additional structural problems. 2303: 1500: 1877: 3632:

on the inside surface. Unlike similar work elsewhere in Italy, it is self-supporting and unconnected to the earlier truss roof above it. The oval domes of the church of the Addolorata at

3099: 3087:(1716–24) is also very similar, but with round windows in the dome itself in addition to the windows of the drum and with dark trim at both the base of the drum and the base of the dome. 2072:

wood in the structure, which unlike traditional wooden formwork could not be re-used and was rare on the island. It was used in eastern Sicily after earthquakes struck in 1693 and 1727.

1394:(1520s). A small dome over one of the side chapels in the church of Valverde in Sassari, Sardinia, may date to the 1530s or later. The "Murcia Dome" over the Chapel of the Junterones in 8051: 1440: 1429: 1179: 2171:(1670) may also indicate influence from Prague through models in architectural design books, such as one by Abraham Leuthner. In other examples, such as the onion dome on the tower of 2135: 1906: 1727: 3785:(1748-1755). Although Bulfinch designed the Connecticut State House with a dome, a dome was not actually built until 1822 and used a different design possibly based upon that of 2049:

directly on pendentives, to survive for more than three hundred years and it became universally adopted along the Peruvian coast. Another 17th century example is the dome of the

1521:. The domes over the church and towers of El Escorial, built between 1579 and 1582 as extradoxed domes on drums, became a model for subsequent Spanish domes, particularly after 2525:, halted at the level of the drum due to lack of funds, was resumed after a 1670 fire destroyed the temporary wooden roof and damaged the interior. The stone dome was built by 1234:

forms with those from Italy, and may also indicate influence from the Netherlands. Drawings published in carpentry manuals and the prestigious association of onion spires with

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and it was built between 1755 and 1763. Its oval dome was decorated in the rococo style popular among the city's elites and it would serve as a model for the church built in

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at Turin between 1717 and 1731. The apparent lightness of its dome may be attributed to both even lighting and the unusual lack of pendentives, with the dome on its circular

2098:, included two towers topped by onion domes and these became part of the city's civic identity by the later seventeenth century. Like the town hall, the Lutheran churches of 1201:

from 1615 are examples. Domes like these gained in popularity in central and southern Germany and in Austria in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly in the

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in Milan and they may have collaborated. Their studies may have influenced many of the centrally planned churches built in the first half of the sixteenth century, such as

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In the United States, most public buildings in the late 18th century were only distinguishable from private residences because they featured cupolas, such as that of the

3668: 255:. Analytical approaches were developed and the ideal shape for a dome was debated, but these approaches were often considered too theoretical to be used in construction. 3404: 3348: 1619: 2178:

German and Austrian influence resulted in many bulbous cupolas in Poland and Eastern Europe in the Baroque period, and rural church towers in the Austrian and Bavarian

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isometric intersections of spheres, barrel vaults, and oval domes as well as drawings explaining construction and ceiling patterns, were published posthumously in the

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in 1682. Known to react better than masonry vaulting to earthquakes, this technique was also more expensive due to the need for specialized artisans and the use of

1760: 3737: 3606: 3573: 453:. The treatise by Guarino Guarini, published posthumously in 1737, included the way to draw various vaults, but not how to build them. Building on Fontana's work, 3804:

braced the ribs in two horizontal rings. The dome was completed after 1796. The inspiration for Jefferson's dome seems to have been the similar octagonal dome at

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Barrel vaults and domes are introduced into the gothic church style of the island of Sardinia in the second half of the 16th century by engineers working for the

3486:(1759–63) has a series of three domical vaults over its nave, with the largest in the center over an octagonal space and painted with an illusionistic fresco by 2910:

in Paris, France, was begun in 1679 and completed in 1708. The dome was one of many inspired by that of St. Peter's Basilica and it is an outstanding example of

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in 1770, becoming a fashionable meeting-place for the aristocracy. Its dome was inspired by the dome of the Roman Pantheon but was destroyed in a fire in 1792.

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whose structural behavior was well known, but this began to change starting in the 1560s. Domes exposed externally, or "extradoxed", were proposed by architect

1213:(1726–39). A château in Dresden with a tower dome from 1535 was remodeled from 1547 to 1557 to have a series of bell-shaped domes, according to a wooden model. 3384:(1745–92). Neumann replaced barrel vaults in basilical plan churches with series of light intersecting elliptical domes. Considered Neumann's masterpiece, the 1771: 1259: 6771:

Fusco, Annarosa Cerutti; Villanni, Marcello (2003). "Pietro da Cortona's Domes between New Experimentations and Construction Knowledge". In Huerta, S. (ed.).

2480:(1656-1659) to have a stepped feature on the exterior, evocative of the Pantheon, and stucco ribs over octagonal coffers on the dome's interior. The domes of 6145: 2447:

in Ferrara between 1609 and 1621. The oval plans synthesize longitudinal and central plan church layouts, allowing clear views of the altar from all points.

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Morel, Anne-Françoise; Germonprez, Dagmar (Winter 2012). "A Cornerstone in Architectural History: The Dedication of St. Peter's Abbey Church, Ghent, 1629".

6905:"The Early Dome of Sant'Alessandro in Milan (1627): a First Study of the Behaviour of the Structural Core with a Dome Resting on Four Free-Standing Pillars" 1399: 3816:. Wrotham Park's dome was also positioned directly behind a portico, used round windows, and covered a space that did not extend down to the ground floor. 3569: 1132:("Italian hood") and this structure gradually adopted the bulbous cupola from the Netherlands. The first such example was on the tower of the town hall of 557:

Domes in the renaissance style in Florence are mostly from the early period, in the fifteenth century. Cities within Florence's zone of influence, such as

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Toward the end of the sixteenth century, transepts with domes were popular in several Italian states and were featured in prominent churches such as the

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Quincha domes following the 17th century model of the Church of San Francesco in Lima were built in the capital and elsewhere, such as the dome over the

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Kurzej, Michał (2015). "The Collegiate Church in Zamość in the Context of European Architecture". In Skowrońska, Renata; Flachenecker, Helmut (eds.).

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Fuentes, P.; Huerta, S. (2010). "Islamic Domes of Crossed-arches: Origin, Geometry and Structural Behavior". In Chen, Baochun; Wei, Jiangang (eds.).

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German Baroque architecture resolved the tension between longitudinal and centralized spaces through the use of ovals. Examples include the domes of

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Guarini's plan for the church of S. Maria Ettinga in Prague inspired a group of buildings built in Bohemia between 1698 and 1710. An abbey church at

2667: 1550: 3333: 2150: 1743: 490:(1734) that the optimal dome shape was a rotated inverted semi-catenary. In the late eighteenth century, the ideal shape for a dome was debated by 8173:

Modern Perspectives in Western Art History: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Writings on the Visual Arts (Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching)

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Garofalo, Emanuela (2015). "New Architectural Models and Building Tradition: A Dialogue in Early Modern Sardinia – The Jesuit Church in Sassari".

7225: 2798:, who had examined it, and did not finalize his design for a dome three-quarters its size until shortly before its construction started in 1705. 663:, a building ordered by the ruling Atti family to mark the site of a 1508 miracle, the design changed in 1587 to a dome and drum on pendentives. 314:. In the United States, small cupolas were used to distinguish public buildings from private residences. After a domed design was chosen for the 6889:"On the art and the culture of domes. Construction in Milan and Lombardy in the late sixteenth and in the first half of the seventeenth century" 3736:. The dome was covered with copper sheeting. Annapolis served as the capital of the country for ten months beginning in 1783, during which time 3132:(1716-21), blended fresco painting, stucco and, in the case of Weltenburg, indirect lighting to achieve their effects. Another set of brothers, 1867: 1184: 839:

the death of Pope Sixtus V. The lantern and lead covering for the dome were completed later, with the brass orb and cross being raised in 1592.

6763: 2104: 1732: 2371: 3461: 3359: 3094:, Bohemia, with two transverse oval vaults in the nave intersecting a third circular dome made to look like an oval, was the first church by 3071:

has clear influences from Borromini in its use of the color white, accentuated windows, and the elliptical dome and oculus. The oval dome of

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kings. Inspired by St. Peter's Basilica, its dome likewise has two shells, but the outer shell is much taller in order to compensate for the

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Michelangelo inherited the project to design the dome of St. Peter's basilica in 1546. It had previously been in the hands of Bramante (with

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Structural studies, repairs and maintenance of historical buildings (STREMAH): proceedings of the 5th conference, San Sebastian, Spain, 1997

3690: 2608: 2354: 2230: 1714:, such as the tower of the town hall (1561) and the tower of the church of St. Catherine (1634), show Dutch and possibly Russian influence. 1264: 1169: 760:

and clay, while the other two rest upon remains of earlier Roman construction. That the piers and arches were left to stand with incomplete

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Many Italian examples of oval domes have semi-circular cross sections, which allowed for easier construction using semi-circular transverse

678:(c. 1568–1575), designed by Vignola and completed by his son Giacinto Barozzi, was the first church to have an oval dome over an oval plan. 356:

Onion-shaped domes appeared widely on royal residences in the middle of the sixteenth century. In addition to those on the eastern part of

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supporting smaller cupolas or crowns were used at the top of important sixteenth-century spires, beginning in the Netherlands. Traditional

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period, resting them on drums created problems and the domes instead often rested directly on arches or pendentives. The oval dome of the

3196: 2936:, a circular wheat market in Paris, was completed in 1763 with a timber dome. It would be rebuilt in the nineteenth century in cast iron. 2182:

still feature them. Onion-shaped spires can be found in rural and pilgrimage churches in southern Germany, northeastern Italy, the former

1641: 864:. The iron chains included in the design to contain the dome's lateral thrust have had to be replaced ten times since it was constructed. 7467: 3733: 2802:

the inner dome's oculus. The structure rises 365 feet (108 m) to the cross at its summit, but is evocative of the much smaller

2041: 1893: 1514: 234: 7228:[The influence of the Escorial on Spanish domes at the end of the 16th century. The case of Cerralbo Chapel in Ciudad Rodrigo], 3781:(1795-1797) before the national capitol competition concluded. The Connecticut State House appears to have been a simplified version of 2377: 482:

curve. In 1704, James Bernoulli wrote that an inverted catenary arch of any thickness will resist its own weight, which likely inspired

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around 1626 in Naples, the first of several oval plan churches that would be built there until the middle of the eighteenth century.

1534: 1434: 1445: 715: 2925:, the patron saint of Paris, were approved in 1757 with a dome 275 feet tall over a Greek cross plan. The architect of the church, 2515: 2510:

is unusual in that the entrance is on the minor axis and it is often depicted as unique in this respect, but the later churches of

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girdles. Damage to the outer timber truss dome during World War II resulted in the timber being replaced by reinforced concrete.

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by Abraham Leuthner and Georg Dientzenhofer, who had both worked in Prague. Onion domes over the Bavarian pilgrimage churches of

1873: 659:(1518-1545). Although Bramante designed a low dome like that of the Pantheon for the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione in 8324: 8080:

Wallis, Kendall (2010). "Bearing Bandmann's Meaning: A Translator's Introduction by Kendall Willis". In Bandmann, Günter (ed.).

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from viewing the exterior dome from nearby on the ground. The inner shell is made of stone and the outer shell is made of wood.

1707: 934:. Its highly symmetrical square plan centers on a circular room covered by a dome, and it would prove highly influential on the 3539: 3289: 2294: 2166: 1976: 1694:

church buildings at this time, the use of domed transepts outside Italy may indicate partiality towards Roman Catholicism over

1612:, Mexico, was the first cathedral finished on the American continent and contains a domed trellis vault with a grid of ribs by 7226:"La huella de El Escorial en las cúpulas españolas de finales del siglo XVI. El caso de la Capilla Cerralbo de Ciudad Rodrigo" 2744:

in London was built by Christopher Wren from 1672 to 1677 and its dome has been called "the first classical dome in England".

8220: 8200: 8180: 8157: 8136: 8091: 8001: 7954: 7935: 7914: 7853: 7735: 7685: 7664: 7643: 7571: 7540: 7498: 7480: 7456: 7398: 7377: 7356: 7314: 7198: 7177: 7156: 7055: 7024: 7003: 6952: 6919: 6877: 6785: 6733: 6609: 6536: 6515: 6453: 6432: 6317:

Born, Wolfgang (April 1944). "The Introduction of the Bulbous Dome into Gothic Architecture and its Subsequent Development".

6248: 6219: 3385: 2971: 2050: 1986:(begun in 1598) used the same half-tiburium buttressing for its dome as had earlier Spanish churches in Seville and Sassari. 1505: 652: 402: 3578: 6912:

Second International Congress on Construction History, Queens' College, University of Cambridge 29th March / 2nd April 2006

3064: 1580: 856:'s extended nave for St. Peter's Basilica, built between 1609 and 1614, included bays covered by oval domes with lanterns. 551: 299: 79: 69: 7765:

Schindler, Hans (May 1981). "Concerning the Origin of the Onion Dome and Onion Spires in Central European Architecture".

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Oval plan churches spread outside of Rome following Vignola's innovation with the church of Santa Anna dei Palafrenieri.

2018: 1828:, was built with a low parallelepiped, drum, and dome at its crossing, in keeping with Bramante's recommendations in his 3241: 1526: 8227:

Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on Construction History (6ICCH 2018), July 9–13, 2018, Brussels, Belgium.

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Duvernoy, Sylvie (2015), "Baroque Oval Churches: Innovative Geometrical Patterns in Early Modern Sacred Architecture",

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that was rebuilt between 1759 and 1762. Other 18th century examples include the dome of the church of San Francisco in

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Nobile, Marco Rosario; Bares, Maria Mercedes (2015). "The use of 'false vaults' in 18th century buildings of Sicily".

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in 1736, "the first treatise on the theory of the dome", with possible stable forms for domes when ignoring friction.

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Bellini, Federico (2017). "8 Vaults and Domes: Statics as an Art". In Mallgrave, Harry Francis; Payne, Alina (eds.).

3825: 3725: 3713: 3104: 2685:, from 1597-1607. The brick octagonal church, twenty meters wide, was built at the center of the fortified town. The 2644: 2640: 2485: 2282: 1605: 533: 59: 7193:. Vol. 2. Toruń/Würzburg: Polska Misja Historyczna przy Uniwersytecie Juliusza Maksymiliana. pp. 169–186. 3343:(1727–33). Neumann's more traditional longitudinal churches had domes over their crossings, such as his churches at 7130:"Van Haren's Church (1682-1686). Contested space and other paradigms for the construction of early modern nobility" 3611: 3552: 3433: 3396: 2399: 1346: 674:. Use of the oval dome subsequently spread quickly through Italy, Spain, France, and central Europe. The church of 8209:

Wouters, Ine; van de Voorde, Stephanie; Bertels, Inge; Espion, Bernard; de Jonge, Krista; Zastavni, Denis (2018).

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was built from the second decade to the second half of the 17th century and includes a dome on an octagonal drum.

1882: 1564:, which does not have a drum, include the proportions of the dome thickness, the lantern diameter, and the use of 315: 6795:

Galletti, Sara (2021). "Philibert de L'Orme's Dome in the Chapel of the Château d'Anet: The Role of Stereotomy".

3528: 3449:, also designed by Bibiena, employs a more complex trompe-l'œil effect. A double dome, the inner dome is an open 3338: 3146: 2817:

Although never very popular in domestic settings, domes were used in a number of 18th century homes built in the

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Although never very popular in domestic settings, domes were used in a number of 18th century homes built in the

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Senate Document 106-29: History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics

3830: 2763: 2454: 2155: 2140: 1942: 1934: 1703: 951: 745: 691: 667: 94: 84: 3283:(1738–39) and the Chapel of San Luigi Gonzaga. Vittone was familiar with Guarini's work and his dome over the 1175: 1020:

visually and in the use of two shells, structurally the octagonal dome is similar to the much earlier dome of

360:, royal residences in Madrid, London, Vienna, and Kraków had them, always as part of Italian classical forms. 7927:

The Secret Language of Churches and Cathedrals: Decoding the Sacred Symbolism of Christianity's Holy Building

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20.5 meters long and 13.2 meters wide and made of a series of parallel wooden arches hidden with planks and

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Betts, Richard J. (March 1993). "Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture".

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of new projects were also relied upon. Traditional geometric rules of proportion for domes were applied by

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Earls, Michael W. (1971). "The Development of Structural Form in Franconian Rococo". In Malo, Paul (ed.).

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to show Guarini's influence. His vaulting system of two transverse oval vaults that do not overlap at the

2632: 2044:(1657–74) by Constantino de Vasconcelos and Manuel de Escobar. Quincha was an adaptation of an indigenous 1413:

geometry achieved by the revolution of a transverse semicircular arch about the oblong plan's short axis.

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Over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, developments in mathematics and the study of

6904: 3520: 3364: 3059:, rebuilding of the many palaces and churches destroyed had begun by the end of the seventeenth century. 2911: 2503: 2495: 2444: 2438: 2134:

Onion spires are predominant in Bavarian country churches, such as those on the three towers of the 1688

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was for a Greek cross plan with a large central hemispherical dome and four smaller domes around it in a

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after having worked in Rome for seven years. It includes an inscription around the dome relating to the

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