November the 9th Prof. Massimo Ricci’s conference. From 9 p.m. , Palazzo Vecchio.
Santa Maria del Fiore Dome’s structure was realized using bricks arranged like a "fishbone" and walled with a mortar composed of lime putty and lightweight aggregate material shrinkage. There weren’t found any horizontal iron bars, or conglomerates.
That’s what Prof. Ricci - who has spent his life studying the "secrets" of Santa Maria del Fiore - discovered using a sonde ( thanks to the multinational Olympus) in the heart of the famous Dome.
On wednesday, November 9th at 9p.m. - in Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, Prof. Ricci will discuss the conclusion of his thirty years research in a conference that - because of it’s great scientific importance - will be promoted by the website and social media of National Geographic Society, with a worldwide direct stream on a dedicated line.
In those days the scientific community and all the passionates are already comparing by posting questions on the web and social media channels that were specifically created to be dedicated to the event: www.lacupoladibrunelleschi.com.
The questions will find their answer at the end of the conference; in that moment there will also be a direct interaction within Florence and the Universities of Harvard, Oklahoma and Valencia.
"What I’ve been able to verify with an endoscopic exam into the Dome – tells Ricci - not only contributes to the deep knowledge of the structure, but it’s also really important to intervene in its restoration and consolidation. In fact, I could see that the bricks are in good conditions and this is particularly important for the future conservation of this Italian masterpiece."
For the first time Santa Maria del Fiore’s history, it has been possible entering his "heart" to a depth of eight feet. That was made using the holes that Prof. Salvatore Di Pasquale made in 1986 to determine bricks’resistance.
This further step of Prof. Ricci’s research, took place few months ago: the exact position were the sonde was entered it’s at the second trench in the center of one of the eight sails of the Dome.
By now it is the final act in many studies and researches on some aspects of a monument that still are not fully known.
During the conference, entitled "The construction rule of Santa Maria del Fiore’s Dome", there will be shown - in absolute world premiere - pictures of the endoscopy with a machine made available by Olympus and operated by Dr Sergio Tavanti: that will help explain how Brunelleschi was able to build the whole Dome’s structure.
There will be exhibited, as well, some models of the machines that Brunelleschi designed for its clever construction: the way this machined worked shall be shown with three-dimensional computer graphics movies.
Another regard reason it will be the exposure of the original "Parchment of Giovanni di Gherardo da Prato" (1425): that was made possible thanks to a concession by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture - State Archives of Florence.
The evening, promoted by Florens Foundation and the National Geographic Society, has the patronage of UNESCO, of Florence’s Municipality, of Florence’s Province, of Tuscan Region, of the Archdiocese of Florence and the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore.
Before Prof. Ricci’s report there will be some greetings by: Matteo Renzi – Mayor of Florence;
Archbishop Monsignor Giuseppe Betori, Florens Foundation’s president - Giovanni Gentile; Operadel Duomo’s president - Franco Lucchesi; Gianluca Tenti - journalist and writer – will coordinate the whole evening.
On November the 9th at 3.30 p.m. there will be a Press Preview. It will be held in Salone de’ Cinquecento and Prof. Ricci will be there.
Professor Massimo Ricci began to study the Dome in 1975: his will was to be the first in the world to identify the construction method. He’s the author of numerous scientific publications on the major international journals of architecture,.
In 1984, Ricci began to build a 1:5 scale model of the Dome in the park of Anconella, Florence, also visited by the master architect Giovanni Michelucci.
Prof. Ricci is president of "Ser Filippo Brunelleschi" association and in 2001 he held in Salone dei Cinquecento - Palazzo Vecchio - in collaboration with Harvard University, a first conference during which he illustrated the results and the assumptions gained, by that time, on the construction of the monument.
In November 2002 he was appointed as a member of the World Forum of UNESCO as he’s an expert in monuments restoration.
The event is curated by Federica Rotondo’s Once.
