How to fix things.

 The ACLU is winning between 70 and 80% of all of its cases.  I've researched what we can do.  The most important thing is to use democratic procedures to slow, temper, and dampen infractions.  The second thing is to not amplify panic by resharing stuff that amplifies and repeats bad news and evil events.  Believe it or not, the constant repetition of outrageous behaviors actually normalizes these behaviors and reduces optimism.   It has the effect of advertising and normalizing.  Contributing money to organizations that fight things procedurally works the best. (I've found actual studies.)  Also, deleting Amazon accounts, Uber, and other major oligarchic organizations stops some of their economic power.  (There are historical precedents and economic projections/studies that prove this.)  The most effective route to change is to slow the hype and use boring methodical legal and procedural methods.

My NSFW Book

 Quick update and good news:  For a while, my NSFW Paintings of Naked Men catalogs were getting delayed or canceled. The issue wasn’t the book—it was a mix of printer backlogs and some U.S. print partners refusing to print nude male artwork.
https://www.kenneymencher.com

That’s now fixed.

Gelato applied an internal solution and routed the books to print partners who will consistently produce them. Orders are back on, printing reliably, and shipping worldwide again—including Europe.

If you wanted the catalog before and couldn’t get it: it’s live, it works, and it ships.

44 pages. Matte hardcover. Nude men. Definitely not safe for work.

15th Century Art, Brunelleschi

 

In the early 15th century, there was a competition to design the bronze doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence. The two main competitors were Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti. Their panels both depicted the biblical story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The panel by Brunelleschi has a more rigid composition with figures that appear less three-dimensional. It emphasizes the narrative of the scene, making it easy to follow, but it does not incorporate the depth and perspective that would later become central to Renaissance art.

Ghiberti’s panel is more intricate, with greater attention to perspective and the arrangement of figures in space. His use of foreshortening, a technique that makes objects appear to recede into the background, gives his panel a more lifelike quality. Some of the details in his work, however, make the scene more difficult to interpret at first glance.

Art historians generally agree that Ghiberti won the competition. However, some sources suggest that the judges originally declared a tie and asked both artists to collaborate. According to some accounts, Brunelleschi refused to work together and withdrew, leaving Ghiberti to complete the commission.

Brunelleschi later shifted his focus to architecture. He played a major role in the completion of Santa Maria del Fiore, commonly known as Florence Cathedral. The cathedral had been under construction since the late 13th century, with several architects contributing to its design. The campanile (bell tower) was designed by Giotto di Bondone in the 14th century.

 

One of the main challenges in finishing the cathedral was constructing the dome. The space left for the dome was large, and there was no clear solution at the time for how to build it without the use of traditional wooden centering, which would have been difficult given the scale. Brunelleschi, working between 1420 and 1436, developed an innovative method that allowed the dome to be built using a herringbone brick pattern and a system of interlocking ribs for support. His approach allowed the dome to be constructed without external scaffolding, making it one of the most significant engineering achievements of the period.

During the Renaissance, new wealth led to increased interest in construction projects, but many patrons wanted to see results within their lifetimes. Instead of commissioning entire cathedrals, they often funded smaller chapels or decorative elements that could be completed more quickly. An example of this is Giotto’s work in the Scrovegni Chapel.

The Medici family, however, took a different approach. They supported the completion of Florence Cathedral and ensured that a dome would be built. The overall design of the cathedral follows a Romanesque layout, but the structural details vary. The vaulting inside is Gothic, featuring ribbed groin vaults. The dome itself belongs to the Renaissance period. The building’s exterior was completed later, and the facade was redone in the 19th century. The design of the facade has elements that resemble Byzantine architecture.

The front of the cathedral has decorative patterns that resemble the exterior of the Baptistery of Pisa. The design creates a layered effect, possibly an intentional reference to architectural styles from the 13th century and earlier Byzantine periods. Inside, the pointed arches and rib vaults define the space. The cathedral has two side aisles with pointed arches, which are also used at the far end of the building. The structural details and materials reflect different architectural influences, with the interior being primarily Gothic.

The area where the transept meets the nave creates a large open space at the crossing of Florence Cathedral. Brunelleschi was tasked with solving the structural challenge of completing the dome. The cathedral follows a Latin cross plan, and the original design intended for the dome to be a perfect circle, similar to the Pantheon in Rome. Instead, Brunelleschi created an octagonal design, dividing it into segments to improve stability. The shape made the structure stronger and allowed it to be built without traditional wooden centering, which was difficult for a dome of this scale. 

Brunelleschi had traveled to Rome, where he studied ancient architecture, including the Pantheon. He made sketches and analyzed classical structures, but the final design of the cathedral’s dome does not replicate the Pantheon’s form. When presenting his idea to Florence’s leadership, including members of the Medici family, he was asked for a model or working plans. Instead, he demonstrated his concept by standing an egg upright, supposedly cracking the shell to show how a vertical structure could support itself.

 

The dome is not a perfect hemisphere but has an ovoid shape, giving it a slightly elongated form. It is divided into eight segments and includes a unique system of double walls. Between the inner and outer walls, Brunelleschi designed an interlocking brick pattern that helped distribute weight evenly. To further support the structure, he incorporated exterior buttressing, including small domes surrounding the base of the main dome. A lantern was later added on top, completing the design.

Study with me on Udemy. (Videos and more.) 

 

If you look at the cutaway of the dome, you can see that it has a double-dome construction. A similar idea was used in the cathedral at Pisa, where a rounded dome was combined with a more pointed one, giving the structure a shape that some have compared to a bottle. In this case, Brunelleschi designed a system of ribs that functioned almost like layers in a laminate countertop. By overlapping wooden beams and using their tensile strength to oppose forces, he created a structure where the ribs pushed outward from the center. This outward force gave the dome a degree of flexibility, which was important in a region like Italy, where earthquakes and shifting ground could pose a problem for large buildings.

Along with these structural ribs, Brunelleschi built an outer dome that enclosed another, slightly more vertical dome inside. He also used a herringbone pattern for the masonry, laying the bricks in an interlocking arrangement that spiraled upward. Laying the bricks this way was difficult, and working at that height added to the challenge. Workers stood on wooden planks attached to temporary platforms, and at times, even Brunelleschi was unsure if the method would succeed.

 

 Instead of using the traditional scaffolding method found in Gothic cathedrals, where bricks were placed on top of a temporary wooden structure, he had to develop a new way to support the bricks as they were laid. Unlike the Pantheon, which may have been filled with sand and had scaffolding built around it, Brunelleschi left the interior space open as the dome was constructed.

Because the double-dome construction created forces that pushed outward, Brunelleschi needed a way to counterbalance them. To do this, he designed a lantern at the top, a structure that looks similar to a miniature Gothic spire. The weight of the lantern pushed down on the oculus at the center of the dome, helping to keep everything stable.

 

To support the lantern placed on top of the dome, Brunelleschi added a series of smaller domes around the base. These structures acted like bookends, pressing against the main dome to provide additional stability. The entire system was designed to work together, and visitors toFlorence can walk between the two domes to see how the structure connects. The design balances tensile strength and flexibility, allowing for movement while maintaining structural integrity.

Some accounts describe additional features that Brunelleschi included, such as small holes drilled in certain areas to allow for expansion and contraction. A book called Brunelleschi’s Dome details some of these techniques, showing how he accounted for forces acting on the structure. His approach combined practical construction knowledge with an understanding of how materials interact over time.

Brunelleschi’s background extended beyond architecture. He was originally trained as a sculptor and had a broad education, including knowledge of biblical texts. His ability to connect different disciplines reflects the Renaissance ideal of a well-rounded individual. Baldassare Castiglione’s book The Book of the Courtier describes the qualities expected of a courtier, including skill in rhetoric, mathematics, art, history, and even physical activities like tennis and weaponry. Brunelleschi shared some of these qualities, as he combined artistic skill with practical engineering.

Study with me on Udemy. (Videos and more.)  

He also applied what would later be called scientific observation. At the time, the idea of systematic experimentation and testing was not as formally established, and the scientific method had not yet been defined. However, Brunelleschi observed architectural principles from ancient buildings, such as the Pantheon, and adapted them for new projects. His approach involved studying past structures, analyzing their construction methods, and applying those ideas to contemporary architecture.

The Story of Griselda a the British National Gallery

 The series of three paintings at the National Gallery in Britain reminded me of the loggia that is diagonally across fom the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence.  (Read the creepy "Decameron" story by Bocaccio that was on the museum plaques. It's insane!)

I did a bit of research, and it turns out many loggias were built to commemorate political marriages.  The loggia is a semi public space that was built as an outdoor covered space, that was probably used to have the wedding. Then used as a kind of civic/semi private ceremonial space.  They also commemorateor document, misogyny during  the Italian Renaissance. 

Today, the loggia across from the Palazzo Rucellai was enclosed and contains a high end shoe store.

If you take my class, I have a longer video about the two palaces in Florence, the Medici Ricardi and the Rucellai. 
https://www.kenneymencher.com/courses

Woodcuts from Lorenz Stoer's "Geometria et Perspectiva," 1567.

 Woodcuts from Lorenz Stoer's "Geometria et Perspectiva," 1567.  

These drawings feel so contemporary but they are from the Renaissance.   I used to give my drawing students almost exactly this assignment when learning perspective. 


From Stoer's unique, image-based treatise on linear perspective - in each woodcut a complex polyhedron or combination of solids are embedded in a kind of dreamlike ruinscape. More
here: 

https://publicdomainreview
org/collection/the-geometric
-landscapes-of-lorenz-stoer-1567
 

https://publicdomainreview
org/collection/the-geometric
-landscapes-of-lorenz-stoer-1567

Cordoba's Mosque and Cathedral

 Cordoba's mosque and cathedral are layers of arch technology in a kind layered timeline.  

Something I wasn’t taught in my survey classes.  When I visited, it was crazy interesting to see how every couple of generations would cover over, hide, renovate, and change the earlier iterations. 

It's like a history of arch and dome technology. 
Want to learn more?

Study with me on Udemy.
https://www.udemy.com/user/kenneymencher/

 

Parthenon Metope at the British Museum

 

 This metope, stolen from the Parthenon, exhibited at the British Museum, in person, has a wonderful little detail.  When I walked to its right hand side, there was a hand wrapped around the back of the centaur's head.  Just a neat extra, that if I hadn't seen it in person, I wouldn't have known existed.

I was annoyed by a guard when I asked her where the Elgin Marbles were.  She responded, "We don't refer to them as the "Elgin Marbles," because that is an inaccurate description for two reasons. They are not longer in Scottland, in Lord Elgin's collection, and it's a little embarrassing to call them that.  We call them by the name the 'Parthenon Marbles.'"

As I walked away from her, I whispered to Valerie, "If they are so embarrassed, why don't they give them back?"

Athena "lost her marbles" when the Scottish/British ambassador got permission from Turkey, which had conquered Greece, to remove the sculptures, bring them to his Scottish mansion and placed them as decorations on his home.
Want to know more?
https://www.kenneymencher.com/courses

 

 

Duccio at the National Gallery in Britain (again)

 At the British National Gallery, underneath the Master of Albertini's "Madonna with Child" are several panels from the predella of the Maesta altar by Duccio.  It's almost a bit like the curators are pretending that these smaller predella panels, by Duccio, belong with Albertini's painting. It made feel kind of weird. Part of me feels like it's not fair that these panels are in England rather than returned to Italy and reunited with the Maesta Altar.  However, if I was a curators at the British National Gallery, or even a private citizen who had these panels in my collection, I would probably be okay with holding on to them.
Nevertheless, it was such an exciting experience to see these panels in person.  I've seen so many "canon" great works in person these last three weeks that I'm afraid of losing the memories of my impressions. 
If you would like to learn more about art history,  I teach two survey classes on Udemy.
https://www.kenneymencher.com/courses