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These Deadly Jokes Were Not Too Funny for their Victims in the End

Khalid Elhassan November 30, 2022 29 min

The Renaissance’s Greatest Architect Was Also a Master of the Practical Joke

Florence Cathedral’s il Duomo. Italian Dual Citizenship

The modern world owes much to Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446). Early in his career, this Italian architect and designer rediscovered the principles of linear perspective. They had once been known to ancient Greek and Roman builders, but were lost in the Middle Ages. He is considered the father of Renaissance architecture, and was the first modern planner, engineer, and sole construction supervisor. His major work is the Duomo in Florence – the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Brunelleschi’s creativity was not limited to architecture. The man was also a prankster who mastered the practical joke like few had before or since. His most famous practical joke targeted a cabinet maker named Manetto, also known as il Grosso, or “The Fat”. Manetto was prosperous and good natured, but to his misfortune, he ticked off Brunelleschi when he missed a social event. So the famous architect got him with an elaborate prank: he screwed with Manetto’s mind and got him to believe that he had switched bodies.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.