How did Brunelleschi build the dome of Florence Cathedral?

Brunelleschi builds the dome of Florence

La cupola di Brunelleschi

1420–1436. Florence's cathedral had a hole in its roof more than forty metres wide, and nobody knew how to close it.

Where: Italy

What happened

Florence's cathedral had a hole in its roof more than forty metres wide, and nobody knew how to close it. After a competition in 1418, Filippo Brunelleschi began work in 1420 with a plan no one had tried: two shells, one inside the other, laid in herringbone brick and built without a wooden frame underneath. The dome was closed in 1436 and is still the largest masonry dome in the world. It is often taken as the start of Renaissance architecture; the young Leonardo later worked in the workshop that made the gilded ball on top.

Say it

La cupola di Brunelleschi domina ancora il panorama di Firenze.

Brunelleschi's dome still dominates the Florence skyline.

Read about it