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(1377-1446)
Just as the Renaissance in painting, writing and sculpture was greatly inflenced by the ancient Romans, so too architure. De Architectura was a handbook for Roman aarchitects, written by Vitruvius.It provided the inspiration for many great Renaissance architects, noteable a man named Brunelleschi.
Brunelleschi was agoldsmith at first and had been one of the peoples defeated by Ghiberti in the contest for the design of the famous Baptistry doors in 1401. Following this, Brunelleschi turned his attention to architecture, and, accompanied by none other than his friend Donatello, he toured all the ancient buildings in Rome, learning from their designs and building techniques. Brunelleschi was particularly impressed by Rome's ancient Pantheon. With another contest being held in Florence to design the cathedral's roof, he based his design on that of the Pantheon and won the contest. Many famous architects, including the artist Gitto, had worked on the cathedral since 1296.
In 1420, Brunelleschi began the construction of the dome (cupola) to compleate the building. Incredibly, he spanned a forty-meter gap using no rafters; he built it of bricks, placing eackh layer slightly inside the one below untill the top was reached. Brunelleschi also designed most of the machinery needed duringthe sixteen years that it took to finish the work. While Florence Cathedral is now only the third largest Christian church in the world, Brunelleschi's dome is still the world's largest unsupported church-dome.
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