Filippo Brunelleschi, (1377 - 1446), was the first gr
eat Flo
rentine architect of the Italian Renaissance. His most famous
works are all in Florence. His masterpiece is the high, octa
gonal-rib
bed dome of the Duomo (
cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore), completed in 1434, the first
notable dome erected in Italy since antiquity. Brunelleschi was
trained as a sculptor in a Flo
rentine
workshop and was a
member of the g
oldsmiths' guild. In the com
petition for the second
set of
doors for the Flo
rentine Baptistry, he virtually tied with Ghiberti,
who exe
cuted the famous "
Doors of Paradise." He may have
worked in Rome with his
friend Donatello. His
interests extended to mathematics and engineering and the
study of ancient monuments. He made
early experiments with
perspective in painting, and invented hydraulic
machinery and elaborate clock
work,
none of which survives. Above all Brunelleschi is re
membered as an architect
who established new
classic ca
nons of serene rhythms, clear geometry, and symmetry,
often using the simplest materials: gray pietra serena and
whitewashed plaster.