Santa Maria del Fiore

Santa Maria del Fiore is a Florentine cathedral that is to replace the church of Santa Reparata. This cathedral is to be the largest in the Christian world, with entire forests destroyed, citizens evicted, and even the dead exhumed to make room for this massive structure. Construction began in 1296 with a design by the master mason Arnolfo di Cambio. Although Cambio dies during construction, work continues. The construction of this building is affected by both bouts of the Black Death and an invasion by the Duke of Milan. By the competition of 1418, the church is still incomplete. This competition is held to find a designer and architect who can solve a major problem, the cathedral's dome design by Neri di Fioravanti. The one man whose design shows promise is Filippo Brunelleschi. It takes him over sixteen years and many trials and tribulations, but the...