Brunelleschi's Dome

Brunelleschi’s masterpiece, built between 1420 and 1434, gave the finishing touch to the building of the Duomo.

The great artist planned to build the enormous airy dome without the use of fixed centring, thanks to the employment of ribbing with tie beams and bricks set in herringbone patterns, a double shell for the dome (at the drum the dome is 45.52 m. in diameter and 91 m. high) on a tail drum.

The interior of the dome, which Brunelleschi envisioned bare, was frescoed by Vasari and Zuccari (1572-1579). In the 19th century, and recently, proposals have been made to restore the dome to its original immaculate whiteness.

The lantern was also designed by Brunelleschi and is in the form of a temple, raising the total height of the church to 107 meters.