Brunelleschi and the Dome of the Cathedral of Florence
Individual Research Activity
Scroll down to the paragraph that begins “The other architects meanwhile being dismayed…”
and answer the following questions:
1. In this paragraph, Brunelleschi appears before the people in charge of getting the
cathedral’s cupola built, and they ask him how the difficulties in constructing the cupola
might be resolved. In response to their request, what does he suggest?
2. In the next paragraph, Vasari says the Brunelleschi “made believe not to care about the
matter” and return to Rome. We know that Brunelleschi really did want to get the job of
building the cathedral’s cupola. Why was he confident that the job would not go to
another architect?
3. Go to the next paragraph, which begins “So the Florentine merchants…” This paragraph
describes the competition between the architects to win the job of building the cupola.
What suggestions (both serious and comical) did other architects propose to construct the
dome?
4. Why do you think everyone mocked Brunelleschi for claiming that he could “make a
vaulted roof” (i.e., a dome) for the cathedral “without much wood, without pillars or
supports, and with little expense of arches”?
5. At the end of this paragraph, Vasari mentions that Brunelleschi had constructed a model
illustrating how he could build the cupola, but he didn’t show it at the competition even
though everyone was mocking him. Why didn’t he show it?
6. Vasari goes on to describe how Brunelleschi cleverly arranged it so that not only would
he win sole management of the cupola project, but also make his chief rival, Lorenzo
Ghiberti, look bad in the process. Why do you think he did this? What do you think his
actions and the actions of others as described by Vasari reveal about the life of a
Renaissance artist or architect?