Brunetto Latini 129in Florence. The Old Sacristy was built between 1418 and
- The church is a Latin-cross basilica with three
arcaded aisles, side chapels, and a dome over the cross-
ing. Its ornamentation was classical, with Corinthian
columns, pilasters, and moldings. He designed a loggia
of the Hospital of the Innocents in Florence in 1419,
constructed between 1421 and 1451. Sometimes consid-
ered the first RENAISSANCEbuilding in Florence, it has a
graceful arcade.
In 1420 Brunelleschi began to erect the great dome of
the Florentine Cathedral in collaboration with Ghiberti,
who eventually withdrew from the project. This famous
dome has a skeleton of eight large stone ribs closed by
two shells, of which the lower portions were of stone and
the upper parts of brick. It has a herringbone design
probably derived from ancient Roman construction.
Meanwhile he was in PISAduring 1426 to work on a
citadel and in Volterra in 1427 to give advice on the
dome of the baptistery. He also worked on the Pazzi
Chapel, built between 1429 and 1467. The interior is
rectangular with a large umbrella dome at the center cov-
ered by a conical roof with a lantern. The glazed terra-
cotta reliefs of the four evangelists in the pendentives of
the dome were designed by Brunelleschi. In 1432
Brunelleschi went to Mantua and FERRARAon unknown
commissions, and in 1433 he was again in Rome to study
its antiquities.
On his return to Florence in 1434, Brunelleschi began
a central-plan church, Santa Maria degli Angeli, which
was never completed. It would have been the first central-
plan church of the Renaissance. Octagonal on the interior
with eight chapels, it was 16-sided on the exterior.
In 1436 Brunelleschi designed another basilica in
Florence, Santo Spirito, built between 1444 and 1482,
with a much greater concern for a unified composition
that San Lorenzo. Arcaded side aisles around the transept
arms and choir were planned but never executed. The
church still created a very unified and harmonious, pro-
portional, and centralized impression under the crossing
dome. In 1440 Brunelleschi returned to Pisa for further
work on the Florentine citadel. On April 15, 1446, he
died at Florence and received the unusual honor of burial
in the cathedral.STYLE AND INFLUENCE
Brunelleschi was particularly adept in solving engineer-
ing problems. His architectural style was classical and
inspired by Tuscan Romanesque and ancient Roman
architecture. With his innovation in linear perspective
and his adaptation of the classical style to architecture, he
was one of the major architects of the early Renaissance
period.
Further reading:Peter J. Gärtner, Filippo Brunelleschi
1377–1446(Cologne: Könemann, 1998); Isabelle Hyman,
Brunelleschi in Perspective(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Pren-
tice-Hall, 1974); Ross King, Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a
Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture (New York:
Penguin Books, 2000); Howard Saalman, Filippo
Brunelleschi: The Buildings(London: Zwemmer, 1993).Brunetto Latini(ca. 1220–1294) Dante’s teacher
Brunetto Latini is mostly known through DANTE’s Com-
media.In the circle of the Sodomites in Inferno15, he and
his Book of the Treasurewere presented with respect and
admiration. Brunetto was a member of the spice and herb
merchants’ GUILDof FLORENCE. Latini became a NOTARY
and was employed in a variety of administrative positions
for the commune.TRAVEL ABROAD
Brunetto undertook a mission to SPAINin 1260 to ask
for help from King ALFONSOX against FREDERICKII’s
son MANFRED, and the Sienese. The embassy failed, but
Brunetto experienced firsthand the rich intellectual
environment of that famous patron of scholars and
scholarship.
On his return, he learned of the defeat of the GUELF
forces at Montaperti and his own exile. He decided not to
return to Florence, but to remain in FRANCE. He stayedAn interior view of the Church of Santo Spirito in Florence,
designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (Courtesy Library of
Congress)