Florence Cathedral
Arnolfo di Cambio; Filippo Brunelleschi; Emilio De Fabris · Florence, Italy · 1436
Santa Maria del Fiore is the defining monument of Florence's skyline and a record of several architectural campaigns. Arnolfo di Cambio established the vast Gothic cathedral, while Filippo Brunelleschi solved the crossing with a double-shell masonry dome built without full centering. The octagonal cupola, ribs, lantern and adjoining bell tower make the complex legible across the city; the marble-clad west façade is a nineteenth-century design by Emilio De Fabris. The date records the cathedral's consecration and completion of the dome's main structure, not the final appearance of every element. Its urban role extends to the closely spaced baptistery and campanile in Piazza del Duomo.