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The Renaissance

The Competition

The competition took time to arrange, for the city had invited architects from all over Europe. At last, in 1420, the various candidates assembled in the Office of Works in Florence. Filippo was there, and Lorenzo Ghiberti, and many others. They were called by turns and each presented to a tribunal of citizens his plan for raising a dome over the cathedral.

The great problem confronting the architects was how to keep the dome stable while under construction. Once the thing was finished, it would be held in place with its keystones and ribs, but when it was but partially finished it would simply be hanging out into space.

The usual approaches were either to build scaffolding up from the ground to hold the arches in place, and remove it once the dome was complete, or to build permanent piers to support the weight. Only Brunelleschi stated that he could build the dome without piers and without elaborate woodwork during construction. Not only would he build it without framework, he would build it for less money.

This seemed absurd, and the committee told him so. Brunelleschi replied that not only was it possible, it was necessary--the dome could not be built in any other manner. He might have been dismissed for talking nonsense, except he had a solid reputation and he made such perceptive criticisms of the other plans that it was obvious that he was no fool.

Still, how could he raise great stones to such heights without some massive framework? Brunelleschi would not say. He didn't want to reveal too much of his plan. He tried to explain his ideas in principal, but these merely confused the committee. He was asked to leave, he kept explaining, growing more animated. He was asked to leave repeatedly and he refused to stop. Finally, he was carried bodily from the hall, leaving something less than a favorable impression on the committee.

Having botched his presentation, Brunelleschi tried lobbying the committee individually. In this he was successful, partly because he revealed more of his ideas and partly because the other proposals were equally unsatisfactory. The committee decided to give him another chance to present. They wanted him to show them a model, but he refused, arguing that his ideas were so revolutionary that if he showed a model, others would steal his ideas from him.