The Cathedral Architects

The new Duomo with its magnificent bell tower was therefore a public work. In 1296 the job was entrusted to Arnolfo di Cambio, official architect of the Commune. With its new dedication – no longer to Saint Reparata but instead to the Madonna, with the title of “Santa Maria del Fiore,” Fiorenza” and the “flower” that geminated in Mary’s womb, Christ – the nascent Cathedral was meant to be the representational church of the government and immediately became the most important religious symbol for the Florentines.

Work proceeded briskly for a decade. Then, with the death of Arnolfo around 1301, a lengthy standstill began. Thus in 1331, the commune of Florence decided to entrust the Wool Merchants Guild with the complete management of the Opera del Duomo. Only three years later, the Opera called on the best artist of the time, Giotto, and entrusted him with building the Campanile, probably conceived in substitution of the bell tower of Santa Reparata which was destroyed by fire a few years before but in 1331 was still standing.
After Giotto’s death (1336), work continued under Andrea Pisano, followed by Francesco Talenti who completed the opus in 1359. Talenti resumed the project of the cathedral after a standstill that had lasted decades. He did not limit himself to carrying through Arnolfi’s plan, however, instead proposing an even more ambitious model which decidedly amplified the church’s proportions. In 1380, the aisles and naves were terminated.
The column of San Zanobi dates to this period. Raised in 1384 at the north gate of the Baptistery and surmounted by a cross, it stands on the site where tradition claims an elm tree blossomed at the passing of the saint’s body when it was transferred from San Lorenzo to Santa Reparata.
The Cathedral and the City thus come to overlap, one becoming an integral part of the other: the Duomo, desired and financed by the Commune, the “communal” monuments built in part by the Opera del Duomo. In the perception of contemporaries, Santa Maria del Fiore became the sign of city growth.
Brunelleschi’s dome was, and still is, the visual symbol of the entire city. With its powerful mass, it towers over and ennobles the houses, giving a concrete image of the “Mother Church” that spreads out her arms to extend divine grace to all. It defines the principal Christian temple of Florence as an irresistible unifying force, the hub of the cityscape of Florence.
It was realized in the very short time of 14 years, between 1420 and 1434.