Inside the Cathedral

Once the cupola was completed, an astonishing creative effort began inside Santa Maria del Fiore, in order to give the Duomo a modern appearance. The large frescoes by Paolo Uccello and Andrea del Castagno in the north aisle, depicting mercenary captains John Hawkwood and Niccolò da Tolentino, are the most conspicuous examples of a series of monuments dedicated to “illustrious men,” including Giotto and Brunelleschi, Dante and Marsilio Ficino.

This celebration of man’s dignity does not contrast with the Duomo’s religious function. It is not a “humanistic intrusion,” quite the contrary. It is no coincidence that the first image realized for Santa Maria del Fiore, the mosaic over the main door, illustrates an analogous “elevation” of a human being: it depicts Mary crowned by her Son, associated to His regal power. This theme of the Coronation of the Virgin was then repeated in 1436 for the large stained-glass window in the oculus of the drum, opposite the mosaic of the entrance. In the course of the XV century, the Opera commissioned many other artistic interventions for Santa Maria del Fiore, such as the cantorias by Luca della Robbia and Donatello, the stained-glass windows of the drum, the Della Robbia reliefs and the bronze doors of the sacristies, as well as the splendid inlaid work of the Sagrestia delle Messe and the clock by Paolo Uccello. This process of renewal was to intensify in the course of the following three centuries, in the radically transformed ambit of the Medici principality.