Filippo Brunelleschi

Brunelleschi used a double-shell dome, herringbone brickwork, and carefully staged construction methods for Santa Maria del Fiore. The dome was completed in 1436 and remains one of the engineering landmarks of Renaissance Florence.

Brunelleschi is credited with early 15th-century experiments that helped formalize linear perspective. His perspective demonstrations in Florence influenced painters such as Masaccio and helped change Renaissance visual space.

Important Brunelleschi projects include the Ospedale degli Innocenti, begun in 1419, and work associated with San Lorenzo and the Pazzi Chapel in Florence. These buildings helped define the clear geometry of early Renaissance architecture.

Brunelleschi and Ghiberti both entered the 1401 competition for the Florence Baptistery bronze doors. Ghiberti won the commission, while Brunelleschi later became famous for architecture and engineering rather than bronze sculpture.