Filippo Brunelleschi is born on 1377 in Florence, Italy. He died on April 15, 1446.

He is
an architect and engineer who was one of the pioneers of early Renaissance architecture in Italy.
He is often recognized with establishing the Renaissance style of architecture, and his first big
commission is the gigantic brick dome that dominates the central area of the Florence Cathedral.

Filippo Brunelleschi

The dome, known as the Duomo, was designed by Brunelleschi to cover a gap in the
already existing Cathedral. The dome's design incorporates the Gothic pointed arch and Gothic
ribs. The dome is architecturally influenced by the great domes of Ancient Rome, such as the
Pantheon, and it is generally referred to as the Renaissance's first edifice. The dome is composed
of red brick and was cleverly built without supports utilizing a strong grasp of physics and
mathematics. It is still the biggest masonry dome in the world, and it was such a huge success at
the time that the dome became an essential element in church and even secular design.
 The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (dome by Filippo Brunelleschi), Florence.

Another major player in the development of Renaissance architecture in Florence was

Leon Battista Alberti (1402—1472), an influential Humanist theorist and designer whose work
on architecture De re aedificatoria was the first architectural treatise of the Renaissance.

Leon Battista Alberti

 Alberti created two of Florence's most well-known 15th-century structures, one of which
is the Palazzo Rucellai. The Palazzo Rucellai, a stately mansion erected 1446–51, exemplified
newly emerging Renaissance architectural characteristics such as a classical arrangement of
columns over three levels and the use of pilasters and entablatures in proportionate connection to
each other.

Palazzo Rucellai, Florence

References:

Com, A. (2012). Renaissance Architecture. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-

arthistory/chapter/renaissance-architecture/

Hyman, I. (n.d.). Italian Architecture. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Filippo-

Brunelleschi