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Summer 2011

The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence

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Recommended Citation
Hillier, Jordan, "The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence". The First-Year Papers (2010 - present) (2011).
Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, CT. http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/fypapers/28
 The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence 1

The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence

While European societies coped with the loss of the Roman Empire in the Middle Ages,
Florence, Italy began an age of augmentation in transnational trade, city infrastructure, and
wealth. Medieval Florence signifies an era in which the small Roman town transformed into one
of the most powerful, populated cities in Europe with the help of the manufacturing and trading
industries. Florence grew exponentially in size as Europeans began traveling to the city for
vocational opportunities as well as a way to escape the rule of elite families, which led to the
conquering of surrounding communities as well as the construction of monumental buildings.
The growing wool industry and promise of international trade in the eleventh century, as well as
the attempt of Europeans to escape feudal lords imperial power, led to the urbanization of
Medieval Florence. The urbanized city’s power and wealth was ultimately displayed through the
construction of the Duomo, the touchstone of Florentine architecture.
The Roman Empire crumbled in the sixth century, resulting in the continual
disintegration of the Empire’s centralized political system, as well as other Roman policies,
throughout European cities. As a result of the lack of authority that plagued Europe, wealthy
individuals and families became influential factors in a country’s political system, as well as
protectors and providers for peasants. However, this created a level of dependency on the
wealthy, which often led to unfair treatment of the poor as well as a feeling of insecurity. The
urbanization of cities throughout Europe began to take place as peasants started looking to
escape this feeling of bondage to feudal lords. This migration into different cities, including
Florence, was not only an attempt to escape reliance on the affluent, but also to achieve a better
lifestyle through the trading possibilities that urban environments promoted. Florence’s
population growth was a product of this logic, as people began to migrate into the city from the
countryside because of the wool industry that began to prosper in the midst of the medieval era.
Florence’s ability to succeed economically despite its location in the center of the Italian
boot promoted its title “as one of the pearls of Tuscany”1 as the city began to flourish as a trading
capital in the eleventh century. Florence’s largest industry was the manufacturing and exporting
of wool, which was collected from “the hitherland and [was] sold [in] rapidly growing urban
markets nearby; but as production increase[d], merchants went farther afield for raw materials,
and as quality improved, they expanded into new markets”2 in other areas of Europe. Because of
its location on the Arno River, Florence citizens who worked in the wool industry could easily
clean the material and use the rapidly flowing river to help operate the mills. The Arno River
also allowed for “access to the sea at the port of Pisa, [where] the entire Italian commercial
network abroad, from northern Europe to the Levant, could be exploited for both the supply of
raw materials and market outlets for production.”3 The wool industry gave Florence “one of the
strongest economies in medieval Europe,”4 which contributed greatly to the understanding of the
city as a source of power amongst other Tuscan towns.

1
Christopher Hibbert, Florence: The Biography of a City (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993), 13.
2
Richard A. Goldthwaite, The Building of Renaissance Florence: An Economic and Social History (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980), 31-32.
3
Ibid, 31.
4
Ibid, 31.
Jordan Hillier 2

Florence gradually grew with the continual arrival of merchants, who, with their immense
numbers, inhabited the area surrounding Florence, creating suburbs of the city and ultimately
expanding the metropolis’ territory. Merchants, who came to sell at Florence’s markets but were
denied access at the city’s gates, would line the roads that led to the city’s core, creating small
living communities called faubourgs. As the faubourgs, or suburbs, swelled with merchants it
became necessary to expand the wall, which originally
surrounded and defined the city’s nucleus, to
encompass a larger section of land. When the wall was
moved in 1175 for the fifth time to include the growing
population, it “circumscrib[ed] an area well over twice
the size of the Roman town and divided it into six
neighborhoods, known as sestieri.”5 The distinction
between different regions of the city allowed for
Figure 1: Medieval Florence with
greater control over Florence and also greater protection
th th
surrounding wall, 12 -14 century. considering that every region of Florence, those on the
perimeter and in the core, had its own militia. The
necessity of expanding the city’s limits to encircle a greater area of land only proves the ways in
which the Florentine economy led to the urbanization of the city. Florence transformed from a
neatly defined Roman grid, with streets perpendicular to each other and small, defined town
centers, into a rapidly growing urban city.
The Roman street grid that draped the city of Florence limited the size and scale of most
structures, making it particularly difficult for the city to develop monumental buildings. Large
sections of the city were devoted to Florentine housing, which was comprised of very “humble
timber structures [however], two major building typologies developed in the [eleventh and
twelfth centuries] that were to have profound impact on the appearance of the mature medieval
city: churches and tower houses.”6 The tower house, a characteristic structure of Medieval
Florence, was constructed of stone masonry for the purposes of fireproofing and was often used
as refuge during times of pandemonium. The necessity of some form of safe haven for citizens
living in Florence in the Medieval era sheds light on the condition of Florentine politics during
the Middle Ages, which experienced centuries of political turmoil due to inner-city conflicts of
interest. Churches, on the other hand, were considered essential in many European communities
since Christianity’s influence grew and resulted in the urbanization of the area as people thrived
around them. The Duomo, or Florence Cathedral, also caused the city to urbanize and grow into
one of the most powerful areas in Europe.
The Duomo, “cathedral” in Italian, is the touchstone of Florence’s architectural
achievements and was built to serve forever as a symbol of Florence’s power and prosperity to
the surrounding Tuscan communities. Constructed to replace the primary cathedral of Florence,
the Santa Reparata, the Duomo was and remains one of the most immense and recognizable
structures within Florence and across Europe. The Santa Reparata Cathedral was originally
constructed in the sixth century along an area of Florence known as the “sacred axis” which
contained other religious structures including the baptistery and three churches, of which the
Santa Reparata was one. Mimicking the form of a Roman basilica, the Santa Reparata had a long
nave, defined by two arcades that led to an apse where the altar was located. Many of the
building’s structures and details displayed Romanesque designs that remained through a variety

5
Christopher Hibbert, Florence: The Biography of a City (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993), 17.
6
Richard Goy, Florence: The City and its Architecture (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002), 23.
 The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence 3

of confined and extensive renovations. Before the new cathedral was constructed, the original
cathedral underwent one final renovation in the tenth century, which added two towers around
the apse, a design often seen in areas of the Roman Empire. However, despite its restorations, the
Santa Reparata began to look trivial compared to the cathedrals of Pisa and Siena, Florence’s
main economic and political competitors. As a result, suggestions were made to revolutionize the
structure into a monument that could outshine Florence’s rivals.
The construction of the Florence Cathedral that would transform “the entire image and,
indeed, the very identity of the city, and ultimately [become] Florence’s greatest monument,”7
was not a project that even the most affluent economies could easily afford. As a result, the
Commune, comprised of a variety of Florence citizens, was responsible for the funding of this
immense structure and leveraged its power over the feudal lords by requiring they “make a token
of submission to the cathedral church of Florence.”8 The plan was heavily funded and the project
commenced between the years 1293 through 1296, led by the master architect, Arnolfo di
Cambio.
While the beginning stages of the construction and planning of the Duomo commenced
under his leadership, Arnolfo di Cambio died shortly after the scheme was produced, having left
the majority of the building’s construction process in the hands of other architects. Arnolfo’s
overall influence on the outcome of the Duomo is doubted by many art historians because of the
reality that, given the approximate date of his death, he could have only spent a maximum of
seventeen years on a project which took over a hundred years to build. Those who argue against
Arnolfo as the author of the Duomo often protest that the building had no individual designer but
is rather the product of many different ideas coming together throughout the time of its
construction. This theory often comes to light because of Brunelleschi’s addition of the cupola to
the cathedral in 1420, the most recognizable aspect of the monument, which gives the impression
that it is unjust to claim Arnolfo as the main author, especially since he did not ever get to view
this architectural masterpiece. However, Arnolfo “must have produced an early design, for on
April 1, 1300, the communal council of Florence declared itself well pleased with the ‘magnifico
et visibili principio’ of the Cathedral that Arnolfo had already manifested.”9 Other architects
controlled the project following the death of Arnolfo in the early fourteenth century, however
Arnolfo’s name is never absent from the discussion of the mastermind(s) behind the creation of
the Duomo.
The construction of the building began in 1296, when “the city council decided to erect a
new cathedral worthy of the prosperity of the citizens. [The building was erected to emphasize]
the importance of Florence and the ambition of her [citizens] during the Middle Ages.”10
Following Arnolfo’s death, construction on the project was paused until the mid fourteenth
century when architects Giotto, Pisano, and Talenti each began to take part in perfecting the
project. When work began on the Gothic cathedral in the 1330s, Arnolfo’s design was altered,
eliminating the urban influence and axiality of the structure within the city. Arnolfo designed the
Christian church so that the cupola of the structure would reside exactly where the Via dei Servi,
a street within Florence that connects the Piazza del Duomo to the Piazza della Santissima

7
Richard Goy, Florence: The City and its Architecture (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002), 36.
8
Christopher Hibbert, Florence: The Biography of a City (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993), 15.
9
Franklin K. B. Toker, “Florence Cathedral: The Design Stage,” The Art Bulletin 60. 2 (June 1978): 215, accessed
October 24, 2011, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049777.
10
Sir Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961), 613.
 Jordan Hillier 4

Annuziata, terminates. The axial relationship that Arnolfo tried to create, which framed the
dome of the cathedral along one of Florence’s main passageways, was lost when the cupola was
enlarged approximately fifteen percent, leading to the shifting of the center of the dome twenty
meters to the east.11 The Duomo was composed by an assortment of different architects using a
variety of different architectural techniques such as rib-vaulted basilica, and other characteristics
that integrate “vocabularies [from] Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Italian
[and] French”12 cultures. The construction of the Duomo took over two centuries to complete
because of the influence of different authors as well as the driving desire to make this building
the epitome of perfection within Florentine architecture.
When construction of the Duomo resumed following the death of Arnolfo, the Santa
Reparata remained standing and embodied essentially the skeleton of the new structure. The
original cathedral continued to function for seventy years following the ground breaking of the
Duomo, all the while the new immense walls of the improved Florence Cathedral enclosed the
minuscule monument. The Duomo slowly over took the Santa Reparata, erasing it from the site
of the sacred axis by burying the insides with the soil from the birth of the Duomo. It was not
until 1375 that the Santa Reparata, a building that had served as a symbol of Florence’s religious
fervor for over six centuries, finally ceased to operate and the structure was completely
overtaken by the new monument.
The Duomo was completed, and the structure embodied many architectural
characteristics, which the Florentine’s wanted it to symbolize economically. The characterization
of the Duomo as a gothic building was not because it outwardly resembled gothic structures like
the Cathedral of Milan, but because it possessed similar characteristics of pointed arches and
vaulting systems, and was constructed in the Medieval
era. The monument contains a central nave that is
approximately 270 feet long, which guides individuals
into the building from west to east, culminating at an
octagon in the eastern end of the
building. The rib-vaulted nave
comprised of four bays, was not as
elaborate in Arnolfo’s design,
originally only containing three
bays and possessing a non-vaulted Figure 2: Plan of the Duomo, 14th century
ceiling. However, the vaulting
became a common feature in many other Florentine buildings, such as the
baptistery, and was added to the structure because it was seen as a symbol
of wealth and a declaration of accomplishment. The octagon in the eastern
section of the plan is defined by “three tribunes of identical design, each
opening into five rectangular chapels,”13 all of which are protected by
Figure 3: Interior image of
the Duomo, showing nave the overarching presence of the Brunelleschi dome. The central nave,
and apses. down which people process towards the altar, is defined by an immense

11
Franklin K. B. Toker, “Arnolfo’s S. Maria del Fiore: A Working Hypothesis” Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians 42. 2 (May 1983): 116, accessed October 24, 2001, http://www.jstor.org/stable/989825.
12
Franklin K. B. Toker, “Florence Cathedral: The Design Stage,” The Art Bulletin 60. 2 (June 1978): 214, accessed
October 24, 2011, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049777.
13
“Florence: IV. Buildings,” Oxford Art Online, accessed October 24, 2011,
http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T028591pg4#T028623.
 The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence 5

arcade supported by columns that “is surmounted by a corbelled walkway that runs around the
vault springers, continuing into the octagon, and the clerestory.”14 The architectural elements and
structures within the interior of the building are accented with grey limestone to highlight the
main structure and design of the building. However, while the interior decoration within the
cathedral’s central nave may appear rather banal and somber, simply outlining the Duomo’s
features, the fresco within the Brunelleschi’s dome brings to life the Florentine appreciation for
art and literature that came to life during the Renaissance.
While the building was a large addition to the Roman grid of Florence’s central core, its
interior elegance and thoughtfulness promoted the building’s vision as a symbol of wealth and
encouraged its appearance as not only a structure but a piece of art. Brunelleschi’s addition of
the cupola to the Duomo was the result of an architectural competition he won in the early
fifteenth century. The dome he created now symbolizes one of the most prestigious buildings in
Florence “is a miracle of design which triumphantly blend[s] a Renaissance dome with a Gothic
Building and set a crown on that master piece of Medieval Florence.”15 The dome was executed
using a Roman technique that contributed to the Romanesque attributes, which consisted of two
shells of brick supported by stone ribs that help
“concentrate the load on to the supporting piers, so that
the dome can also be read as a cloister vault.”16 The
entirety of the interior of the dome was coated with a
fresco that depicted the Last Judgment, designed by
Giorgio Vasari in the late sixteenth century. The fresco
wraps around each curvature of the dome and was painted
by Vasari’s student, Frederico Zuccari, and finished in
1579. The dome that pierces the Florentine skyline,
Figure 4: Image of Brunelleschi’s
making the Duomo over three-hundred feet tall, is the Dome and Vasari’s Fresco.
“first major dome since antiquity and chief harbinger of
the Italian Renaissance”17 and remains one of the defining features of Florence and the period of
wealth and growth it experienced during the Middle Ages.
The Duomo marked a period of transition in Florence’s history. The Cathedral of
Florence symbolized the continual and growing importance of religion to the Florentine
community as well as the wealth and power of the city that contributed to the heavy urbanization
of the area. Today, the Duomo functions as a reminder of that period of prosperity that Florence
experienced in the medieval era, which made the city into the metropolis it is today, and as an
artifact that displays to all the history of the city and where it came from. While the Duomo is
no longer the revolutionary, immense structure it once was due to the modernization of
architecture and society that took place around the world, it carries on as the jewel of Florence
that people travel from all over to see. The structure has been excavated many times to
determine the history of the Santa Reparata as well as hopefully gain an answer to the seemingly
unanswerable question of the true author of the building, however it is an artifact from the city
forever representing the transition of Florence into the brilliant city we know today.

14
Ibid.
15
Sir Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961), 677.
16
“Florence: IV. Buildings,” Oxford Art Online, accessed October 24, 2011,
http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T028591pg4#T028623.
17
Franklin K. B. Toker, “Arnolfo’s S. Maria del Fiore: A Working Hypothesis” Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians 42. 2 (May 1983): 101, accessed October 24, 2001, http://www.jstor.org/stable/989825.
Jordan Hillier 6

Bibliography

Fletcher, Banister. A History of Architecture. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961.

Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Building of Renaissance Florence: An Economic and Social

Goy, Richard. Florence: The City and its Architecture. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002.

Hibbert, Christopher. Florence: The Biography of City. New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Inc., 1993.

Kostof, Spiro. A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1995.

Toker, Franklin K. B. “Arnolfo’s S. Maria del Fiore: A Working Hypothesis” Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians 42. 2 (May 1983): 101-121. Accessed October 24,
2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/989825.

Toker, Franklin K. B. “Florence Cathedral: The Design Stage.” The Art Bulletin 60. 2 (June
1978): 214-231. Accessed October 24, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049777.

Toker, Franklin K. B. “Excavations Below the Cathedral of Florence, 1965-1974.” Gesta 14. 2
(1975): 17-36. Accessed October 24, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/766737.

“Florence: IV. Buildings.” Oxford Art Online, accessed October 24, 2011.
http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T028591pg4#T028623.