The Duomo di Firenze, the Cathedral of Florence, was built between 1296 and 1436. The cathedral is one of the largest in the world. The dome was the world's largest when it was completed in 1436 and still towers over the city. The lantern on top of the dome was added later, in 1461, by Michelozzi Michelozzo. The dome, a marvel of engineering, was designed by Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi, who submitted his plans after he went to Rome to study the Pantheon, which long had the world's largest dome. Brunelleschi managed to create the enormous dome without supports thanks to an ingenious design which consisted of an inner shell made of bricks with a herringbone pattern and a horizontal stone chain, which reduced stress and allowed the weight to be evenly distributed. The outer shell supports the roof and protects the inner shell from the elements. Between the two shells is a staircase, which leads visitors to the base of the lantern.
Florence, Italy
The monument on the right side is the statue of Ludovico di Giovanni de' Medici, known as Giovanni dalle Bande Nere,. Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici commissioned the statue in honour of his father, the last of the great mercenary military captains, and sculptor Baccio Bandinelli began working on it in 1540. Uncharacteristically, Bandinelli presented his subject seated on a throne-like chair. He doubtlessly thought this was appropriate: the statue was to rest on a pedestal inside the Basilica of San Lorenzo. But Cosimo I changed his mind and had the statue installed in Palazzo Vecchio, in the Sala dell'Udienza. Bandinelli also decorated the massive marble pedestal on which the statue was to rest, carving a relief celebrating the clemency shown by the victorious Giovanni dalle Bande Nere to his prisoners. However, the pedestal proved too large when Cosimo changed his plans, so instead of going with the statue to Palazzo Vecchio, it was placed in piazza San Lorenzo, where it stands today, and soon became popularly known as the Base of San Lorenzo.
