The Renaissance: Florence Leads the Way - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 100

Figure 7.2. Duomo
To build twin domes that rose upward from 180 feet above the cathedral floor, huge
stones would have to be hoisted upward and then moved horizontally to the work site, layer
upon layer, upward and upward.
In all, over a million pounds of stone would need to be raised to the top of the cupola.
Since the cathedral was now in use, it was impossible to have a huge hoist at ground
level. This meant the hoist had to be manually operated from the working level and,
therefore, had to be small in scale—small enough, that is, for several men to operate
in the limited space at the top of the dome. Yet it had to be capable of moving marble
blocks weighing as much as two tons. [89]
Again, the genius of Brunelleschi rose to the challenge. He designed massive hoisting
and traveling cranes to carry men and materials high in the air and, once there, to move
them horizontally to the intended work site. Before the dome was complete, the hoist would
raise aloft marble, brick, stone, and mortar weighing an estimated seventy million pounds.
Cathedral tradition demanded that a lantern (a windowed turret) crown the dome.
Several architects submitted plans to the wardens (supervising committee) of the
cathedral who consulted widely: masters of theology, doctors of science, masons, gold-
smiths, painters, and a mathematician, as well as various influential citizens, including
Cosimo de' Medici. Their judgment, in the end, found in favor of Filippo's design. [90]