Editing Renaissance architecture (section)

====Florence Cathedral====
{{main|Florence Cathedral}}
Brunelleschi's first major architectural commission was for the enormous brick dome which covers the central space of Florence's cathedral, designed by [[Arnolfo di Cambio]] in the 14th century but left unroofed. While often described as the first building of the Renaissance, Brunelleschi's daring design utilises the pointed Gothic arch and Gothic ribs that were apparently planned by Arnolfo. It seems certain, however, that while stylistically Gothic, in keeping with the building it surmounts, the dome is in fact structurally influenced by the great dome of Ancient Rome, which Brunelleschi could hardly have ignored in seeking a solution. This is the dome of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], a circular temple, now a church.

Inside the Pantheon's single-shell concrete dome is coffering which greatly decreases the weight. The vertical partitions of the coffering effectively serve as ribs, although this feature does not dominate visually. At the apex of the Pantheon's dome is an opening, 8 meters across. Brunelleschi was aware that a dome of enormous proportion could in fact be engineered without a keystone. The dome in Florence is supported by the eight large ribs and sixteen more internal ones holding a brick shell, with the bricks arranged in a herringbone manner. Although the techniques employed are different, in practice, both domes comprise a thick network of ribs supporting very much lighter and thinner infilling. And both have a large opening at the top.<ref name=BF />

[[File:Einblick LH2 San Lorenzo Florenz.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The church of San Lorenzo]]