[7][8] He is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, and for the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late 19th century and influenced the rise of modern science.

[6][14] Brunelleschi's earliest surviving sculptures are two small bronze statues of evangelists and saints (1399–1400) made for the altar of the Crucifix Chapel Pistoia Cathedral.

The panels each contained Abraham, Isaac, an angel and other figures imagined by the artists, and had to harmonize in style with the existing doors, produced in 1330 by Andrea Pisano.

[citation needed] In this period (1402–1404),[21] Brunelleschi visited Rome, almost certainly accompanied by his younger friend, the sculptor Donatello, to study its ancient ruins.

Although the glories of Ancient Rome were a matter of popular discourse at the time, few people had actually studied the physical conditions of its ruins in any detail until Brunelleschi and Donatello did so.

[26] As with many of Brunelleschi's architectural projects, the building was completed after a significant time lapse and with considerable modifications by other architects.

[27][28] The major portion completed by Brunelleschi was an arcade or loggia with nine arches, supported on each side by pilasters, which gave the appearance of columns, and opening to the interior by a small door.

This first arcade, with its columns, rounded arches and simple classical decoration, became an established model for numerous Renaissance buildings across Europe.

In both projects Brunelleschi devised elements already used in the Ospedale degli Innocenti, and which would also be used in the Pazzi Chapel and the Sagrestia Vecchia.

He was using these relatively small projects to pilot ideas which he would later employ in his most famous work, the dome of the Cathedral of Florence.

It contains the tomb of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici and his wife, beneath a central dome, simply decorated.

The main aisle of the nave, lined by columns with Corinthian capitals, is topped by a row of semicircular arches, like his galleries.

The interior is given touches of color by circular blue and white ceramic plaques made by the sculptor Luca Della Robbia.

[34] Santa Maria degli Angeli was an unfinished project by Brunelleschi which introduced a revolutionary concept in Renaissance architecture.

Santa Maria deli Angeli was designed as a rotunda in an octagon shape, with eight equal sides, each containing a chapel, and the altar in the center.

[36] The central plan was finally realized, with some modifications, beginning in 1547, in Saint Peter's by Michelangelo and then its completed version by Carlo Maderna.

[38] Since buttresses were forbidden by the city fathers, and because obtaining rafters for scaffolding long and strong enough (and in sufficient quantity) for the task was impossible, how a dome of that size could be constructed without its collapsing under its own weight was unclear.

Furthermore, the stresses of compression were not clearly understood, and the mortars used in the period would set only after several days, keeping the strain on the scaffolding for a long time.

Brunelleschi invented a new hoisting machine for raising the masonry needed for the dome, a task no doubt inspired by republication of Vitruvius' De architectura, which describes Roman machines used in the first century AD to build large structures such as the Pantheon and the Baths of Diocletian, structures still standing, which he would have seen for himself.

[45] Brunelleschi kept his workers up in the building during their breaks and brought food and diluted wine, similar to that given to pregnant women at the time, up to them.

Brunelleschi won the competition and designed the structure and built the base for the lantern, but he did not live long enough to see its final installation atop the dome.

The technological advancements of gunpowder and portable cannons required a new system of fortification which led to further development of the double shelled dome.

[52] According to his early biographers Giorgio Vasari and Antonio Manetti, Brunelleschi conducted experiments between 1415 and 1420, including making paintings with perspectives of the Florence Baptistery and the Palazzo Vecchio, seen obliquely from its northwest corner, as well as the buildings of Place San Giovanni.

[54][55] Brunelleschi's studies on perspective were extended by Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca and Leonardo da Vinci.

[58] In cultural and political terms, the granting of the patent was part of Brunelleschi's attempt to operate as a creative and commercial individual outside the constraints of the guilds and their monopolies.

In 1427 he built a large boat named Il Badalone to transport marble to Florence from Pisa up the River Arno.

Contrivances were created by which characters and angels were made to fly through the air in the midst of spectacular explosions of light and fireworks.

His works involved sometimes urban planning; he strategically positioned several of his buildings in relation to the nearby squares and streets to increase their visibility.

Brunelleschi did not have children of his own, but in 1415, he adopted Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti, who took the name Il Buggiano, after his birthplace.

"[62] Inside the cathedral entrance is this epitaph: "Both the magnificent dome of this famous church and many other devices invented by Filippo the architect, bear witness to his superb skills.