This was the great achievement of his life, the one which has immortalized his name, and which has unquestionably exercised the greatest influence. Michael Angelo, as he looked up at Santa Maria del Fiore before he commenced the dome of St. Peter's, is reported to have exclaimed, "I will take you and project you into the sky."

His suggestion was an octagonal cupola resting upon a drum pierced with windows, which would serve the double purpose of letting in plenty of light and of lessening the weight. The artistic part of the work, the arrangement, the architectural lines, and the decorative combinations are equally interesting, and when one has lived at Florence long enough to go into the details of this work, one cannot but admire the grandeur of the lines employed by Brunelleschi, and the ingenious way in which he adapted to a Gothic building the new style which he had introduced. In order thoroughly to appreciate the grand general effects obtained by the men of genius who designed the curves of the Pantheon at Rome, of Santa Maria del Fiore, and of St. Peter's, one must contemplate on the horizon, from the heights of the Pincio or of Fiesole, these bold constructions as they stand out in the twilight, casting a bluish shadow upon the golden background of the setting sun.

Brunelleschi, being commissioned by the Pazzi family to build a private chapel in Santa Croce, erected a building which redounds very much to his credit, for it is elegant in detail and full of grandeur in its general effect. He employed the Corinthian style, and with the aid of Luca delta Robbia obtained some very novel effects by applying to -the decoration of the panels and ceilings the majolica ware discovered by the latter, the result showing how much a man of genius could make out of this art of glazed terracotta.

The interior of the chapel, to the decoration of which Luca delta Robbia also contributed, is so vast and imposing that in 1565 four thousand friars met there, the privilege of using this chapel being accorded to the chapter of Santa Croce by the Pazzi family.

Brunelleschi was also the architect of the handsome portico in the Piazza dell' Annunziata which forms the facade of what in his day was called the Ricovero del Gettatelli (or Foundling Hospital). The beauty and simplicity of these buildings, the sole richness of which consists in their elegance of shape, seeing that they are destined for such a humble purpose, can only be fully appreciated from the interior. The hospital of the Innocents was begun in 1421, the Council being stimulated to undertake the work by an eloquent appeal from Leopardi Bruni. On the 24th of January, 1444, it was opened and the management placed in the hands of the Guild of Silk Workers.

Filippo Maria Visconti sent for Brunelleschi to build him a fortress at Milani and he was afterwards employed to erect the citadels of Vicopisano, Pisa, and Pesaro.

The church of San Lorenzo at Florence, which contains the tombs of the Medici, and was erected at the expense of Giovanni d'Averardo and of Cosimo, Father of his Country, is also his work. He had proposed to erect the Medici Palace upon a much more sumptuous scale than was afterwards adopted, but Cosimo deemed his plan too magnificent, and Brunelleschi, who had set his heart upon building for the House of Medici a palace of unparalleled splendor, destroyed his model. He began for the Scolari family the curious temple Degli Angeli, which was never completed, as the money which had been set apart for it was spent on the Lucca war.

The Pitti Palace is also his work, and as the family for which he built had not the means of going on with it, Eleonora di Toledo, Duchess of Florence, wife of Cosimo, purchased it, and spent an immense sum upon its completion. It is a heavy building, and so many changes have been made by successive architects that it does not produce nearly the effect it should. In 1549 the Pitti Palace became a royal residence, and Ammanati added to it the handsome courtyard upon which the three inner facades look.

The services of Brunelleschi were now in request throughout the whole of Italy. In 1445 the Marquis of Mantua wanted him for the Signoria, while Francesco Sforza was treating with him for the fortifications of Pisa, and at about the same time he undertook the building of the Barbadori Palace and the Casa Giuntini at Florence.

Brunelleschi was the leading architect of the fifteenth century, and when he died on the 16th of April, 1446, he was buried in Santa Maria del Fiore, beneath that dome which he raised to such a height that from afar the traveller sees it as he approaches the city.

Buggiano, a sculptor of no great renown, carved the bust over his tomb, and the following inscription, composed by Marsuppini, shows in what esteem he was held by his contemporaries.

It cannot be said that as regards the number of works executed, this great artist can compare with many of his compatriots, for, with the exception of the Pazzi Chapel at Santa Croce, he never had an opportunity of erecting a complete monument, and even this chapel is only an annex to the great church. But he was a forerunner, and so gifted with great inventive powers that it is not perhaps too much to describe him as the greatest man of his age in his own domain. Alberti, of course, played a great part, Leonardo da Vinci was a prodigy of genius, and Michael Angelo knows no rival, but Brunelleschi holds his own, and merits a prominent place in the Pantheon of Florentine celebrities. His ashes are not in Santa Croce, and it is meet that he should rest in Santa Maria del Fiore, the scene of his greatest labors and triumphs.