Dome of The Brave.

The article describes the design and construction of the dome at the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy by Filippo Brunelleschi. Filippo Brunelleschi, a notary's son who grew up in the shadow of the cathedral, showed an early knack for solving mechanical problems. While apprenticing as a goldsmith, he designed one of the first alarm clocks. He also worked out the principle of the vanishing point. Construction took 16 years. During that time Brunelleschi directed a dozen other projects, including churches and fortifications. Obsessed with work, he never married, bathed infrequently and wore dirty clothes. At the end of the project the Opera again forced him to compete with other architects, this time to design a lantern for the dome's top.