In 1423, Brunelleschi was back in charge and took over sole responsibility. But Ghiberti soon had to admit that the whole project was beyond him. When Brunelleschi became ill, or feigned illness, the project was briefly in the hands of Ghiberti. Ghiberti, appointed coadjutor, drew a salary equal to Brunelleschi's and, though neither was awarded the announced prize of 200 florins, was promised equal credit, although he spent most of his time on other projects. Brunelleschi won and received the commission. Ghiberti had been the winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery in 1401 and lifelong competition between the two remained sharp. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, the latter of whom was supported by Cosimo de Medici. On 19 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced an architectural design competition for erecting Neri's dome. Procession outside the cathedral during the 18th century The nave was finished by 1380, and only the dome remained incomplete until 1418. By 1375, the old church Santa Reparata was pulled down.
Other architects were Alberto Arnoldi, Giovanni d'Ambrogio, Neri di Fioravante and Andrea Orcagna. In 1359, Talenti was succeeded by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini (1360–1369) who divided the centre nave in four square bays.
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In 1349, work resumed on the cathedral under a series of architects, starting with Francesco Talenti, who finished the campanile and enlarged the overall project to include the apse and the side chapels. When Giotto died on 8 January 1337, Andrea Pisano continued the building until work was halted due to the Black Death in 1348. His major accomplishment was the building of the campanile. Assisted by Andrea Pisano, Giotto continued di Cambio's design. In 1331, the Arte della Lana, the guild of wool merchants, took over patronage for the construction of the cathedral and in 1334 appointed Giotto to oversee the work.
When the relics of Saint Zenobius were discovered in 1330 in Santa Reparata, the project gained a new impetus. The Duomo, as if completed, in a fresco by Andrea di Bonaiuto, painted in the 1360s, before the commencement of the domeĪfter Arnolfo died in 1302, work on the cathedral slowed for almost 50 years. The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is Giuseppe Betori. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major tourist attraction of Tuscany.
The cathedral complex, in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore ( Italian pronunciation: in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( Italian: Duomo di Firenze).