makers of this beautiful Florence, the ordinary visitor would
say Michelangelo, Giotto, Raphael, Donatello, the della Robbias,
Ghirlandaio, and Andrea del Sarto: all before Brunelleschi, even if
he named him at all. But this is wrong. Not even Michelangelo did
so much for Florence as he. Michelangelo was no doubt the greatest
individualist in the whole history of art, and everything that he did
grips the memory in a vice; but Florence without Michelangelo would
still be very nearly Florence, whereas Florence without Brunelleschi
is unthinkable. No dome to the cathedral, first of all; no S. Lorenzo
church or cloisters; no S. Croce cloisters or Pazzi chapel; no Badia
of Fiesole. Honour where honour is due. We should be singing the
praises of Filippo Brunelleschi in every quarter of the city.

After Brunelleschi the chief architect of the cathedral was Giuliano da
Maiano, the artist of the beautiful intarsia woodwork in the sacristy,
and the uncle of Benedetto da Maiano who made the S. Croce pulpit.

The present facade is the work of the architect Emilio de Fabris,
whose tablet is to be seen on the left wall. It was finished in 1887,
five hundred and more years after the abandonment of Arnolfo's original
design and three hundred and more years after the destruction of the
second one, begun in 1357 and demolished in 1587. Of Arnolfo's facade
the primitive seated statue of Boniface VIII (or John XXII) just inside
the cathedral is, with a bishop in one of the sacristies, the only
remnant; while of the second facade, for which Donatello and other
early Renaissance sculptors worked, the giant S. John the Evangelist,
in the left aisle, is perhaps the most important relic. Other statues
in the cathedral were also there, while the central figure--the Madonna
with enamel eyes--may be seen in the cathedral museum. Although not
great, the group of the Madonna and Child now over the central door
of the Duomo has much charm and benignancy.

The present facade, although attractive as a mass of light, is not
really good. Its patterns are trivial, its paintings and statues
commonplace; and I personally have the feeling that it would have
been more fitting had Giotto's marble been supplied rather with
a contrast than an imitation. As it is, it is not till Giotto's
tower soars above the facade that one can rightly (from the front)
appreciate its roseate delicacy, so strong is this rival.

CHAPTER II

The Duomo II: Its Associations