find no work equally profitable,
sent messengers to Filippo, declaring that they would willingly return,
and recommending themselves to his consideration. Filippo kept them for
several days in suspense, and seemed not inclined to admit them again;
they were afterwards reinstated, but with lower wages than they had
received at first: thus where they had thought to make gain they
suffered loss, and by seeking to revenge themselves on Filippo, they
brought injury and shame on their own heads.

"The tongues of the envious were now silenced, and when the building was
seen to proceed so happily, the genius of Filippo obtained its due
consideration; and, by all who judged dispassionately, he was already
held to have shown a boldness which has, perhaps, never before been
displayed in their works, by any architect, ancient or modern. This
opinion was confirmed by the fact that Filippo now brought out his
model, in which all might see the extraordinary amount of thought
bestowed on every detail of the building. The varied invention displayed
in the staircases, in the provision of lights, both within and without,
so that none might strike or injure themselves in the darkness, were all
made manifest, with the careful consideration evinced by the different
supports of iron which were placed to assist the footsteps wherever the
ascent was steep. In addition to all this, Filippo had even thought of
the irons for fixing scaffolds within the cupola, if ever they should be
required for the execution of mosaics or pictures; he had selected the
least dangerous positions for the places of the conduits, to be
afterwards constructed for carrying off the rain water, had shown where
these were to be covered and where uncovered; and had moreover contrived
different outlets and apertures, whereby the force of the winds should
be diminished, to the end that neither vapors nor the vibrations of the
earth, should have power to do injury to the building: all which proved
the extent to which he had profited by his studies, during the many
years of his residence in Rome. When in addition to these things, the
superintendents considered how much he had accomplished in the shaping,
fixing, uniting, and securing the stones of this immense pile, they were
almost awe-struck on perceiving that the mind of one man had been
capable of all that Filippo had now proved himself able to perform. His
powers and facilities continually increased, and that to such an ext