Waterhouse, Percy Leslie: The story of architecture throughout the ages: an introduction to the study of the oldest of the arts for students and general readers (London: B. T. Batsford, 1924)

206 the story of architecture

This arrangement settled Ghiberti. He took
in hand the chain, but could make nothing of it,
and was at last removed from the works.
Great difficulties were experienced in the
construction of the dome, and the work was
frequently delayed in progress, so that, in the
words of an old writer, the vain Florentines
considered that “ the heavens were jealous of
their dome, which bade fair to rival the beauty
of the blue ethereal vault itself.” It was
completed in 1434, the lantern being added in
1462, after Brunelleschi's death (pl. xxii, p. 192).
While the dome was in hand Brunelleschi
carried out several smaller works in Florence,
which had considerable influence with his
contemporaries, and turned their thoughts in
tire direction of the new style. One of the
most delightful examples is the Pazzi Chapel
(1420) of S. Croce, perhaps the earliest building
completed in the Renaissance style. Other
well-known churches of his are S. Lorenzo and
S. Spirito, each of which has a small dome over
the crossing of the nave and transepts. All the
details are copied from the Roman models, with
which careful study had made him familiar.
The second great exponent of Renaissance
architecture in Florence was Alberti (1404-1473),
who was a young man while Brunelleschi’s
dome was swelling out against the sky. Alberti
was an ardent scholar, and the author of a
valuable treatise on the art of building, a book
which was, perhaps, the most important work
of his life, for it became very popular, and