Florence Cathedral Dome

"Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446) is considered the father of Renaissance architecture.  Although he began as a goldsmith and sculptor and was also a clockmaker, mathematician and Latin scholar, Brunelleschi became most famous as the builder of the dome of Florence Cathedral.  At 138 feet across, the space to be covered was the largest attempted since antiquity.  By 1412, the church, begun in 1296, was finished except for capping the huge hole, a feat church officials despaired of achieving.  Most domes were supported during construction by a armature of wood scaffolding, but the duomo opening was so wide, no trees were big enough to bridge the gap. ...

Skeptics called him a madman, but Brunelleschi was confident he could do the trick.  He studied the Pantheon to fathom its structure.  Then he announced his solution: to build circular courses of brick, tapering toward the top, in which each course supports the next.  he also devised a double-shell covering of brick in a herringbone pattern, reinforced by ribs and metal bands.  Construction began in 1420, with a lantern added after 1436."

from The Annotated Arch - A Crash Course in the History of Architecture, by Carol Strickland, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, MO, 2001, page 57.