e quarter-acute arch, so that it was necessary to
burden it with this weight in order to make it stronger. He was not able
to see this edifice finished before his death, but he raised it to the
height of several braccia, and caused almost all the marbles that were
going into it to be well wrought and prepared; and the people, on seeing
them prepared, were amazed that it should be possible for him to propose
to lay so great a weight on that vaulting. It was the opinion of many
ingenious men that it would not bear the weight, and it appeared to them
great good-fortune that he had carried it so far, and a tempting of
Providence to burden it so heavily. Filippo, ever laughing to himself,
and having prepared all the machines and all the instruments that were
to be used in building it, spent all his time and thought in foreseeing,
anticipating, and providing for every detail, even to the point of
guarding against the chipping of the dressed marbles as they were drawn
up, insomuch that the arches of the tabernacles were built with wooden
protections; while for the rest, as it has been said, there were written
directions and models.

How beautiful is this building it demonstrates by itself. From the level
of the ground to the base of the lantern it is one hundred and
fifty-four braccia in height; the body of the lantern is thirty-six
braccia; the copper ball, four braccia; the cross, eight braccia; and
the whole is two hundred and two braccia. And it can be said with
confidence that the ancients never went so high with their buildings,
and never exposed themselves to so great a risk as to try to challenge
the heavens, even as this structure truly appears to challenge them,
seeing that it rises to such a height that the mountains round Florence
appear no higher. And it seems, in truth, that the heavens are envious
of it, since the lightning keeps on striking it every day. The while
that this work was in progress, Filippo made many other buildings, which
we will enumerate below in their order.

With his own hand he made the model of the Chapter-house of S. Croce in
Florence, a varied and very beautiful work, for the family of the Pazzi;
and the model of the house of the Busini, for the habitation of two
families; and also the model of the house and loggia of the Innocenti,
the vaulting of which was executed without framework, a method that is
still followed by all in our own day. It is said that Filippo was
summoned to Milan in