Brunelleschi's Dome: an architectural masterpiece

On August 30, 1436, the Dome of Florence Cathedral was inaugurated, an architectural masterpiece unparalleled to this day.
When it was built, the dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi was the largest dome in the world, and it remains the largest masonry dome ever built.
The mighty octagonal structure has a diameter of 54.8 meters and stands 116 meters high, but it wasn't just its size that made it famous worldwide, but rather the absolutely revolutionary way in which it was built. Brunelleschi's ingenious innovation was to build it with a self-supporting double shell, without the use of supporting framework, since no wooden structure would ever have been able to support the weight of a dome of that size.
To achieve this, Brunelleschi devised a way to arrange the bricks in a herringbone pattern, so that they would support themselves as they were placed. However, the logic behind the brickwork is still a matter of study, and it remains unclear how the work was actually completed.
The 463 steps leading up to the lantern are located in the space between two domes.
The outer dome is punctuated by eight white marble ribs and covered with terracotta tiles. The large lantern at the apex is 21 meters high, its weight counterbalancing the thrust of the inner dome, lending solidity to the structure.
It took 16 years to complete the dome, after which another public competition was announced for the lantern. However, construction did not begin until 1446, a few months before Brunelleschi's death.
The project was then taken over by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo and finally completed by Antonio Manetti in 1461.
At the top of the lantern is Verrocchio's "golden ball," completed in 1471.

The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore is an absolute masterpiece of architecture, which inspired the construction of other structures, such as the later dome of St. Peter's in the Vatican, designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti. According to Vasari, before leaving to begin this project, Michelangelo declared (addressing the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore): "I am going to Rome to make your sister, greater than you, yes, but not more beautiful."