Filippo Brunelleschi’s masterwork, Il Duomo, was the first dome of its size that was able to support its weight. Brunelleschi was a sculptor and architect before he lost the contest of creating the baptistery doors to Ghiberti. After this loss, he quit being a sculptor and focused on his architecture. Brunelleschi was competing with his rival Ghiberti to become the architect to replace the hole in Santa Maria del Fiore. The wool manufacturer's guild was in charge of Santa Maria Del Fiore. They held a competition to see who was to redesign the roof of the church. The legend tells it that Filippo Brunelleschi told the judges to balance an egg, when they couldn’t he cracked the egg and it stood up. This exemplified his idea of a dome. Brunelleschi
