Part of a nine-coin series issued through the New Zealand Mint commemorating architectural wonders, this piece centers on the Florence Cathedral dome completed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1436. Brunelleschi solved a problem that had stumped engineers for over a century: how to vault a 44-meter octagonal drum without the timber centering scaffolding that conventional Gothic construction required. His solution — a double-shell herringbone brick technique with self-supporting horizontal rings — was so novel that he reportedly refused to explain it fully to the building committee, fearing his design would be stolen.
The dome remained the largest masonry dome in the world for nearly five centuries and still holds that distinction today.
Part of a nine-coin series issued through the New Zealand Mint commemorating architectural wonders, this piece centers on the Florence Cathedral dome completed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1436. Brunelleschi solved a problem that had stumped engineers for over a century: how to vault a 44-meter octagonal drum without the timber centering scaffolding that conventional Gothic construction required. His solution — a double-shell herringbone brick technique with self-supporting horizontal rings — was so novel that he reportedly refused to explain it fully to the building committee, fearing his design would be stolen.
The dome remained the largest masonry dome in the world for nearly five centuries and still holds that distinction today.