Il Buggiano, Funeral monument to Filippo Brunelleschi

Funerary monument of Filippo Brunelleschi (Florence 1377 - 15 April 1446), commissioned by the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore and built at the expense of the family by Andrea Cavalcanti, called “il Buggiano” (his adopted son and disciple), in 1447-1448, with epitaph by the humanist Carlo Marsuppini, Chancellor of the Florentine Republic. Brunelleschi merited the honour of burial in the Cathedral as the brilliant master builder of the Cathedral, in particular of the dome, and designer of the lantern.

The monument created by Buggiano, composed of the panel with epitaph and portrait bust of the deceased within a clypeus, is innovative for its elegant clarity, of classical inspiration. This monument in turn inspired the later ones to Antonio Squarcialupi and Giotto, by Benedetto da Maiano (1490), and those dedicated to Emilio De Fabris and Arnolfo di Cambio, completed in the 1800s. 

For the facial features, Cavalcanti would have relied on his own personal memory, and possibly also on the funerary mask of Brunelleschi (today in the Museum). The monument was probably first installed at the centre of the wall next to the tomb of the great architect, which was found in 1972 during excavations of the ancient basilica of Santa Reparata (seen today along the visit path of the archaeological site).

The dedication of a funerary monument to this illustrious master builder of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore was a continuation from the earlier ones commemorating Giotto and Andrea Pisano, both with tombs in the Cathedral, but now lost. In fact, over the 14th to 15th centuries, the Cathedral took on the role of “Pantheon” for the great personalities of Florence.