Wooden model by Giovanni Antonio Dosio (1591) illustrating one of the designs proposed for a new facade for the cathedral after the original medieval facade had been dismantled. In 1587 Grand Duke Francesco de’ Medici ordered the dismantling of the 14th-century facade of the Cathedral, still incomplete and by now outmoded. A competition to design the new façade was announced, but the death of the Grand Duke on 19 October of the same year caused a delay, although the project was subsequently continued by Francesco’s successor, his brother Ferdinando I. Among the various models submitted, Dosio’s was one of the most admired, thanks to its clear-cut design with two orders, solemn but sober, inspired by Michelangelo’s architecture. For this reason the Grand Duke Ferdinando II de’ Medici initially decided to build from Dosio’s model when the issue of the facade came to the fore once more in 1633. However the architects of the day opposed his choice and persuaded him to organize a new competition.