At the end of the 16th century the Grand Duke Francesco I dei Medici had decided to dismantle the decoration of the facade of the Cathedral, which Arnolfo di Cambio had begun at the end of the 13th century and which was carried on until the 15th century, remaining unfinished. The sovereign's intention was to equip the largest Florentine temple with a new facade stylistically updated to the modern taste, but after the destruction of the ancient one they never created a a new front. The debate around this important work lasted until the end of the 17th century, when the Grand Duke Cosimo III, on the occasion of his son's wedding, finally decided to confer appropriate decor to this monument and to the space in front of it and commissioned a large mural painting depicting an architectural front. This decoration survived for a century and a half and it is still visible, albeit dull and very degraded, in the first photographs of the early 19th century. After almost two hundred years from the last attempt at completion, at the beginning of the 1820s, when Florence was by now ruled by the Lorraine dynasty, the question of the decoration of the facade of the Duomo aroused again widespread interest encouraged by Giovanni degli Alessandri, President of the Academy of Fine Arts and Director of the Uffizi. The architect Giovanni Battista Silvestri presented for first a neo-Gothic style project, which however remained only on paper. The proposal formulated in 1831 by the architect Gaetano Baccani, responsible for the modernization of the factory in a purist way, was also rejected. A further step forward was taken in 1842 when was created the Association for the Façade of the Cathedral, which was also concerned with finding the necessary funding for the construction of the enterprise. The realization of the neo-Gothic facade of the Basilica of Santa Croce, based on a design by Matas, contributed to stimulating the debate around the initiative. Matas himself produced his own proposal for an architectural solution for the Cathedral, which had the effect of spreading the question beyond the regional borders: in these years the Swiss architect Johann Georg Müller designed six facade hypotheses in neo-Gothic style, inspired by both the Frech and German churches and the Cathedral of Orvieto. All the designs proposed in this first phase differed from each other in many elements, but they were all united by the same medieval architecture inspiration. These stylistic features evoked the time of the foundation of the Cathedral, or the time of Arnolfo, when Florence was in the splendor of the communal age. Therefore, the debate suffered an interruption due to the turbulence of the Risorgimento riots and did not resume until 1859, when the Association was reborn with the name of "Promoter Deputation". The following year the new king, Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, laid the fondation stone with a ceremony, which however was absolutely symbolic: the façade’s question was still far from over. In 1861, with the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, was launched a new competition, in which many Italian and foreign architects participated, who proposed solutions inspired by different medieval and non-medieval architectures. This new group of projects was examined by a special commission of experts, but once again no winner was elected. A new competition was then held in 1864, for which were examined more than forty projects, inspired some by the Gothic facades of French cathedrals, others by Italian basilicas and still others with an absolutely eclectic taste. Among the fifteen projects that stood out for merit, won that of the Florentine architect Emilio De Fabris, who imagined a neo-Gothic facade, inspired by those of the Cathedrals of Siena and Orvieto, that is, crowned by three cusps. However, a heated discussion arose around this solution. In fact, behind this architectonical detail there were hidden political-ideological reasons, strongly felt in those years: the cuspidate type in the Italian Risorgimento was felt as less "Italic" than the basilical, that is flat, with balcony. The judging commission requested an opinion to the most important neo-Gothic architect of that time, the French Viollet-Le-Duc, but his authoritative advise was not enough to quell the controversy. Then, they decided to launch a new competition, to which ten participants of the previous one were invited and twenty-nine new competitors were admitted. All the forty-five drawings sent to the Commission were inspired by medieval architecture, but divided into two groups: cuspidate or basilical. De Fabris won again, and in 1870 he was finally appointed Architect responsible for the construction of the new facade. Nonetheless, the controversy around the crown did not subside and De Fabris gradually had to work out new variations to the project, where he imagined both solutions. To definitively end to the question, were put in place both the types – a cusp on the right side and a balcony on the left side of the facade - and a citizen referendum was announced, which once and for all established the preference for second option. But the façade was not just an architectural matter and for the iconographic program of its sculptural and mosaic decoration the tenacious De Fabris addressed the philosopher Augusto Conti. He devised a grandiose celebration of Mary and the Savior that was, together, a glorification of the history of Florence, through a complex theological program that showed the intertwining of the Christian faith and the Florentine genius. Dozens of high profile artists were involved to create more than seventy figures in marble and mosaic. On the facade the Romanesque and Gothic tradition of decorating in red, white and green marbles acquired a patriotic significance, no longer related to the Christian theological virtues, but to the colors of the Italian flag. The names and the coat of arms of the important Florentine families and not only that participated in the financing of the enterprise were sculpted into the lower frames, so as to remain visible to posterity. The construction was finally started in 1876 but De Fabris died in 1883 and unfortunely could not see the conclusion. It was up to his heir, Luigi Del Moro, who took over from the master in the direction of the construction site, to complete the work, and the facade was officially inaugurated on May 12, 1887, exactly 3 centuries after the dismantling of Arnolfo's medieval facade. In the following sixteen years were created three large bronze doors, which replaced the previous wooden ones and in 1903 the facade was finally completed. Of this difficult journey over a century, the archives of the Opera del Duomo in Florence preserve the extraordinary collection of architectural drawings sent to the various commissions over the decades, and a part of them is exhibited in the section of the Museum dedicated to this nineteenth-century undertaking. In the left aisle of the Cathedral you can admire the funeral monument of Emilio de Fabris: it complete the Renaissance series of sepulchral monuments to the great architects of Santa Maria del Fiore, right in front of those of Giotto and Brunelleschi.
The complex of the Opera del Duomo Museum has developed throughout the 20th century and includes the group of buildings that, starting from the first half of the 15th century, housed the headquarters of the 'Opera del Duomo'. This institution was created at the end of the 13th century to oversee the construction of the new Cathedral. Over the centuries, the entire complex has been adapted according to the needs of the Opera, evolving from a site for magistrates, workshops, and warehouses to its current use as a museum. The urban layout of the vast area surrounding Santa Maria del Fiore results from a deliberate design, explicitly aimed at creating a space worthy of the Basilica’s monumentality. In the years following the beginning of the new Cathedral’s construction, in the second half of the 14th century, many buildings were purchased and demolished by the Opera to construct the Tribunes and create a square of sufficient size between the corner of Via del Proconsolo and the perimeter of the apse chapels, thereby renewing the surrounding built environment. The new houses built along the eastern and northern edges of the square, once called Via di Santa Reparata or delle Fondamenta, followed the layout of the Tribunes up to the height of the central one, where the curve of the enclosure straightens until the intersection of Via del Proconsolo and the current Via dell'Oriolo. The records of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore provide detailed instructions. In 1381, a new road was planned, leading from Via del Proconsolo to Via dei Servi, to avoid crossing the construction site, thus defining the eastern side of what is now Piazza del Duomo. It is noteworthy that in these records and decrees regarding the urban layout, there is never any mention of a ‘square,’ but rather of streets and roads. Thus, in 1388, the officials of Santa Maria del Fiore, "desiring that the said church be adorned with roads," decreed that "beautiful and wide roads" should be opened around the church, "as befits what is just and honorable, for the honor and benefit of both the citizens and the city of Florence." They prescribed a width of 27 braccia ('arms', about 16 meters), an exceptional measure for the dense space of the medieval city, especially since this figure would later be expanded in subsequent decrees to first 28 and finally 37 braccia. With the creation of the large space around the Cathedral, there was also a focus on ensuring the square’s decorum, not only through its size but also by standardizing the facades facing it. The officials ordered the beautification of the streets around the Cathedral with windows of a design to be agreed upon with the officials, "with rusticated pilasters and arches similar to those surrounding the church [...] up to the entrance of the Falconers' workshops," as is still visible today. The ground floor was to be built with rusticated stone arches made of 'pietraforte', carefully carved, with specific guidelines for the width of the pilasters, the structure of the rough blocks, and the dimensions of the stones, both at the base and the keystone. The upper floors, intended for residential use, were to have simple plastered masonry facades. Additionally, it was established that all facades should feature a uniform sill at a height of 12 braccia, creating a consistent interior level to establish the height of the windows opening onto the first floor. This arrangement is still partially visible on the facades overlooking the square. This prescription, dictated by an ordinance from 1389, is confirmed in the current design of the facades along the Cathedral’s perimeter, from the Museo dell’Opera to the junction of Via Ricasoli. In the section between Via Ricasoli and Via dei Servi, eight arches corresponded to the palatio of the Opera, on which seven shields bearing the emblem of the Opera and the insignia of the Florentine Republic were placed, still preserved today. Thus, by the end of the 14th century, the space surrounding the Cathedral took on a unified appearance, which remains visible today in the ring of *pietraforte* arches that extends from Via Ricasoli to the Museo dell’Opera, despite later transformations. THE BUST OF COSIMO I The bust of Cosimo I is set within an oval niche, surrounded by a lavish frame decorated with scroll motifs, clusters of fruit, Medici emblems, and, at the bottom, the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece held by a lion mask. The entire composition is topped by the Grand Ducal crown supported by two cherubs. Around the niche is the Latin inscription: Cosimo de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany; on the band of the Grand Ducal crown, there is a reference to the title granted by Pope Pius V. The bust was placed above the external entrance of the Museum, as recorded by Lapini in November 1572: "In our city, five marble heads of the Grand Duke Cosimo are visible, the first above the door of the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore..." so writes Borghini in the biography of Giovanni Bandini. Baldinucci also recalls this and the other busts of Cosimo as examples of Bandini's skill in portraiture. The designation "dell'Opera" was given to Bandini to emphasize his long artistic career in the service of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, for which he also created the reliefs of the Duomo’s choir balustrade. The bust can be compared stylistically with the portrait of Cosimo I in marble, currently housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), dated 1542, with the bust of Francesco I placed above the Door of Petitions at the Uffizi, and the marble bust of Brunelleschi kept in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Since the bust was placed on the facade in 1572, when the building housed the Magistrate’s Office of the Opera and was not yet a museum, it can be considered a celebratory symbol of the Grand Duke’s role in supporting the Christian faith. After reaching an agreement with the Pope, in which he promised to provide his fleet in support of the Holy League, Cosimo I was awarded the title of Grand Duke. The cherubs holding the Grand Ducal crown symbolically represent the divine spirit offering Cosimo I the rank of Grand Duke. The insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which Cosimo became a member, also has religious connections, as it became a Catholic order after the Counter-Reformation, receiving the approval and support of the Holy See.
