Consecration of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Timeline

1. 1434–1436Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore · FlorenceBrunelleschi completed the main masonry of the octagonal double-shell dome, and for the first time the church interior was covered by a vast brick vault. Cosimo de' Medici had already regained his dominance over Florence in 1434, and Pope Eugene IV was also resident in the city, creating the political conditions for a state-level consecration.
2. 1436Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore · FlorenceOn the Feast of the Annunciation, also New Year's Day of the Florentine calendar, Pope Eugene IV dedicated the cathedral to the Virgin Mary with holy oil and the rite of consecration. The ceremony confirmed the liturgical completion of the cathedral project, which had lasted over a century, and the dome became the new core of the city skyline.
3. 1436Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore · FlorenceThe papal choir and city musicians performed Guillaume Du Fay's isorhythmic motet Nuper rosarum flores, composed for the completion, echoing the golden rose gifted by the pope and the cathedral's name, Santa Maria del Fiore ('Holy Mary of the Flowers'). The consecration became a public festival in which Florence displayed republican glory and Medici-era cultural patronage.