... Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the initiators of the Italian Renaissance, had looked toward Roman structural solutions to design a dome for the Florence Cathedral (Walker 35). The dome is a staple of Renaissance architecture. Other architects also looked toward the Romans for inspiration. Another Florentine architect, Leon Battista Alberti, modeled his design for the Palazzo Rucellai after the Roman Coliseum (Partridge 68). Other monumental works of architecture from the early Renaissance include St. Peter's of Rome, designed by Giacomo della Porta, which makes extensive use of Romanesque domes and columns, and the Pazzi Chapel, another domed masterpiece by Filippo Brunelleschi ("Great Buildings Online"). The late Renaissance was marked by a decline in the power of the Catholic Church, and the rise of nation-states and Protestantism. As a result, the papacy erected monuments exhibiting the grandeur of the Catholic Church (Milo 42). Like in the early Renaissance, the most ...

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