A critical biography of the quietly inventive Renaissance architect. Filippo Brunelleschi is at once the most famous and most misunderstood architect of the Renaissance. The founding architect of the movement that led the way to modernity, his originality was not expressed in words or theory but in the materials he used, the scenography of space he engineered, the ingenuity of his designs, the exquisite workmanship of his detailing, and the strikingly creative reworking of classical elements that make up his buildings. In this book, Marvin Trachtenberg offers a new view of Brunelleschi’s brilliant career as well as his life, guiding the reader through his most iconic works in Florence. In the process, this book sheds light on the competitive culture of Renaissance Italy. This is an original, lively account of a key Renaissance figure. “In the concise and beautifully illustrated  Brunelleschi and the Moment of the Renaissance , Trachtenberg sets forth what we actually know and understand about the architect’s work. Along the way Trachtenberg . . . illuminates such well known but cloudy questions as Brunelleschi’s relationship with the sculptor Donatello, putting to rest the pervasive myth that the two traveled together to Rome. . . . While this book is nominally about a single architect’s career and accomplishments, readers will also learn a great deal about the wider Renaissance from this deft account, which wears its deep scholarship lightly.” ― The Wall Street Journal, "Holiday Gift Books: Architecture" "What more might be said about Brunelleschi after centuries of scholarship on him? Yet Trachtenberg offers a fresh, often surprising and challenging reading on a subject that seemed long exhausted. A lesson in asking unasked (and leading) questions and in looking hard at the works that yields a masterful artistic biography by one of the foremost scholars of Renaissance architecture." -- Alina Payne, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies “In this assured book, we find the architect Brunelleschi (and his peers Lorenzo Ghiberti and Donatello) springing off the page . . . Trachtenberg builds on a lifetime of investigating Brunelleschi to deliver a lively appraisal.” ― Country Life "In this striking new book, Marvin Trachtenberg sets out to "demythologise" Brunelleschi . . . Trachtenberg succeeds in breaking down many of the myths that have blighted our understanding of Brunelleschi, and in offering a refreshingly new perspective on his career. Best of all, he makes it seem easy." ― The Critic "What more might be said about Brunelleschi after centuries of scholarship on him? Yet Trachtenberg offers a fresh, often surprising and challenging reading on a subject that seemed long exhausted. A lesson in asking unasked (and leading) questions and in looking hard at the works that yields a masterful artistic biography by one of the foremost scholars of Renaissance architecture." -- Alina Payne, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies Marvin Trachtenberg is the Edith Kitzmiller Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. His books include Building-in-Time: From Giotto to Alberti and Modern Oblivion. He lives in Bellport, New York.