At the time that the famous Cathedral of Milan, the
perfection of the Lombard gothic style, was in hand,
Brunelleschi was advancing a step further, and had
begun the restoration of classical architecture in the
greit Dome and Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore at Flo-
rence, its prototype seeming to have been the Temple
of Minerva Medica, to which the work has sufficient re-
semblance to justify the allusion to it* He succeeded in
his enterprize, and thus gave a death blow to the Italian
gothic of all sorts. L.B. Alberti, Bramante, and Fra. Gio-
condo restored the use of the orders : Michael Angelo,



SECT. IV. OP ANTIENT ARCHITECTURE. I6l

Raphael, Sangallo, Sansovino, Palladio and Scamozzi
completed the change ; the church of St Peter's rose,
and every little city of Italy began to provide itself with
a duomo.
FOR A. The Fora of the antients were large squares
surrounded by porticoes, which were applied to dif-
ferent purposes. Some parts of them answered for
market-places, other parts for the public meetings of
the inhabitants, still other parts for courts of justice.
The Forum also occasionally afforded accommodation
for the shows of Gladiators. Rome contained seven-
teen Fora, of which fourteen were used for the show
and sale of goods, provisions, and merchandize, and
were called Fora Venalia; the other three were ap-
propriated for civil and judicial proceedings, and hence
called Fora CiviUa et Judicialia. Of the latter sort was
the Forum of Trajan.
The Forum of Julius Ccesar was far more splendid
than the Forum Romanum ; it cost upwards of eight
hundred thousand pounds sterling, and stood in the
neighbourhood of the Campo Vaccino, to the east of
the Temples of Peace, and of Antoninus and Faus-
tina.
