Who Painted the Inside of the Duomo in Florence?

It was necessary to fill the bare, white ceiling after Brunelleschi's Dome was finished. Giorgio Vasari, a dependable companion of Grand Duke Cosimo I Medici, was asked to finish the work. Vasari created a magnificent image, known as "The Last Judgement," to fill the dome.

Vasari had the brilliant idea, but he could only finish about a third of the project. Vasari's less gifted pupil Federico Zuccari succeeded him after his passing. Zuccari completed the fresco using his own ideas and methods rather than Vasari's blueprints and painting strategies. According to several critics, Zuccari's paintings failed to capture the splendor of Brunellschi's magnificent dome in Santa Maria del Fiore.