Florence, 29 October 2025
It is a pleasure to be here in Florence.
It is always challenging to speak after Fabio, who is both eloquent and an excellent advocate. As monetary policymakers, we often excel more with numbers than with words.
But you, Fabio, have the rare talent of excelling in both. I want to thank you and the Banca d’Italia team for the exceptional hospitality shown here in this beautiful city.
Florence has a rich history that few can rival. It has given us the remarkable works of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, fostered scholarly pursuits, and spread printing and scientific learning across Europe.
This evening, I wish to highlight one achievement: Brunelleschi’s dome, crowning this city’s cathedral. Not just for its beauty and inspiration – it undoubtedly possesses both – but because its extraordinary history offers inspiration for Europe today.
Florence began building its cathedral in the late 1200s, but it remained unfinished for over a century. The challenge was to construct a dome of such scale that no one knew how to do it.
During this period, Florence faced challenges like the Black Death and wars, understandably delaying the project. Yet Florence persisted, and in 1418, it held a competition to design the dome.
Brunelleschi won with a groundbreaking architectural approach, departing from tradition and rethinking structural support.
He used a herringbone brick pattern to stabilize each layer without wooden scaffolding and embedded horizontal stone and iron chains as tension rings to contain the dome’s outward thrust.
His daring included constructing a double-shell dome – an inner shell for the weight and an outer one for protection – on a previously unmatched scale.
The sixteen years of construction faced skepticism, with many believing it would fail. However, Brunelleschi persevered, and today we enjoy the fruits of his success.
The story of Florence’s cathedral and dome parallels modern Europe – a cathedral of nations. Three key parallels are worth mentioning.
First, we are part of a visionary project once deemed impossible, built by master architects of that vision.
Consider Alcide De Gasperi, who laid the foundations; Altiero Spinelli, who envisioned a federal structure long before it seemed feasible; and Mario Draghi, who, when Europe’s future was uncertain, demonstrated that resolve is as crucial as design.
Second, like the dome, Europe has weathered storms that could have been its downfall.
In recent years, Europe has faced the worst pandemic since the 1920s, high US tariffs, a deep energy shock, and the most devastating land war in Europe since the 1990s.
These events could have exposed structural faults, but Europe’s resilience – in policies, institutions, and collective commitment – held firm.
This leads to the third parallel: we have reached limits with outdated methods.
Europe is resilient but also vulnerable. Our open economic model exposes us to global shocks, yet we struggle to reduce vulnerabilities by fixing the internal market and strengthening domestic growth.
Part of this is architectural: even when consensus exists on necessary actions, our governance often hinders decisive execution. It has become slow, complex, and too reliant on Member States’ vetoes.
The solution doesn’t require revolutionary change. Brunelleschi used the materials of his time – bricks, mortar, and iron – in innovative ways. Europe can do similarly.
We can utilize Treaties’ “passarelle” clauses to make more decisions by qualified majority when collective action serves our common interest.
We can establish “28th regimes” where common European rules apply without waiting for full national convergence, enabling innovators to scale rapidly.
We can deepen collaboration among willing countries to progress faster – not as exclusive clubs, but as pioneers enhancing the whole.
Brunelleschi’s lesson is that vision requires creativity to act within present constraints.
This demands inventive policymaking. As Florence’s Dante – skilled with words over numbers – wrote, “From a little spark may burst a flame.”
Brunelleschi, influenced by Dante’s culture, likely found inspiration in these words for his creativity and ambition. Europe now must learn from them.
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