In Giovanni's view there was only one way to save Santa Maria del
Fiore from darkness: he urged the wardens to dust off and reconsider his
old, rejected plan in which twenty-four windows were to pierce the base of
the cupola and thereby fill the church with glowing light. His tone became
hectoring and apocalyptic: 'Per dio uogliate fro uederui,' he begged them ('For
God's sake, take care of it'). Once again he sought to absolve himself of
any responsibility should things go wrong: 'I have written this in order to
be blameless if nothing should be done about this problem.'