The strictly symmetrical concentric effect of Bramante's design came near to realizing Alberti's and Leonardo's ideal Christian church: a free-standing,centrally planned building crowned with a hemispherical dome symbolizing the universe and reflecting celestial harmony in its proportions and geometry of pure forms. The effect was,however,partly lost by the design not having been fully carried out. The Temoietto was not intended to stand in a square courtyard; it was to have been surrounded by a circular cloister of 16 columns corresponding to those of the colonnade. When approached through the cloister, the lucidity of the whole radial composition would have been apparent. Moreover, by a subtle ocular effect,the Tempietto would have been made to look higher and wider and more monumental and the surrounding area more spacious.