After the death of the first bishop, work on the cathedral slowed due to the lack of funds, until Mary Magdalene of Austria, the wife of Cosimo II who had been assigned the government of the city, intervened decisively.  Thus the roof could be built in 1619, although the number of bays was reduced to four from the five originally planned, and the high altar was erected. Cosimo della Gherardesca, . . .