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LORENZO GHIBERTI (1378-1455) The ingenious hands behind the Gates of Paradise
Winning the competition of as the best craftsmen in Italy The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Battistero di San Giovanni, is renowned for its remarkable bronze doors. In 1401 a competition was organized for the design of the set of doors which would later be placed on the north side of the baptistery. Each participant was to be given four tables of brass and one year to create a panel with the subject of the “Sacrifice of Isaac.” The competition invited all the best craftsmen in Italy to Florence, including renowned masters Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia and Niccolò Aretino. To everyone’s surprise, the young Lorenzo Ghiberti, in his early 20s, emerged as the final winner. Some scholars believe the Issac figure created by Ghiberti on the competition panel was “the first truly ideal Renaissance nude.” It successfully blended naturalism and classicism in one harmonious piece. The young Ghiberti outshone the more experienced artists and his accomplishments on the bronze Baptistry doors earned him a place in history as one of the most important Italian artists. Vasari once described Ghiberti in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects as an artist whom even the “two distinguished craftsmen, the sculptor Donatello and the sculptor and architect Filippo Brunelleschi really took second place after…..he was far more expert in casting bronze.” The goldsmith’s son Lorenzo Ghiberti came from a somewhat controversial background. At the time of his birth, Lorenzo’s mother was
THE CREATION OF ADAM & EVE
Bronze panel, replica made by the Frilli Gallery in 2022
