Ghiberti

LORENZO GHIBERTI

Painter of Florence

(1378-1455)

Ghiberti was born in Florence in 1378. He was skilled in goldsmith and as an artist. Ghiberti became well know in a 1401 contest to build the cathedral door. These doors The Gates of Paradise became his best known work. Ghiberti was also a humanist, and was a strong advocate for spreading around humanist ideas. (from: wikipedia)

The Gates of Paradise 

c. 1452

Gilt bronze

 80 x 80 cm 

(image from: http://images.google.com)

The Gates of Paradise: The doors took Ghiberti around 21 years to build. There are 28 panels. 20 show pictures from the Bible and the last 8 are of important figures in the church. The door is made of bronze panels. The door that is now there is not the original. It was decided in the 1900s that the original was deteriorating so a copy was made and the original is now displayed in a museum.   (from: wikipedia)

I chose this door because of its fame. This is the best known work by Ghiberti and is one of his only famous pieces.