-=< O >=-
As a child,
Lorenzo Ghiberti
was apprenticed to his
stepfather to learn the
art of goldsmithing
.
At the age of twenty he
won a competition to design
a set of bronze doors for the
Baptistery in Florence
.
It would occupy him for
the next two decades
….
The result was so
successful he was awarded
the commission for another
set, which became known as
The Gates of Paradise
.
Writing that he was
given a free hand to
execute it in whatever way
I thought it would turn out
most perfect and most
ornate and richest
,
Ghiberti invested
the next twelve years into
designing and casting the models
for 10 major panels surrounded by
48 smaller heads and figures,
and another fifteen years
finishing them
.
-=< O >=-
The installation
became a major artistic
attraction for over 500 years
(hidden from Nazis 1943-1954)
:
Gates of Paradise
-=< O >=-
Here are the
images of the ten
panels in order from
upper-left to lower-right,
each depicting a story
from Hebrew texts
(Old Testament)
:
Adam and Eve
-=< O >=-
Cain and Abel
-=< O >=-
Noah
-=< O >=-
Abraham
-=< O >=-
Isaac with Esau and Jacob
-=< O >=-
Joseph
-=< O >=-
Moses
-=< O >=-
Joshua
-=< O >=-
David
-=< O >=-
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
-=< O >=-
A scale replica of the
bronze doors (17 ft. tall, 4.5 tons)
from a cast made in 1990 was gifted to
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
.
Watch the short video here
:
-=< O >=-
Lorenzo Ghiberti
-=< O >=-
The icon for this exhibit
is a detail from the upper
border of the left door
:
-=< O >=-