Ghiberti, Brunelleschi & The Battistero

Of all the buildings in Florence that have a connection with the Renaissance period, by far the most prominent is the Battistero to the west of the Duomo (Florence cathedral).

The little octagonal Battistero dates to the 6th Century, though the interior was redesigned and given it’s ceiling mosaics of the Creation and Last Judgement in 1300. The Baptistry has three sets of bronze doors and those to the north have an important place in art history. If it is possible to pin down the start of the Renaissance to a particular event then it was the competition held in the winter 1401 to choose an artist to design these doors.

Of the six artists who entered the competition, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were adjudged joint winners. Unfortunately Brunelleschi could not accept anything less than victory and went off to Rome in somewhat of a huff.

Ghiberti, left with sole responsibility for the completion of the doors did not finish the task until 1424, demonstrating that ‘taking your time to get it right’ really meant something in those days. Nonetheless, the resulting work shows many of the key features that define Renaissance art including realistic depiction of people, fully worked out perspective, and narrative clarity combined with dramatic tension.

Ghiberti was immediately commissioned to make another set of doors, this time for the east portal to the Baptistry which were unveiled in 1452 when Michelangelo hailed them as fit to serve as the ‘Gates of Paradise’. Indeed the doors are know to this day as the ‘Paradise Doors’.