Heaven's Door, A Renaissance Masterpiece of Sculpted Stories
Piazza S Giovanni, 50122 Florence, Italy
4.2
Introduction
Michelangelo was one of the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance, and praised Lorenzo Ghiberti's relief work as the "Gate of Paradise". When Ghiberti was 23 years old, he received a commission to design the baptistery, and by the time the entire project was completed, he was 73 years old. As a perfectionist, Ghiberti repeatedly cast bronze versions until he felt that each relief was flawless. In 1456, decorated bronze door panels with gold leaf were finally installed on the east side of the baptistery, depicting various stories from the Old Testament. While initially planned to use 28 panels to portray scenes from the Old Testament, Ghiberti later decided to only carve ten larger framed reliefs. Many major scenes were depicted on the door panels, such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Ghiberti's set of relief works were meticulous and impressive. Address Piazza S Giovanni, 50122 Florence, Italy
The stories from the Bible carved on the door are very beautifully crafted
