Gates of Paradise
Factual Information:
From: Florence, Italy
Period: 1425 - 1452
Period: 1425 - 1452
General Information:
These doors are the doors to the Florence Baptistery, designed by Ghiberti and is one of his more famous works. Michelangelo loved the doors so much that he said the they are "so beautiful that they would do well for the gates of Paradise". In earlier works for doors like these, the scenes would be represented in a qua-trefoil pattern, like the other doors to the baptistery. Ghiberti, however abandoned this to use square frames for each scene, and reduced the number of panels and enlarged them. The individual panels each show different scenes from the Old Testament bible. Ghiberti used perspective heavily in each one of the panels, as well as giving a sense of depth through sculptural means. Means making the top of each of the penls flatter than the bottom, using more material in the bottom than the top. In the panels, Ghiberti achieved more depth than previously thought possible in relief artworks.
Why This Artwork?
This artwork was chosen to show how reliefs were used during the early Italian Renaissance times, like for example how they incorporated such a large amount of perspective and depth that people thought impossible before this work of art.