Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti was born in 1378 in Florence, Italy. His father, Cione Ghiberti, and his mother were married in 1370 and lived in Pelago, Italy. A few years later they moved to Florence, Italy, and had Lorenzo. Cione died some years later and Lorenzo’s mother married Bortolo di Michele in 1406.
Bortolo taught Lorenzo the goldsmith trade, Ghiberti excelled in sculpting and working with metal as a result of this early training. Ghiberti was also a painter, but most famously, a sculptor. In 1400, he left Florence to paint for Sigismondo Malatesta in the town of Pesaro. A year later, in 1401, he went straight back after he heard about a competition to win a commission to make bronze doors for the for the Catholic Baptistry in Florence. At age 23 he won the competition and was given the commission due to his magnificent work as a sculptor and the advantage of knowing how to work with bronze and other metals from his time as a goldsmith. There were six other painters who worked on the doors including Filippo Brunelleschi. The doors took 21 years (from 1403-1424) to do 28 panels depicting scenes from the New Testament. After finishing the first set of panels he was commissioned to create a second set with scenes from the Old Testament. This second set was called, "The Gates of Paradise", by Michelangelo because they were Michelangelo felt they were fit to literally be the gates to paradise, they were such a masterpiece. Ghiberti felt these doors were his best work.
Ghiberti died on December 1, 1455. He left the world with his legacy of the Bronze Doors and “The Gates of Paradise” and other bronze statutes. He left sculptors and painters a high quality of art to live up to.
Bortolo taught Lorenzo the goldsmith trade, Ghiberti excelled in sculpting and working with metal as a result of this early training. Ghiberti was also a painter, but most famously, a sculptor. In 1400, he left Florence to paint for Sigismondo Malatesta in the town of Pesaro. A year later, in 1401, he went straight back after he heard about a competition to win a commission to make bronze doors for the for the Catholic Baptistry in Florence. At age 23 he won the competition and was given the commission due to his magnificent work as a sculptor and the advantage of knowing how to work with bronze and other metals from his time as a goldsmith. There were six other painters who worked on the doors including Filippo Brunelleschi. The doors took 21 years (from 1403-1424) to do 28 panels depicting scenes from the New Testament. After finishing the first set of panels he was commissioned to create a second set with scenes from the Old Testament. This second set was called, "The Gates of Paradise", by Michelangelo because they were Michelangelo felt they were fit to literally be the gates to paradise, they were such a masterpiece. Ghiberti felt these doors were his best work.
Ghiberti died on December 1, 1455. He left the world with his legacy of the Bronze Doors and “The Gates of Paradise” and other bronze statutes. He left sculptors and painters a high quality of art to live up to.