Lorenzo Ghiberti

Biografie
1378 - 1455

Uber den Künstler

Lorenzo Ghiberti, (born c. 1378, Pelago, Italy—died December 1, 1455, Florence), early Italian Renaissance sculptor, whose doors (Gates of Paradise; 1425–52) for the Baptistery of the cathedral of Florence are considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian art in the Quattrocento. Other works include three bronze statues for Orsanmichele (1416–25) and the reliefs for the cathedral in Siena (1417–27). Ghiberti also wrote I Commentarii, three treatises on art history and theory from antiquity to his time.

Lorenzo, then, was the son of Bartoluccio Ghiberti, and from his earliest years learnt the art of the goldsmith from his father, who was an excellent master and taught him that business, which Lorenzo grasped so well that he became much better therein than his father. But delighting much more in the arts of sculpture and design, he would sometimes handle colors, and at other times would cast little figures in bronze and finish them with much grace. He also delighted in counterfeiting the dies of ancient medals, and he portrayed many of his friends from the life in his time.

He won a public competition, organized by the Arte dei Mercanti di Calimala, the guild of Florence's greatest merchants, for a pair of new doors to be located in the Baptistery of Florence.
The main competitors were Ghiberti, Brunelleschi and Jacobo della Quercia. Both of the trial panels by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi have survived.
The theme was the Sacrifice of Abraham and Ghiberti's panel was technically superior with it's smooth modelling and brilliant surface. The Brunelleschi was made in a number of pieces and linked together later, but the Ghiberti was cast in one piece.
Ghiberti started to work on the first pair of doors in 1403 and completed them in 1424, a period of twenty-one years. They show the great qualities of charm and grace associated with brilliant workmanship.
Following the success of these first doors Ghiberti was recognized as a master craftsman and was offered a commission for a second pair of doors, these are his famous "Gates of Paradise". 

Lorenzo ran a very successful workshop and his most famous apprentices included Donatello and the Florentine painter Paolo Uccello. 

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