#28 Ghiberti & The Doors I

* If you’ve ever been to Florence, you’ve no doubt paid a visit to the Duomo, the Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. * Known as the Duomo. * Well we’re NOT going to be talking about that today. * Instead we’re going to be talking about the building right next to it – the Baptistery of St John, one of the most historic and important buildings in Florence. * Aka  the Battistero di San Giovanni * John the Baptist was the patron saint of baptistries as well as the patron saint of the city of Florence. * In particular we want to talk about the doors of the Baptistery. * And the man who cast them in bronze – Lorenzo Ghiberti. * Also sometimes called Di Bartoluccio. * When we were in Florence in July, I took everyone to see the bronze doors but unfortunately the greatest of them, the so-called ‘Gates of Paradise”, were covered up and undergoing cleaning. * However – the doors that ARE there – aren’t even the original doors! * They are a copy of the originals, made in 1990 so they could preserve the originals which had over five hundred years of exposure and damage. * To protect the original panels for the future, they are being restored and kept in a dry environment in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, the museum of the Duomo’s art and sculpture * But they are easy to miss because I think for most tourists, the Duomo is far more famous and attention-grabbing. * But the baptistery doors are famous, brilliant and played a huge role in the Duomo’s construction. * Lorenzo was born just outside of Florence in the year 1378 or 1381. * According to one story, he was the son of Cione di Ser Buonaccorso Ghiberti and Fiore Ghiberti. * At some point, his mother, Fiore, went to Florence and shacked up with a goldsmith by the name of Bartolo di Michele. * Either true love or he was able to give her lots of nice shiny necklaces. * So we’re not sure who Lorenzo’s biological father really was. * But either way, Bartolo was the only father he ever knew. * And when Cione died, Fiore married Bartolo. * But that wasn’t until 1406 when Lorenzo would have been around 25. * Lorenzo started studying goldsmithing under Bartolo. * And apparently was starting to overtake him, then the plague hit Florence again in 1400. * Young Lorenzo, aged about 20, went to Rimini with another artist, where he worked as a painter, painting the apartment of a rich dude. * While he was away from Florence, he kept up his studies, including studying sculpture. * Once the plague had died down in Florence, in 1401, the governors of the Baptistery were holding a competition and sending for masters who were skilled in bronze working. * It was actually the Arte di Calimala (Cloth Importers Guild) who were paying the commission. * The doors were to serve as a votive offering to celebrate the sparing of Florence from the recent plague. * And it was going to be an expensive project. * The eventual cost was 22,000 florins, equal to the entire defense budget of the city of Florence. * Imagine if the United States spent $700 billion on a single art project? * So Lorenzo headed back to his hometown to enter into the competition. * Now let’s talk about The Baptistery * It is one of the oldest buildings in the city,