#29 Ghiberti & The Doors II

* Anyway – governors of Florence may have had a more immediate reason for selecting this story. * The climax of the story emphasizes divine intervention, and we must remember that the Florentines were facing a series of threats from outside forces – we’ll discuss them in later episodes – and had just had another dose of the plague. * So at the end of the year, all of the artists handed in their work. * And it came down to two finalists: Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. * So let’s introduce him. * He’s another one of the founding fathers of the Renaissance. * Born in 1377 in Florence and is considered the first modern engineer. * AND for developing a technique for linear perspective in art. * Because hey – only complete losers are famous for just one thing. * I mean – I invented long form history podcast, the world’s first podcast network AND – recording podcasts over Skype. * So that’s THREE things. * One better than Brunelleschi. * So fuck him. * We don’t know much about his youth, except his father was a notary,  a civil servant, and like all sons, Filippo – aka Philly B – was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps. * But Bruno was artistically inclined, and he enrolled in the Arte della Seta, the silk merchants’ Guild. * We’ll explain the role of the guilds in detail in future episodes. * But for now, just think of them as secular corporations that controlled the arts and trades in Florence from the twelfth into the sixteenth century. * They also had a significant role in the government of Florence, in between the years when the Medici family ran it. * Florence was a city run by business people, which is one of the reasons it prospered and the arts flourished. * But more on that in later episodes when we get into the politics of Florence. * The silk merchants’ Guild also included goldsmiths, metalworkers, and bronze workers. * Which is why Bruno joined it. * He became a master goldsmith in 1398. * So when the Baptistery door competition was being held, Philly B was only 24 years old. * Lorenzo Ghiberti – Gibbo – was only 21. * Their submissions – the Abraham and Isaac panel – have been preserved. * They are the only ones that have survived. * The two preserved competition panels represent the same moment in the story: the angel intervenes as Isaac kneels on the altar, his father about to put a knife to his throat. * The two servants, the ram caught in the thicket, and the donkey drinking from a stream are represented in both panels. * Perhaps the inclusion of these elements was required by the competition. * Brunelleschi’s relief is an original creation, full of action-filled poses. * Abraham twists Isaac’s head to expose his neck, while the angel has to rush in and physically restrain Abraham to prevent the sacrifice. * The body of the boy is scrawny, the poses of the two main figures tense, and the drapery rhythms sharp and broken. * All are rendered in a new, profoundly naturalistic style. * This is a big thing because art, including painting as well as sculpture, before this time, was very boring. * Even into the 14th century or the “trecento” as it’s known. * Even if you look at the works of Giotto,