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Europe 1300 - 1800
Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 3
Lesson 2: Sculpture and architecture in central Italy- Brunelleschi & Ghiberti, the Sacrifice of Isaac
- Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac (quiz)
- Ghiberti, "Gates of Paradise," east doors of the Florence Baptistery
- Brunelleschi, Old Sacristy
- Brunelleschi, Dome of the Cathedral of Florence.
- Brunelleschi, Dome (quiz)
- Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel
- Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel
- Brunelleschi, Santo Spirito
- Nanni di Banco, Four Crowned Saints
- Orsanmichele and Donatello's Saint Mark
- Donatello, Saint Mark
- Donatello, St. Mark (quiz)
- A soldier saint in Renaissance Florence: Donatello's St George
- Donatello, Feast of Herod
- Donatello, Madonna of the Clouds
- Donatello, David
- Donatello, David
- Donatello, David (quiz)
- Donatello, Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata
- Donatello, Mary Magdalene
- Andrea della Robbia’s bambini at the Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence
- Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai
- Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai
- Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai
- Alberti, Façade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence
- Alberti, Sant'Andrea in Mantua
- Michelozzo, Palazzo Medici
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Ghiberti, "Gates of Paradise," east doors of the Florence Baptistery
Lorenzo Ghiberti, "Gates of Paradise," East Doors of the Florence Baptistery, bronze, 1425-52. Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- In the panel about Isaac, Rebecca, Esau & Jacob, what is the significance of the four prominent standing figures in the lower left corner?(5 votes)
- It is common for additional figures to be added to balance out a composition and I suspect that is what we have here. It is also an opportunity to render graceful, classicized figures from three different points, a bonus of sorts. Ghiberti gives us these wonderful figures seen from the left, the back and the right.(8 votes)
- It's back now, but It did say it's removed by the user. What's that about? I've seen that before. and so I was askin' Why do some videos get "removed by the user"?
but Steven Zucker graciously explained below. Thanks! this was latter updated after the video was returned.(2 votes)- We replaced it to correct a minor error. We like to get these things right.(13 votes)
- ,,When those were finally finished, he received this commission. - [Beth] Even though these doors by Ghiberti were intended for the north side, when they were done they were considered so beautiful that were placed on the east side facing the cathedral itself, a place of honor. " - i don't understand they would take of the north doors (first one) for the new doors if they weren't turn out so beautiful so they put it on the east side instead of north side..? that does not make sense ..(3 votes)
- These things need not make sense, nor do they need to be understood. BUT, if the historical notes are accurate, then they must, whether comprehensible or sensible, be accepted as fact.(2 votes)
- Excuse me, at 4.30 you say "rilievo schiacciato", but actually, we say "stiacciato" to talk about this technique, in Italian language.(3 votes)
- who created the concept of perspective? Ghiberti or Brunelleschi(2 votes)
- Excellent commentary. Did Ghiberi use lost wax technique? And did he spend 25yrs on these doors!?(2 votes)
- What is the significance of the dogs behind Esau? I know that they are probably there because he was about to go hunting but they are so large and placed so near the center of the picture that I can't help but think that their must be something else to them.(2 votes)
- why did they commission the same person twice?(0 votes)
Video transcript
- [Steven] We're in Florence at the museum of the works of the Cathedral of Florence. And we're looking at Ghiberti's
the Gates of Paradise. - [Beth] Although we're in the museum for the works of the cathedral. These doors were not for
the cathedral of Florence. These doors were for the baptistery, an incredibly important building in the history of Florence. So the heart of Florence is the cathedral and the baptistery. These two buildings
that stand side by side. And the baptistery was the place where the citizens of
Florence would be baptized. And like many baptisteries
it is an octagonal building. They were called the Gates of Paradise because they were so beautiful. And this goes back to Michelangelo who referred to them this way, but of course this is legend. - [Steven] Well, he said that these doors were so beautiful that they could actually be the doors of heaven itself. This was the final set of bronze doors to be cast for the baptistery. The first set were coming out
of the medieval tradition. - [Beth] They were by Andrea Pisano and the subject of those doors was the life of St. John the Baptist. And that makes sense for a baptistery. - [Steven] The second set of doors were by Ghiberti but at the
beginning of his career. He had won a competition
that had come down to him and Brunelleschi, and he was victorious. And would go onto cast, quite famously, this extraordinary earlier set of doors. When those were finally finished, he received this commission. - [Beth] Even though
these doors by Ghiberti were intended for the north side, when they were done they
were considered so beautiful that were placed on the east side facing the cathedral
itself, a place of honor. - [Steven] Now the doors
have recently been conserved and they are spectacular. Only a few years ago they
were black with grime, but now all that original
gilding is visible. All of the extraordinary
detail here is visible. And we can see why the Florentines wanted to move them to the most prominent place. - [Beth] Any why
Michelangelo referred to them as the Gates of Paradise. Now we should say first
too, that was commissioned by the wealthiest of
the guilds of Florence. So this commissioned by the
Guild of Wool Merchants. We might wonder why so much energy was spent on doors. - [Steven] Doors historically
have been the place where one focuses sculptural attention. If you look at medieval cathedrals, the doors are often surrounded by the most elaborate carving. But if you go all the way back
to the classical tradition, if you go back to ancient Rome, there is a great
tradition of bronze doors. - [Beth] Right, so we have
the great bronze doors on the Pantheon. - [Steven] And it makes
sense that the Florentines would want bronze doors in this tradition on the baptistery, since
the Florentines believed that their baptistery had ancient roots. That it was a classical Roman building. So when we walk up to the doors, the first thing I notice
is just how big they are. Now these are very different
from the earlier doors, which were much more
gothic in their design. And most specifically,
each of the main scenes were in the shape of quatrefoils. That is they had four
corners and four lobes. - [Beth] But here instead
of those quatrefoil shapes, Ghiberti is giving us ten square scenes. - [Steven] Well look
how these square panels are really pictorial spaces. They are allowing us to look
into an infinitely deep space. If we compare these to the
earlier quatrefoil forms, what I see is a sculptor
who's trying to fit into a predefined space. Whereas here there is now this confidence, this renaissance notion
that the artist is capable of creating an entire
world within that space. - [Beth] Before you basically had a ledge with some figures on it and a schematic architectural setting. Here, you're right, the
artist can open up that space and make it deep, make it wide, and really create a virtual reality. That idea of the picture as a window that was so important in the Renaissance. - [Steven] Well so much
had happened in the periods since Ghiberti's first commission. - [Beth] Well Brunelleschi had
developed linear perspective. This mathematical way of constructing a really convincing illusion of space in relief sculpture or in painting. - [Steven] You call this relief sculpture and in fact, some of the primary figures are almost in the round. They're almost free-standing figures. But then as we move back
into the pictorial space, figures get smaller
and they get shallower, until figures are only described by lines that are cut into the surface. - [Beth] That way of
creating an illusion of space goes back to Donatello's relief sculpture of St. George and the dragon. It's a kind of relief
called rilievo schiacciato, or flattened relief. - [Steven] And so we have this transition from the full sculptural
form to what becomes almost drawing. - [Beth] So everything
here is not only about an illusion of space, but also
about an illusion of reality in terms of the figures. They move gracefully and
stand in contrapposto. There's an ease of the
figures that is so different then the gothic doors
that became before them. - [Steven] These ten
scenes are Old Testament. They are from the Jewish bible,
from the Book of Genesis. They start with the creation of Adam, the creation of Eve, the fall. They show Noah and then
perhaps most famously on these doors, the
scene of Esau and Jacob. - [Beth] Right, so Esau and
Jacob were two brothers, the sons of Rebecca and Isaac. So we've got seven different moments of this story within a single frame. - [Steven] And the scene starts in the extreme upper right corner, where we see God appearing to Rebecca. She's pregnant and she's asking God why is there so much turmoil in my womb? - [Beth] Why do my two future children seem to be already fighting and they're not even born yet? And God answers and
says those two children represent two nations and two peoples. And the younger will supplant the older. And this is of course, the
opposite of the way things were. The older son would normally inherit. So in the very next
scene, Rebecca gives birth to these twins, Esau and Jacob. - [Steven] And then just to the right, we see a significant moment in the story. Esau has gone hunting,
he likes to go hunting. And he's come back really hungry. He goes to his brother
Jacob who's about to eat a bowl of stew and says, can
I have the stew, I'm famished. The brother says, I'll give you my stew if you give me your birthright. - [Beth] So Esau not being very clever sells his birthright, right? Sells his inheritance for a bowl of stew. - [Steven] Then in front we
see Isaac sending his son, Esau out to hunt for him. Isaac likes the meat that Esau brings back and he also tells him, when you come back I will give you my blessing. - [Beth] And we see Esau going out hunting in the right edge of the panel. - [Steven] And in fact,
Esau is Isaac's favorite. - [Beth] And Rebecca's favorite is Jacob. - [Steven] So what's next? - [Beth] In a way the
climax of the story is next. Rebecca says to Jacob, while
your brother's out hunting I want you to bring me a couple of goats. I'm going to make the
stew for your father. And you're going to bring him that stew and you're going to trick Isaac into thinking that you're Esau. And have him give you his blessing, instead of the older son, Esau. - [Steven] And in the lower right, we see Isaac blessing Jacob,
thinking he's blessing Esau. - [Beth] Rebecca and
Jacob have tricked Isaac into blessing the wrong son. - [Steven] This is a
pretty complicated story and yet the artist has been able to delineate it quite clearly. This early Renaissance moment is so proud of their knowledge of
the classical tradition and of their ability to reinvent it. Look at the clarity of the line. Look at the clarity of the geometry. All of that would have signaled the return to the classical tradition. - [Beth] And the round
arches and the plasters with corinthian capitals
and the way that the figures stand in contrapposto. - [Steven] And what that does
is it sets up a stage set, where this complex narrative
can be clearly represented. - [Beth] And within the
space it's constructed by linear perspective. We see the orthogonals,
those diagonal lines that recede into space, in the floor. - [Steven] I also see them in the arches. - [Beth] And they lead to
a single vanishing point in the middle distance. This is a masterpiece of
early Renaissance clarity in terms of the space. Early Renaissance interest
in the human body. Look at that figure of Esau, he stands in this lovely contrapposto. That space is so believable,
everything that we expect about the early Renaissance is here.