From Gothic to Renaissance

In 1400 the construction of Florence's cathedral was in full swing -- had been for more than a century -- with no end in sight, and there were dozens of other construction projects throughout town providing work for the city's stonemasons, sculptors and artisans. This didn't keep the Arte della Calimala, Florence's Merchants' Guild, from deciding it was time to enhance the Baptistery; the last major addition had been Andrea Pisano's great bronze doors with scenes from the life of the Baptist, in 1330 (which are now to the left as you face the Baptistery from the Duomo ).

So they announced they wanted a new door with scenes from the life of Christ, and a ripple of excitement spread through the art world -- Florence's merchants after all bankrolled kings. Everyone came, including the great sculptors from elsewhere, but the attention was concentrated on two locals: Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. Looking back at this from today one might think this was the face-off between David and Goliath, the renowned architect and the unknown sculptor, but nothing could be further from the truth: Both were promising goldsmiths, young men barely over 20, and though it was no doubt obvious to their contemporaries that they were on the move, neither had yet gotten anywhere.

Lorenzo got there first; both did the Sacrifice of Isaac to display their prowess, and his representation of the scene has grace and fluidity that Filippo's simply lacks (both have survived and are mounted together in the Bargello). So Ghiberti got the commission and set to doing the doors, with the aid of a bevy of assistants including the young Donatello and Paolo Uccello. He was, at the outset of the project, one of the maximum exponents of the International Gothic style, and though he followed Andrea Pisano's lead in setting of the scenes into quatrefoils, his figures are deftly idealized and blessed with airy elegance and grace.

However, something happened during the 20-year interval it took him to do the doors: Filippo Brunelleschi went to Rome. The departure actually took place shortly after his defeat, when he agreed Ghiberti had done a better job and said, "It's best to go looking where the sculptures are good. And so to Rome." This said, he went off to study the Ancients, and returned with a new conception of art based on the realistic interpretation of the subject, an interpretation in which rational thought replaces idealism: This is the cornerstone upon which the Renaissance is founded. Almost immediately others began to follow his lead, notably Nanni di Banco and Donatello, who produced masterpieces in the new style for the tabernacles of Orsanmichele (in particular, see Nanni's Four Crowned Saints in the center-left tabernacle of Via Orsanmichele, and the adjacent Saint George by Donatello).

Lorenzo was far too level headed to radically change a composition at the halfway point. But he was affected by the new developments, and the later panels do show a subtle shift from idealized Gothic representation to something more realistic. Where you can see his change of heart is Orsanmichele, so once you have finished examining the north doors (those facing towards Piazza San Marco) stroll down Via dei Calzaiuoli to Orsanmichele. Ghiberti did the statue of John the Baptist, in the left-most tabernacle, between 1412 and 1415, and many experts consider it to be the acme of the International Gothic style. Beautiful, and terrifically idealized (the casting was also a tremendous technical challenge, and the guild doing the commissioning, the same that was paying him for the doors, stipulated that he do it "at his own risk"). Ghiberti did the Saint Mathew in the left-most tabernacle on the Via dell'Arte della Lana side a few years later, and was in many ways a changed man; gone is much of the idealization, the attention to drapery. Now the emphasis is on the form, on the volumes of the figure filling out the drapery. In short, realism in the new Renaissance mold.

Ghiberti continued to work in this direction throughout the rest of his life, and again did much of the work up the street, as it were. After his doors were hung, to great acclaim, in 1424, the Merchants' Guild was so pleased they asked him to do another set; though they initially wanted another 24 panels, he convinced them to leave composition and subject mater to his discretion. The result was the Porte del Paradiso (Michelangelo's name for them), which now face the Duomo -- Ten panels done between 1425 and 1450, featuring Old Testament incidents that foretell Christ's Coming and God's intervention on the behalf of men, which are one of the finest Renaissance sculpture cycles bar none.

Lorenzo may have beaten Filippo, but Filippo had his revenge, by changing the world of art and forcing Lorenzo to adapt to the new philosophy. And adapt he did, very well.