At The Gates Of Paradise

Title

At The Gates Of Paradise

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Photography And Digital Art

Description

Everybody poses for a photo before the famous east doors of Baptistery (the “Gates of Paradise”) in Florence Italy even though they are the reproductions. The real Gates of Paradise reside in a hermetically sealed glass enclosure in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Here, the quiet of the museum seems to invite people to study the doors rather than pose in front of them. The museum and the ‘real’ doors do not have the large crowds that are outside on the piazza around the Baptistery viewing the reproductions so it is easier to view the doors in this atmosphere. It was fun to sit on the bench across from the doors and watch the time-lapse image of people coming and going, stopping for short or long times, intently studying the doors or just having a casual look. The gilded bronze doors were sculpted using the lost wax method by Lorenzo Ghiberti, who became famous after winning the competition against Filippo Brunelleschi to sculpt the north doors of the Baptistery. He and his workshop spent 27 years on the panels for the east doors. There are 10 panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament, and Ghiberti used the recently discovered principles of perspective to give depth to his compositions. Ghiberti uses different sculptural techniques, from incised lines to almost free-standing figure sculpture, within the panels, further accentuating the sense of space. The panels are included in a richly decorated gilt framework of foliage and fruit, statuettes of prophets and 24 busts. Michelangelo referred to these doors as fit to be the "Gates of Paradise" and they are still commonly referred to by this name. Giorgio Vasari described them a century later as “undeniably perfect in every way and must rank as the finest masterpiece ever created”. Ghiberti himself said they were “the most singular work that I have ever made”. The doors remained in place for centuries after their completion in 1452, well preserved, thanks to Ghiberti’s high quality of work. They were dismantled in 1943 because of the bombings of World War II and hidden in a gallery, but went back to the Baptistry in 1948. After the 1966 flood some panels were taken to be repaired. In 1990 the entire door was dismantled for total restoration and replaced with a copy. In 2012, the restored doors were displayed in the museum.

FEATURED PHOTO, ABC Group's G IS FOR GOLDEN WEEK, 11//15/18

FEATURED PHOTO, Only Doors And Windows Photography group, 6/28/17

FEATURED PHOTO, Pin Me - Daily group, 4/13/17

joan carroll, firenze, landmark, italian, gold, golden, historic, ornate, story, tourist, treasure, spirituality, sculpture, relief, religion, religious, renaissance, florentine, biblical, bible, carving, bas-relief, baptistry, church, famous, door

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April 13th, 2017

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