Opening the Gates of Paradise

One of the panels on the gilded doors of Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, a Florentine Renaissance masterpiece (click photo for larger image)A restorer working the Gates of Paradise in Florence (click photo for larger image)A question recently posed by “The Art Newspaper” is, “Why it has taken 34 years to conserve Florence's Ghiberti masterpieces?” The writer go on to announce that, “[a]fter 12 years of planning and a further 22 years of conservation work, all ten panels from the Gates of Paradise, a Florentine Renaissance masterpiece by Lorenzo Ghiberti, have been restored to their former glory by a team from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure—one of the foremost conservation institutes in the world.” These remarkable panels, dubbed “The Gates of Paradise” by Michelangelo--are one of the Early Renaissance era’s most remarkable achievements. The Baptistry where these panels once adorned the doors is located in the Piazza del Duomo, was built between 1059 and 1128, making it one of the oldest buildings in Florence. The doors were constructed between 1425 and 1452. Ghiberti won a competition set up to find the right  artist for the commission. One of the artists who also competed was the amazing Filippo Brunelleschi, who was the architect of the famous Dome of the Cathedral of Florence. Had he won the competition for the doors--Brunelleschi wouldn’t have been able to work on the dome. Every cloud has a silver lining! With respect to the doors, the restoration of them is stunning.