LORENZO GHIBERTI

[BORN 1381,1 DIED 1455]

THE DOORS OF SAN GIOVANNI

WE are now to enter on a view of the progress of painting in the fifteenth century—a period perhaps the most remarkable in the whole history of mankind-distinguished by the most extraordinary mental activity, by rapid improvement in the arts of life, by the first steady advance in philosophical inquiry, by the restoration of classical learning, and by two great events, of which the results lie almost beyond the reach of calculation - the invention of the art of printing, and the discovery of America.

The progressive impulse which characterized this memorable period was felt not less in the fine arts: in painting, the adoption of oils in the mixing of colors, instead of the aqueous and glutinous vehicles formerly used for the purpose, led to some most important results. But long before the general adoption of this and other improvements in the materials employed, there had been a strong impulse given to the mental development of Art, of which we have to say a few words before we come to treat further of the history and efforts of individual minds.

During the fourteenth century the leading school of Art was that of Florence, and we find all Italy filled with the scholars and imitators of Giotto; but in the fifteenth century there was a manifest striving after originality of style, a branching off into particular schools, distinguished by the predominance of some particular characteristic in the mode of treatment, expression, form, color, the tendency to the merely imitative, or the aspiration towards the spiritual and ideal. At this time we begin to hear of the Neapolitan, Umbrian, Bolognese, Venetian, and Paduan schools as distinctly characterized; but

1 [This date is given by Perkins. Others give 1378.]

as

from 1400 to 1450 we still find the painters of Florence, Siena, and Arezzo in advance of all the rest in power, invention, fertility, and in the application of knowledge and mechanical means to a given end; and as in the thirteenth century we traced the new influence given to modern Art by Giotto back to the sculptor Niccolò Pisano, so in the fifteenth century we find the influence of another sculptor, Lorenzo Ghiberti, producing an effect on his contemporaries, more especially his fellow-citizens, which, by developing and perfecting the principles of imitation on which Giotto had worked, stamped that peculiar character on Florentine art which distinguished it all through the century of which we have now to speak, and the beginning of the next.

For these reasons, the story of Ghiberti, and the casting of the famous doors of San Giovanni, may be considered as an epoch in the history of painting: we shall find, as we proceed, almost every great name, and every important advance in Art, connected with it directly or indirectly, while the system of competition which has been adopted with regard to the designs for our Houses of Parliament and other public monuments lends a particular interest and application to this beautiful anecdote.

Florence, at the period of which we speak, was at the head of all the states of Italy, and at the height of its prosperity. The government was essentially democratic in spirit and form; every class and interest in the state, the aristocracy, the military, merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics, had each a due share of power, and served to balance each other. The family of the Medici, who a century later seized on the sovereignty, were at this time only among the most distinguished citizens, and members of a great mercantile house, at the head of which was Giovanni, the father of Cosmo de' Medici. The trades were divided into guilds or companies, called ARTI, which were represented in the government by twenty-four CONSOLI, or consuls. It was the consuls of the guild of merchants who, in the year 1401, undertook to erect a second gate or door of bronze to the Baptistery of St. John, which should form a pendant to the first, executed in the preceding century (1330), by Andrea Pisano, from the designs of Giotto, and representing in rich sculpture the various events of the life of St. John

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the Baptist. To equal or surpass this beautiful door, which had been for half a century the admiration of all Italy, was the

object proposed, and no expense was to be spared in its attain

ment.

The Signoria, or members of the chief government, acting in conjunction with the Consoli, made known this munificent

1 A Baptistery, as its name imports, is an edifice used for the purposes of baptism, and always dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The Baptistery of San Giovanni at Florence a large chapel of an octangular form, surmounted by a dome: on three of the sides are entrances. It is an appendage of the cathedral, though separate from it.

resolve through all Italy, and in consequence not only the best artists of Florence, but many from other cities, particularly Siena and Bologna, assembled on this occasion. From among

a great number, seven were selected by the Consoli as worthy to compete for the work, upon terms not merely just, but munificent. Each competitor received, besides his expenses, a fair indemnity for his labor for one year. The subject proposed was the Sacrifice of Isaac, and at the end of the year each artist was required to give in a design, executed in bronze, of the same size as one of the compartiments of the old door, that is, about two feet square.

There were thirty-four judges, principally artists, some natives of Florence, others strangers; each was obliged to give his vote in public, and to state at the same time the reasons by which his vote was justified. The names of the seven competitors, as given by Vasari, were Jacopo della Quercia, of Siena; Niccolò d' Arezzo, his pupil; Simon da Colle, celebrated already for his fine workmanship in bronze, from which he was surnamed Simon dei Bronzi; Francesco di Valdambrina; Filippo Brunelleschi; Donato, better known as Donatello; and LORENZO GHIBERTI.

The

Lorenzo was at this time about twenty-three; he was the son of a Florentine named Cione, and of a family which had attained to some distinction in Florence. The mother of Lorenzo, left a widow at an early age, married a worthy man named Bartoluccio,1 known for his skill as a goldsmith. goldsmiths of those days were not merely artisans, but artists in the high sense of the word; they generally wrought their own designs, consisting of figures and subjects from sacred or classical story, exquisitely chased in relief, or engraved or enamelled on the shrines or chalices used in the Church service; or vases, dishes, sword-hilts, and other implements.

The arts of drawing and modelling, then essential to a goldsmith, as well as practical skill in chiselling, and founding and casting metals, were taught to the young Lorenzo by his stepfather; and his progress was so rapid that at the age of nineteen or twenty he had already secured to himself the patronage of the Prince Pandolfo Malatesta, Lord of Pesaro, and was employed in the decoration of his palace when Bartoluccio sent him notice of the terms of the competition for 1 [The name is given by Perkins as Bartolo di Michiele.]

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Το

the execution of the doors of San Giovanni. Lorenzo immediately hastened to present himself as one of the competitors, and, on giving evidence of his acquired skill, he was accepted among the elected seven. They had each their workshop and furnace apart, and it is related that most of them jealously kept their designs secret from the rest; but Lorenzo, who had all the modest self-assurance of conscious genius, did not; on the contrary, he listened gratefully to any suggestion or criticism which was offered, admitting his friends and distinguished strangers to his atelier while his work was going forward. this candor he added a persevering courage; for when, after incredible labor, he had completed his models, and made his preparations for casting, some flaw or accident in the process obliged him to begin all over again, he supplied this loss of time by the most unremitting labor, and at the end of the year he was not found behind his competitors. When the seven pieces were exhibited together in public, it was adjudged that the work of Quercia was wanting in delicacy and finish; that of Valdambrina confused in composition; that of Simon da Colle well cast, but ill drawn; that of Niccolò d' Arezzo heavy and ill-proportioned in the figures, though well composed; in short, but three among the number united the various merits of composition, design, and delicacy of workmanship, and were at once preferred before the rest. These three were the work of Brunelleschi, then in his twenty-fifth year; Donatello, then about eighteen; and Lorenzo Ghiberti, not quite twenty-three. The suffrages seemed divided; but after a short pause, and the exchange of a few whispered words, Brunelleschi and Donatello withdrew, generously agreeing and proclaiming aloud that Lorenzo had excelled them all, that to him alone belonged the prize; and this judgment, as honorable to themselves as to their rival, was confirmed amid the acclamations of the assembly.1

The citizens of Florence were probably not less desirous than we should be in our day to behold the completion of a

1 The three are preserved in the Camera de' Bronzi, in the Florence Gallery; and in the set of engravings from the three doors, published by Lasinio, the designs by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi are placed side by side, and may be compared. The superiority of the former, in point of elegance, is at once apparent. See Le tre Porte del Battisterio di San Giovanni di Firenze, incise ed illustrate, 1821. There is a copy in the British Museum. [Perkins' Tuscan Sculptors also contains engravings of the panels of Ghiberti and Brunelleschi.]