Home	Ghiberti: The Life of Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sculptor [c.1381-1455]
	In sculpture a dramatic parallel may be found in the Wool-weavers' competition of 1401 for the bronze doors of the Baptistry, for which the respective interpretations of a common theme, the Sacrifice of In sculpture a dramatic parallel may be found in the Wool-weavers' competition of 1401 for the bronze doors of the Baptistry, for which the respective interpretations of a common theme, the Sacrifice of Isaac, submitted by Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, are still preserved. The fact that Ghiberti won the competition with his more conservative and graceful Gothic form is indicative of the persistence of that tradition, in contrast to the dramatic realism of the young Brunelleschi, whose efforts are then concentrated largely in architecture. There is no doubt that in every city, those individuals whose talents achieve some fame among their fellow men become, in most instances, a holy light of inspiration for many others, both those who are born after them as well as those who live in their own age, and they also receive infinite praise and extraordinary rewards during their own lifetime. There is nothing which more arouses men's minds or causes them to consider less burdensome the discipline of their studies than the prospect of the honour and profit that is later to be derived from the exercise of their talents, for these benefits make difficult undertakings seem easier for everyone, and men's talents grow more quickly when they are exalted by worldly praise. Countless numbers of people, who see and hear others being praised, take great pains in their work to put themselves in a position to earn the rewards they see their compatriots have deserved. Because of this in ancient times, men of talent were either rewarded with riches or honoured with triumphs and statues. But since it rarely happens that talent is not persecuted by envy, it is necessary to do one's utmost to overcome envy through absolute pre-eminence or to become vigorous and powerful in order to endure under such envious attacks. Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti (also known as Lorenzo di Bartoluccio) knew how to do so very well, thanks to both his merits and his good fortune, for Donatello the sculptor and Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect and sculptor, both superb artists, declared him their equal and recognized him to be a better master in casting than they were themselves, although common sense might have led them to maintain the contrary. This was truly an action that redounded to their glory, but to the confusion of many other presumptuous men who set to work and seek to usurp the rank earned through the talent of others, and who, after straining for a thousand years to produce a single work without any success, trouble and frustrate the work of others by their malice and envy. Lorenzo was the son of Bartoluccio Ghiberti, and from his earliest years he learned the craft of goldsmithing from his father, who was an excellent master and taught him this trade, with which Lorenzo was so taken that he was very much better at it than his father. But he took far greater pleasure in the arts of sculpture and design, and sometimes he used colours or cast small figurines in bronze and finished them with much grace. He also delighted in making copies of the dies of antique medals, and in his time drew portraits of many of his friends. And while he was working with Bartoluccio and seeking to acquire proficiency in his profession, the plague broke out in Florence during the year 1400, according to what he himself recounts in a book he wrote to discuss issues concerning the arts, which is in the possession of the Reverend Messer Cosimo Bartoli, a Florentine gentleman. In addition to the plague, a number of civil disorders and other troubles arose in the city, and Lorenzo was forced to leave Florence and to accompany another painter into Romagna, where in Rimini they painted a room for Signor Pandolfo Malatesta as well as many other works which were completed by them with infinite care and to the satisfaction of that lord, who while still a young man took great pleasure in matters of design. In the meanwhile, however, Lorenzo never ceased studying design or working in relief in wax, stucco, and other similar materials, for he realized full well that such readymade small reliefs are a sculptor's means of drawing designs, and that without these methods it is impossible to bring any work to perfection. Now Lorenzo had not been away from his native city long when the plague ceased, and the Signoria of Florence along with the Merchants' Guild (seeing that the art of sculpture boasted many excellent craftsmen at that time, both foreign and Florentine), decided that they should build the other two doors of San Giovanni, the oldest church and the principal cathedral in the city, a project they had already discussed many times previously. And they agreed among themselves to make it known to all the greatest masters in Italy that they should come to Florence to compete in producing a bronze panel, as a sample of their work, similar to one of those Andrea Pisano had already created for the first door.* Bartoluccio wrote about this decision to Lorenzo, who was then working in Pesaro, urging him to return to Florence to prove his worth, since this was an opportunity to make himself known and to show his skill, besides the fact that he would make such a profit from it that neither of them would ever again have to work on pear-shaped earings. Bartoluccio's words stirred Lorenzo's spirit to such an extent that no matter how great the kindness Signor Pandolfo, his painter friend, and the entire court showed him, Lorenzo took his leave from that lord and the painter, who allowed him to depart with great annoyance and displeasure, their promises and offers of higher wages working to no avail. To Lorenzo, every hour's delay in going to Florence seemed an eternity; he therefore departed happily and went off to his native city. Many foreigners had already shown up and had presented themselves to the consuls of the guild, who chose seven masters from their number--three Florentines and the others Tuscans--and it was agreed that they would receive a salary and that within a year each one of them would have completed, as a sample of their skill, a scene in bronze of the same size as those in the first door. And they determined that the artisans would work on the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, his son, a scene in which they thought the masters would have to demonstrate all the difficulties of their craft, since this story would include landscapes, nudes, clothed figures, and animals, and since they could execute the major figures in full relief, the secondary figures in half relief, and the minor figures in low relief. The competitors for this work were the Florentines Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donatello, and Lorenzo di Bartoluccio, as well as Jacopo della Quercia from Siena, Niccolò d'Arezzo, Jacopo's pupil, Francesco di Valdambrino, and Simone da Colle, called Simone de' Bronzi. Before the consuls, they all promised to deliver their scenes within the allotted time, and as each artisan set to work, with careful preparation, he employed every bit of his strength and knowledge to surpass the others, keeping what he was doing a closely guarded secret so that others could not produce anything similar. Only Lorenzo (with the guidance of Bartoluccio, who made him take great pains in producing many models before deciding to use any one of them) continuously brought the townspeople to see them, and sometimes even foreigners who were passing through the city (if they had any understanding of the craft), in order to hear their opinions. This advice was the reason why he executed a model which was very well worked out and which was without any defect whatsoever. And so, when he had made the moulds and cast the work in bronze, it came out extremely well, and then he and his father Bartoluccio polished it up with such love and patience that it could not have been executed or finished any better. Now, when the time arrived for the scenes to be compared, his panel and those of the other masters that had been completed were handed over for judgement to the Merchants' Guild, since once they had been viewed by all the consuls and by many other townspeople, there existed a diversity of opinion on those works. There were many foreigners in Florence--some painters, others sculptors and goldsmiths-who were summoned by the consuls to render a judgement upon these works, along with others engaged in the profession who actually lived in Florence. They numbered thirty-four people, each one most skilled in his particular trade. And regardless of how many differences of opinion there were among them, some preferring the style of one master and some preferring the style of another, they were nevertheless in agreement that Filippo di Ser Brunellesco and Lorenzo di Bartoluccio had composed and finished their panels better, with a greater number of finely wrought figures than Donatello, even though Donatello had also displayed in his own panel an admirable sense of design.* In the panel by Jacopo della Quercia, the figures were good but they lacked a certain finesse, although they were executed with a sense of design and some care. The work of Francesco di Valdambrino displayed good heads and was well finished, but the composition was confused. The panel by Simone da Colle was beautifully cast, since that was his craft, but it was not well designed. The sample of Niccolò d'Arezzo's work, which was completed with good skill, contained stunted figures and was badly polished. Only the scene which Lorenzo offered as an example of his work, which can still be seen inside the audience chamber of the Merchants' Guild, was completely perfect in every detail: the entire work possessed a sense of design and was beautifully composed; the figures in his style were lively and gracefully executed in the most beautiful poses; and the work was finished with such care that it seemed not cast and polished with iron tools but, rather, created by a breath. When Donatello and Filippo saw the care Lorenzo lavished upon his work, they drew off to the side and, speaking between themselves, decided that the work ought to be given to Lorenzo, since in their opinion, both the public good and the private interest would be best served in this way. And so Lorenzo, still a young man who was not yet past the age of twenty, would have the opportunity of realizing in the production of this work the great promise of the beautiful scene, which, in their judgement, he had executed better than all the other artisans, and they declared that it would have been far more malicious to take the work away from him than it was generous to bestow it upon him. Thus, Lorenzo began the work on those doors for the entrance facing the Office of the Works Department of San Giovanni by constructing a wooden frame for one part of the bronze of exactly the right size, without borders but with decorative heads in the corners of the spaces for the scenes and friezes surrounding them. Then with the greatest care, he made and dried the mould in a room he had purchased opposite Santa Maria Novella (where today, the Hospital of the Weavers called the Threshing-Floor is located), and he built an enormous furnace which I remember having seen, casting the above-mentioned frame in metal. But, as luck would have it, the casting did not turn out well, and so without losing his courage or becoming alarmed, he discovered the error and quickly constructed another mould without anyone else knowing about it; he recast the frame, and it came out extremely well. He continued in this way with the rest of the work, casting each scene separately and putting it in its place when it was polished. And the division of the scenes was similar to that already employed by Andrea Pisano in the first set of doors which Giotto designed, containing twenty stories from the New Testament. At the bottom, in eight spaces of a similar size following these stories, he placed the Four Evangelists, two for each door, and then in the same fashion, the Four Doctors of the Church; these figures differ in their poses and garments: one is writing, another is reading, a third thinking, and so forth, while their liveliness demonstrates how well they were executed. Besides this, in the frame of the decorations around the scenes, Lorenzo placed a frieze of ivy and other kinds of foliage which separates them from each other, while in each corner he placed the head of a man or a woman in full relief representing the prophets and sibyls, which are very beautiful and reflect, in their variety, the genuine quality of Lorenzo's talent. Above the Doctors of the Church and the Evangelists already mentioned, beginning from below on the side closest to Santa Maria del Fiore, there are four pictures: the first contains the Annunciation of Our Lady, where Lorenzo depicted in the pose of the Virgin a terror and a sudden fear, as She gracefully turns at the coming of the angel. And next to this he created the Nativity of Christ where Our Lady, having given birth, is lying down to rest, while Joseph contemplates the shepherds and the singing angels. On the other side of the door, across from this scene and on the same level follows the scene of the coming of the Wise Men, their adoration of Christ, and their presentation of gifts to Him, where their retinue is following them with horses and other equipment, all of which is executed with great skill. And next to this scene is Christ's disputation in the temple with the learned priests, in which the admiration and attention given to Christ by the priests are no less well expressed than the joy of Mary and Joseph at finding Him again. Above these four scenes, beginning over the Annunciation, follows the story of the baptism of Christ by John in the River Jordan, where, in their actions, the reverence of the one and the faith of the other can be recognized. Next to this scene follows the Temptation of Christ by the devil, who is terrified by Christ's words and strikes a frightened pose, showing in this way that he recognizes Christ to be the Son of God. On the other side in a corresponding space there is the scene of Christ driving the moneychangers from the temple, overturning their money, victims, doves, and other merchandise; in this scene the figures are falling upon one another in a graceful sequence that is very beautiful and well thought out. Next to this Lorenzo continued with the shipwreck of the Apostles, where Saint Peter begins to sink into the water as he leaves the boat while Christ holds him up; this scene is filled with the different gestures of the Apostles working in the boat, while Saint Peter's faith is made evident by his movement towards Christ. Beginning again on the other side above the scene of the Baptism, there is the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor, where Lorenzo expressed in the poses of three Apostles the way in which heavenly visions bedazzle mortal eyes; and here Christ is recognized in His divinity between Elijah and Moses with His head held high and His arms outstretched. And next to this scene is the Raising of Lazarus, who comes out of the tomb with his hands and feet bound, standing upright to the astonishment of the onlookers; here Martha and Mary Magdalene kiss the feet of Our Lord with humility and great reverence. On the other side of the door across from this scene follows the one of Christ entering Jerusalem upon an ass, while the children of the Jews, in various poses, are casting their clothing upon the ground along with olive branches and palms, and the Apostles follow the Saviour. And next to this is the very beautiful and well-composed Last Supper with the Apostles, depicted at 3 long table with half of them on one side and half on the other. Above the scene of the Transfiguration begins the Agony in the Garden, with the three Apostles sleeping in different poses. And next to this follows the scene in which Christ is arrested and Judas gives him the kiss, and in which there are many details to consider, such as the Apostles in flight, or the Jews whose actions and efforts in capturing Christ are extremely bold. On the other side across from this scene, Christ is shown bound to the column; His face is somewhat contorted with the pain of the whipping but His expression is compassionate, while the Jews who scourge Him display, through their gestures, a rage and a thirst for revenge that are terrible to behold. Next follows the scene in which they lead Christ before Pilate, who washes his hands and condemns Him to the cross. Above the Agony in the Garden and on the other side in the last row of stories is Christ carrying the cross and going to His death, led by a tumultuous band of soldiers in strange poses who are dragging Him along as if by force; besides this, the painful sorrow that the two Maries express in their gestures is so real that eyewitnesses could not have seen it better. Next to this scene, Lorenzo did the Crucifixion of Christ, showing Our Lady and Saint John the Evangelist sitting upon the ground with sorrowful expressions and full of indignation. Then, beside this but on the other side of the door, there is the Resurrection, where the guards have been stunned by the thunder and stand as if they were dead men, while Christ ascends into Heaven in a pose which glorifies Him in the perfection of His beautiful body, all created by Lorenzo's ingenuity. In the last space Lorenzo placed the coming of the Holy Spirit, where the rapt attention and the sweet gestures of those who receive it are evident. And Lorenzo brought this work to its conclusion and perfection without sparing any of the time or labour that can be devoted to a work in metal, considering that the bodies of his nude figures are very beautiful, and the garments, while still retaining a little of the old style of Giotto, nevertheless contain something which moves towards the style of modern artists and brings a certain very pleasing grace to figures of that size. And to tell the truth, the composition of each scene is so well ordered and so well arranged that Lorenzo deserved to win the praise--and even more--which Filippo [ Brunelleschi] had lavished upon him from the beginning. And as a result, he was recognized by his fellow citizens with great honour, and he was praised highly not only by them but by other artisans, both natives and foreigners alike. This work, with its border decorations ingraved with festoons of fruit and animals all cast in metal, cost twenty-two thousand florins, while the bronze doors themselves weighed thirty-four thousand pounds. When the doors were completed, the consuls of the Merchants' Guild felt that they had been very well served, and because of the praise everyone bestowed upon Lorenzo, they decided that Lorenzo should do a bronze statue of some fourand-a-half armslengths in memory of Saint John the Baptist for one of the niches on a pillar outside Orsanmichele which faced the cloth finishers. Lorenzo began this work and never left it until he had brought it to completion; and it was highly praised then and still is today. Upon the saint's mantle, Lorenzo made a frieze for lettering, where he wrote his own name. In this statue, which was erected in the year 1414, the beginning of good modern style can be seen in the head, in an arm which seems as if it is made of flesh, in the hands, and in the entire pose of the figure. Thus, Lorenzo was the first sculp? tor who began to imitate the works of the ancient Romans, whom he studied very thoroughly as must anyone who desires to do good work. On the frontispiece of the tabernacle, he attempted to work in mosaic, placing within it the half-length figure of a prophet. Lorenzo's fame as the most skilled master in casting was already on the rise throughout Italy and abroad, and as a result, after Jacopo delia Fonte [Idelia Quercia], Vecchietta from Siena, and Donatello had created for the Signoria of Siena in their own Baptistery of San Giovanni some scenes and figures in bronze which were to decorate the Baptistery of that church,* and the Sienese had seen Lorenzo's works in Florence, they met together and decided to have Lorenzo do two scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist. In one of them Lorenzo depicted the Baptism of Christ, adding to it many figures, some nude and some very richly clothed, and in the other scene he depicted Saint John who is seized and brought before Herod. In both of these scenes he outdid and surpassed all those who had sculpted the other scenes, and as a result he was highly praised by the Sienese and others who saw them. In Florence the masters of the Mint had to erect a statue in one of the niches around Orsanmichele, facing the palace of the Wool Guild, and it had to be a Saint Matthew of the same height as that of the Saint John mentioned earlier. Hence, they commissioned Lorenzo to do it, who completed it perfectly, and it was praised even more highly than his Saint John, since it was done more in the modern style. This statue was the reason why the consuls of the Wool Guild decided that he should cast another statue, also of metal, for another niche next to the one with his Saint John that would be just as tall as the other two statues and would represent Saint Stephen, their patron. Lorenzo completed this work, giving the bronze an extremely beautiful polish. This statue gave no less satisfaction than the other works which he had he had already completed. . . . The excellent works of this most skilful artisan had brought Florence so much renown that the consuls of the Merchants' Guild decided to commission Lorenzo to do the third set of doors, also in metal, for the Baptistery of San Giovanni. And although Lorenzo had followed their directions in executing the first set of doors and had completed this work with decorations surrounding the figures and binding together the frame in a design similar to that of Andrea Pisano, when they saw how far Lorenzo had surpassed Andrea Pisano, the consuls decided to move Andrea's doors, which were in the centre, to the side facing the Misericordia. Lorenzo would then make the new doors for the centre, and they thought he would put all of his great skill and energy into the project because he excelled in that craft. And so they put themselves back in his hands, saying that he had permission to do anything he wished or preferred so that the doors would turn out even more elegant, rich, perfect, and beautiful than he could ever imagine. Nor should he worry about the time or the expenses, so that just as he had surpassed all the other statuary up to that time, he could now outdo and surpass all of his own works. Lorenzo began this project, putting into it all of the great knowledge at his disposal; hence, he divided the doors into ten panels, five on each side, so that the spaces containing the scenes would be one-and-one-third armslengths in size, and in the ornamentation of the framework that encloses the scenes, there are vertical niches containing figures almost in full relief, numbering twenty in all, and all very beautiful, such as a nude Samson, who is embracing a column and holding a jaw-bone in his hand, which is just as perfect as any of the Hercules in either bronze or marble done in classical antiquity. Another witness to Lorenzo's talent is a figure of Joshua, portrayed in the act of speaking as if he were addressing his army. Apart from this, there are many prophets and sibyls dressed in various styles of clothing and with different hair-styles, headdresses, and other adornments, and he also placed twelve recumbent figures in the niches of the traverse borders framing the decorations of the scenes, executing in the corners circles containing the heads of women, young boys, and old men, thirty-four in number. Among these, in the middle of the same door where Lorenzo inscribed his name, is the portrait of his father Bartoluccio, who is the older man, while the younger man is Lorenzo himself, the master of the entire project. Besides the heads, there are countless varieties of foliage, many mouldings, and other decorations executed with the greatest skill. The scenes on the door are from the Old Testament. The first contains the creation of Adam and Eve his wife, which is executed perfectly. It is clear that Lorenzo tried to render their members as beautifully as he could. Since he wished to show that they were the loveliest forms of life ever created, as they issued forth from the hand of God, his own figures were intended to surpass everything he had ever created in his other work. and he certainly took the greatest care. And so, in the same scene, he showed them eating the apple and then together being driven out of Paradise; the actions of the figures are responding first to the effects of sin, as they recognize their shame and cover themselves with their hands, and then to the effects of repentance, as they are driven out of Paradise by the angel. In the second panel, Lorenzo placed Adam and Eve with their little children, Cain and Abel; it also depicts Abel's sacrifice of the first fruits of his harvest and Cain's less acceptable offering, in which Cain's gestures reflect his envy for his brother, while Abel's reveal his love for God. And a scene of singular beauty is the one showing Cain as he ploughs the earth with a pair of oxen whose labour under the yoke to draw the plough seems real and natural. Equally beautiful is Abel, who is murdered by Cain while tending his flock; Cain's absolutely pitiless and cruel expression is evident as he murders his brother Abel with a club, a scene executed in such a way that the bronze itself reflects the limpness of the dead limbs of Abel's beautiful body. In the distance in low relief is the figure of God, who is asking Cain what he has done to Abel. Each panel contains the details of four scenes. In the third panel Lorenzo represented Noah leaving the ark with his wife, sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law, together with all the animals, both the birds and the beasts, each of which in its kind is carved with the greatest perfection that art allows in the imitation of Nature. The open ark and other details are seen in perspective and in very low relief, and it is impossible to describe their grace. Besides this, the figures of Noah and his family could not be more lifelike and lively, for while he performs the sacrifice, the rainbow can be seen, the sign of peace between God and Noah. But even more excellent than all the other figures are the ones showing Noah planting the vines and then, inebriated from the wine, exposing himself while his son Ham sneers at him. It would truly be impossible to imitate any more precisely a sleeping man, with his sprawling limbs abandoned to intoxication, or the respect and love of his other two sons, who cover him up with the most beautiful gestures. In addition, the cask, the vines, and the other tools for the wine-harvest are all executed here with care and placed appropriately so that they do not hinder the narrative but embellish it. In the fourth panel, Lorenzo chose the appearance of the three angels in the Valley of Mambre, making them all alike and showing that holy old man adoring them with a gesture of the hands and face that is very appropriate and lively. With great power, Lorenzo also depicted the servants waiting with an ass at the foot of the mountain for Abraham, who had gone to sacrifice his son. The boy stands naked upon the altar, while the father, with his arm held high, seeks to obey, but is prevented from doing so by the Angel, who with one hand holds him back while, with the other, indicates where he can find the ram that should be sacrificed, saving Isaac from death. This is a truly beautiful scene, for among other details, there is a very marked difference between Isaac's delicate limbs and those of the servants, which are more robust, and there is not a single stroke in the scene that does not reflect the greatest skill. Lorenzo outdid even himself in this particular work as he faced the difficult problems of designing the buildings, or the birth of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau, or of showing Esau hunting in order to fulfil his father's will and Jacob, upon Rebecca's instructions, offering the roast kid to his father Isaac, while wearing its skin around his neck, which Isaac is feeling as he gives Jacob his blessing. In this scene are some most handsome and realistic dogs in addition to the figures of Jacob, Isaac, and Rebecca, whose actions produce the same effect they must have produced when alive. Encouraged by his study of this art, which continuously rendered it easier for him, Lorenzo tested his ingenuity with even more difficult, technical details. Hence, in the sixth panel he pictured the moment when Joseph is thrown by his brothers into the well and when they sell him to the merchants who then give him to Pharaoh,* for whom he interprets the dream of the famine; he also shows Joseph's remedy for the famine and the honours paid to him by Pharaoh. Similarly, Lorenzo depicts the occasion when Jacob sends his sons to buy grain in Egypt and how, once Joseph recognizes them, he sends them home for his father. In this scene, Lorenzo overcame a difficult problem in executing a round temple drawn in perspective, containing figures in various poses that are carrying grain and flour, as well as some extraordinary asses. Likewise, there is also the banquet Joseph offers for them, the hiding of the golden cup in Benjamin's sack, and the finding of the cup, as Joseph embraces and recognizes his brothers. Because of this scene's many expressions of emotion and the variety of details it contains, it is considered, among all Lorenzo's works, the most worthy of his skill as well as the most difficult and most beautiful. Since Lorenzo possessed such fine talent and true grace in this type of sculpture, he could not have failed to make the most handsome figures when he thought out compositions for his beautiful scenes, just as he did in the seventh panel, where he depicts Mount Sinai and on its summit Moses, reverently kneeling, as he receives the laws from God. Half-way up the mountain is Joshua, who is waiting for him while all the people at the foot, terrified by the thunder, lightning, and earthquakes, are shown in various poses executed with great facility. Then Lorenzo displayed diligence and loving care in the eighth panel, where he showed the moment when Joshua went to Jericho, crossed the River Jordan, and set up the twelve tents filled with the twelve tribes; these figures are very lively, but even more beautiful are some in bas-relief, picturing the moment when the Hebrews circle around the walls of Jericho with the Ark, destroy the walls to the sound of trumpets, and capture the city. In this scene, the relief of the landscape is seen to decrease and diminish from the figures in the foreground to the mountains and from the mountains to the city, and then from the city to the very low relief of the landscape in the distance; and it is all executed with complete perfection. And since Lorenzo day by day became more experienced in this art, he then presented in the ninth panel the slaying of the giant Goliath, whose head David cuts off with a proud and childish attitude, and the rout of the Philistine army by the army of God, which contains a number of horses, chariots, and other implements of warfare. After that, he depicted David who, returning with the head of Goliath in his hand, is greeted by the Hebrew people who are playing and singing. Their expressions are all appropriate and lively. It remained for Lorenzo to use all his talents in the tenth and last panel, which shows the visit paid by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon along with her enormous court, where Lorenzo created a building drawn in perspective, which is very handsome, and all the other figures are similar to those in the above-mentioned scenes, including the decoration of the architraves which surround the door, with fruits and garlands created with Lorenzo's usual skill. Both in its details and as a whole, this work demonstrates what the talent and energy of an artisan in statuary could achieve in casting figures, some of which are in something close to full relief, and others in half relief, bas-relief, or extreme bas-relief, in elaborating with great imagination the compositions for his figures and the striking poses for both female and male figures; in lending variety to his buildings and to his use of perspective; and in expressing the graceful bearing of both sexes. Lorenzo also observed a sense of decorum in the whole work, solemnity in the old men and both lightness and grace in the young. And it can truthfully be said that this work is perfect in every detail and is the most beautiful the world had ever seen among the ancients and the moderns. And Lorenzo should quite rightly have received high praise, for one day Michelangelo Buonarroti stopped to look at this work, and when he was asked what he thought of it and if the doors were beautiful, he replied: 'They are so beautiful that they would be do nicely at the entrance to Paradise.' This was a truly appropriate tribute, pronounced by someone capable of judging such a work. Lorenzo certainly deserved to execute these doors, since he had begun them at the age of twenty and had worked on them for forty years with the most painstaking efforts. In cleaning and polishing this work after it was cast, Lorenzo was assisted by many young men who later became most excellent masters: that is, by Filippo Brunelleschi, Masolino da Panicale, and NiccolÒ Lamberti (all goldsmiths); and by Parri Spinelli, Antonio Filarete, Paolo Uccello, and Antonio del Pollaiuolo, who was quite young at the time, as well as by many others. By working together on this project and conferring among themselves, as is customary when working as a group, they all profited no less from this cooperation than Lorenzo did. In addition to the payment Lorenzo received from the consuls, the Signoria gave him a fine farm near the abbey of Settimo. And very little time passed before Lorenzo was admitted to the Signoria and was given the honour of serving in the principal magistracy of the city. The Florentines should be as highly praised for their gratitude towards Lorenzo as they should be soundly condemned for their ingratitude towards other distinguished men of their city. . . . But to return to Lorenzo. During his lifetime, he showed an interest in many things and took delight in painting and in working with glass. For Santa Maria del Fiore he created the circular windows placed around the dome, except for the one that is from the hand of Donatello (the scene where Christ crowns Our Lady). He also made the three windows over the main door of Santa Maria del Fiore and all those in the chapels and the tribunes; likewise he did the one in the front facade of Santa Croce. In Arezzo he did a window for the main chapel of the parish church, placing within it the Coronation of Our Lady, along with two other figures, for a very wealthy merchant, Lazzero di Feo di Baccio. But since all these windows were made of highly coloured Venetian glass, they made the places where they were installed darker rather than lighter. Lorenzo was assigned to Brunelleschi as his collaborator when Brunelleschi was commissioned to do the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, but he was later removed from this position, as will be described in the life of Filippo. Lorenzo himself wrote a work in the vernacular in which he treated many different topics but arranged them in such a fashion that little can be gained from reading it. In my opinion, the only good feature of the book is that after having discussed many ancient painters, especially those cited by Pliny, he makes brief mention of Cimabue, Giotto, and many others from those times. But this was done with far greater brevity than he should have employed, especially since Lorenzo did so for no other reason than to lapse into a fancy discourse about himself and to narrate in great detail, as he did, all of his own works one by one. Nor shall I remain silent about the fact that he presents the book as if it were written by others, for in the process of writing and as a person who knew how to design, chisel, and cast bronze better than how to spin stories, in speaking of himself he says in the first person: 'I did, I said, I used to do and say. . . .' Finally, having reached the sixty-fourth year of his life, he was attacked by a violent and persistent fever and died, leaving behind him the immortal fame he earned through the works he created and through the pens of writers, and he was honourably buried in Santa Croce. His portrait is on the main door of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in the middle border when the door is closed, showing him to be a bald man, while next to it his father Bartoluccio is depicted. Nearby the following words can be read: 'Laurentii Cionis De Ghibertis Mira Arte Fabricatum.' Lorenzo's drawings were truly splendid and executed in high relief, as can be seen in our book of drawings which contains a sketch of one of the Evangelists by his hand, as well as some others in chiaroscuro which are very beautiful. His father Bartoluccio also drew rather well, as is shown in another Evangelist by his hand in the same book, but it is of a lesser quality than the one by Lorenzo. I obtained these drawings, along with those by Giotto and others, from Vettorio Ghiberti in the year 1528 when I was still a young man. I have always held and still hold them in veneration, since they arc beautiful and serve as a memorial for so many men. And if, when I was close friends with Vettorio and had dealings with him, I had known then what I know now, I could easily have obtained many other drawings by Lorenzo which were truly beautiful. Among the many verses, both in Latin and in Italian, which were composed at various times in praise of Lorenzo, I shall avoid boring the reader and shall cite here below only the following: 'When Michelangelo saw the panels/ shining upon the church in gilded bronze/ he stood amazed; and after long wonder, he broke the solemn silence in this way:/ "Oh divine work! Oh door worthy of heaven!" '