Gates of Paradise

After the completion of the north doors, Ghiberti was commissioned in 1425 to make the third set of doors to the Florentine Baptistery, called the Gates of Paradise. These east doors consist of ten panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament. On the frames surrounding the reliefs, there are small busts — including a portrait of the artist himself — and the figures of prophets. Unlike the quatrefoil frames of the panels on the north doors, the frames on the Gates of Paradise are square-shaped. Coupled with the depth of space in the scenes placed in landscape or in architectonic space using perspective, this feature and the use of classical forms reflect a departure from the Gothic style and the application of Renaissance formulae. Comissioned by the museum in 1906, cast by Giuseppe Lelli in Florence. It was erected in 1908, in the Renaissance Hall.