Ghiberti, Lorenzo of such an important commission drew a number of entries from noted artists including Jacopo della Quercia and Filippo Brunelleschi The young Ghiberti impressed the judges with his design and the fact that, save for the figure of Isaac, Ghiberti’s entry was cast in one piece A work that required fewer castings required less bronze and was cheaper to produce Ghiberti’s ability as a caster was cited by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects as his reason for placing Ghiberti in front of Donatello and Brunelleschi as a sculptor Art historians have struggled to date the beginning of the Renaissance, and many set it at 1401 and the competition for the Baptistery in Florence because of Ghiberti’s attention to illustrating depth, the use of classical references such as the nude Isaac, and the importance of patronage While the competition was to illustrate the Old Testament, the subject was changed to the New Testament once Ghiberti was awarded the contract Ghiberti’s winning Abraham panel was included in the third set of doors completed in 1452 The door contains 28 quatrefoils in seven rows of four scenes The lowest two rows illustrate the four Evangelists and the four Fathers of the Church, while the New Testament scenes begin with the Annunciation Now known as the North Doors, the commission for the New Testament scenes was completed in 1425 In addition to the Baptistery, Ghiberti received importance commissions for the niches at Orsanmichele The Orsanmichele in Florence is an unusual building that served both as a granary for the city and as a shrine The outside of the building contained niches that were assigned to various guilds to decorate with statues of their patron saint The Calimala guild commissioned a bronze sculpture of their patron, John the Baptist, for their niche Standing nearly eight feet tall the completed John the Baptist exhibits naturalism in its stance and the drape of the clothing that is one of the hallmarks of the Renaissance art In 1419 the Arte del Cambio, the banker’s guild, commissioned for their niche a bronze St Matthew noted for its classical style and exquisite gilding In 1425 Ghiberti returned to the Baptistery to work on the North Doors commonly referred to as the Gates of Paradise Focusing on the Old Testament, Ghiberti abandoned the preferred quatrefoil plan of partially gilded 28 scenes in favor of 10 fully gilded square scenes In addition, in his own Commentaries (c 1450–55) Ghiberti wrote regarding the doors: “I strove to imitate nature as clearly as I could, and with 141 Ghiberti rose to prominence in 1401, winning a competition with his bronze door designs for the Baptistery in Florence all the perspective I could produce, to have excellent compositions with many figures.” With the completion of the Old Testament series, Ghiberti retired in 1452 See also Italian Renaissance Further reading: Brucker, Gene A Renaissance Florence Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983; Hartt, Frederick, and David G Wilkins History of Italian Renaissance New York: Harry N Abrams, 2003; Kleiner, Fred S., Christin J Mamiya, and Richard G Tansey Gardner’s Art Through the Ages Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003; Murray, Peter and Linda The Art of the Renaissance New York: Thames & Hudson, 1985; Stokstad, Marilyn Art History New York: Harry N Abrams, 2002; Vasari, Giorgio Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1996 Abbe Allen DeBolt