THE GATES OF PARADISE STARLIGHT TOWER FLORIDA

"Porta Del Paradiso" or the "Gate of Paradise" was created by the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (born 1378 in Pelago, Italy - died in 1455, in Florence) for the Battistero di San Giovanni (the Baptistery of San Giovanni) in 1425–52 which is part of the Cathedral complex of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (the "Duomo of Florence") and is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian art in the *Quattrocento. It owes its name to Michelangelo who upon visiting to see the new doors exclaimed: "These doors are fit to be the Gates of Paradise". 

PORTA DEL PARADISO or GATE OF PARADISE

By Lorenzo Ghiberti

The door's height is (506 cm) 5.06 meters or 16.60 feet 506 cm

and the Width is (287 cm) 2.87 meters or 9.41 feet 

At the picture below is the Baptistery and part of the Campanile of the Duomo. (see the Divine Comedy and towards the end of the page is the Piazza del Duomo with Santa Maria Del Fiore and the Baptistery visible on the bottom left corner.)

A few things about the Baptistery: in Dante's words from "La Commedia": "il bel San Giovanni", has a distinct octagonal layout with eight equal sides and a rectangular addition on the west side. It is worldwide known for its three gilded bronze doors:

- The South Door is the oldest of the three. The work was done by Andrea Pisano and was completed in 1330. It has 28 **quatrefoils. Of them 20 depict events from the life of John the Baptist while eight (which are at the bottom of the door) are representations of virtues.

-The North Door known as the Doors of the Cross (work by Lorenzo Ghiberti). He used the same quatrefoil format as Pisano and also has 28 quatrefoils arranged in 7 rows. The molding is framed with designs of fruits, animals and flora and has a prophet at each intersection.

- The East Door known as Gate of Paradise (work also by Lorenzo Ghiberti). It took Ghiberti 21 years (1403-1424) to finish the job. The two panel door depicts events from the Creation to the reign of Solomon and has ten rectangular frames five on each panel which contain scenes that are presented in a style carrying a sense of depth through a linear viewpoint and a relief graded to the lowest degree for objects that are far away. He uses a square format rather than the medieval quatrefoil and some panels have up to 100 figures with extensive details. The scenes are from the Old Testament and the door case has niches adorned with statuettes, busts and medallions.

Frame detail from the Gate of Paradise

Ghiberti was commissioned by the Merchants' Guild which was responsible for the upkeep of the Baptistery having done a few years earlier the door of the North Entrance (see left pictures below).

Picture above taken by Maria and Demetra Simos on July 12, 2000

at the Battistero di San Giovanni Porta del Paradiso in Firenze (Florence) Italy. 

The statues above the door are copies of the "The Baptism of Christ" by Andrea Sansovino (1502-1505) with the originals residing next door in the museum Opera del Duomo

There are so many more things that I could add here but nothing will be as enlightening as a personal visit there which I highly recommend.

*Quattrocento : The artistic and cultural events that took place in Italy at the 15th century is called Quattrocento. If you are interested in the actual translation of the word Quattrocento it means four hundred where Quattro means four and Cento means one hundred.

**Quatrefoil : Is a balanced shape that forms the general outline of four partly covered circles of the same diameter.