Thank you for sharing this great talk, a very informative presentation of beautiful artworks; I was especially interested in the historical context & details of material production. I hope North Gates and Gates of Paradise also get covered in the future. As for the question regarding the significance of the reliefs on the altars, while the Ghiberti one features antique-style floral decoration and it is certainly possible to argue that no "meaning or significance" was intended and that is was "an aesthetic little flourish", the Brunelleschi one shows a mysterious figural scene. Amy Bloch's great book on the Gates of Paradise gives a fascinating account of the intricacies of this, and lists several scholars' opinions on it. Structurally it looks like an Annunciation, and I would bet that a range of meanings were intended: the Florentines began their year on March 25 - the feast of the Annunciation - and both events feature divine intervention mediated by an angel, while typological thinking connected Isaac to Jesus.
Brunelleschi and an altarpiece in Pistoia? And an anecdote. The late Walter Kaiser once met a powerful, wealthy visitor to Florence and asked her what she had thought of the Baptistery Doors. She was disappointed. They were closed.
Bravo, many thanks!!!!! GREAT series on sculpture!!!!! I have listened to it at least 3x!
Thank you, very interesting and informative..
Thank you for sharing this great talk, a very informative presentation of beautiful artworks; I was especially interested in the historical context & details of material production. I hope North Gates and Gates of Paradise also get covered in the future.
As for the question regarding the significance of the reliefs on the altars, while the Ghiberti one features antique-style floral decoration and it is certainly possible to argue that no "meaning or significance" was intended and that is was "an aesthetic little flourish", the Brunelleschi one shows a mysterious figural scene. Amy Bloch's great book on the Gates of Paradise gives a fascinating account of the intricacies of this, and lists several scholars' opinions on it. Structurally it looks like an Annunciation, and I would bet that a range of meanings were intended: the Florentines began their year on March 25 - the feast of the Annunciation - and both events feature divine intervention mediated by an angel, while typological thinking connected Isaac to Jesus.
Brunelleschi and an altarpiece in Pistoia?
And an anecdote. The late Walter Kaiser once met a powerful, wealthy visitor to Florence and asked her what she had thought of the Baptistery Doors. She was disappointed. They were closed.