The Significance of the Completion of the Baptistery Doors of the Cathedral of Florence

Introduction

The significance of the baptistery doors of the cathedral of Florence clearly marks a period of Italian Renaissance art. The baptism of San Giovanni arrives with a complex set of historical art marked in the Cathedral of Santa, situated in the heart of Florence. Doors of the cathedral of Florence are three in number with gilded bronze that has a span of over a century. The symbolic attributes of the doors namely, north and east doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti and south doors by Andrea Pisano clearly represent a set of artistic significance that has clearly attracted controversies and is subject to discussion. The paper thus intends to put due emphasis on the significance of these doors with major reference being made to Arte di Calimala a well-acknowledged guild, that governed the repairs and the commissioning of the door. My thesis thus explores in detail the meaning behind the completion of the doors and narrow to an individual significance of each door in reference to its setting.

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History of Baptistery in Florence

The date of the construction of the baptistery has not been clearly documented in recent and ancient articles, but roman scholars purport that the baptistery was already in existence in the 11th century. The Baptistery initially dedicated to Giovanni Batista was fully restored to existence and meaning by the Calimala Guild of worldwide merchants and cloth makers. Built in an octagonal shape, the baptistery consists of a geometrical pattering maintained throughout the structure and divided by entablatures. The physical appearance of the baptistery presents a sophisticated set of meaning that complements the significance of the baptistery. Amongst the many meanings behind the baptistery, the bronze doors symbolize an exquisite entry to heaven or paradise. Scholar Angiola suggests that such symbolism of the doors is a representation of sacred washing away of sin into a newly baptized Christian community that opens doors to heaven (Angiola p 245). The concept of the doors has closely been upheld in the late medieval ages.

The Calimala Guild

Merchants and Artisans brought the guild system in Florence in the late middle ages. Initially called colleges or schools, the guild societies best interest relied on the provision of education and training to people who had the same occupational interest. In course of time, the guild system gained significance and birth of many guild societies were witnessed in Rome. At the beginning of the 14th century, major guild systems were distinguished from the smaller ones that further gave Calimala Guild an added advantage. The guild was one of the 12 major guilds in Florence that elevated to be the most powerful guild in ancient Rome (Antonio, p 75). The guide prime functions included cutting, folding and weaving foreign wool making the society a staple industry in Rome. The guild did not see it fit to import raw material for its function from Spain and England and opted to source such materials in Holland and Flanders (Dixon, 162). Critics consider the move as a strategy to create a monopoly by sourcing many affordable supplies from countries with better offers relative to their competitors. Due to great success in the woolen industry, the guild members were amongst the distinguished people in the society, presenting them a position of great stature in the Florentine community. With excessive power and success, the guild started participating in a major project of Florence such as the rebuilding of its native city. Participation in such projects led to the guild being given the most priority in the construction of the baptistery doors. After a period estimated to be 500 years of political and commercial success, the guild exemplary governance and ownership eventually came to an end. Even so, the guild role in crafting the priceless doors of the baptistery is forever embedded in the hearts of the Roman people who owe most of the gratitude to Calimala.

The South Doors by Andrea Pisano

Pisano bronze doors displayed a sophisticated set of designs that had changed from previous ones in terms of line, form, and metalworking. The doors have two vertical columns that are further partitioned into seven categories creating a twenty-eight scenes door. The top twenty panels of the door represent narratives of St John the Baptist while the lower ones are a representation of enthroned traits. The physical appearance of the doors is made to be read like a book from left and top to bottom. These arrangements gave the impression that the valves of the doors were frequently kept open for reasons that were not clearly documented. The scenes of the doors are categorically grouped in accordance to their settings, five of them put in place specifically for landscape while the rest were more of architectural designs positioned throughout the doors (Falk and Jeno p 140). Initially, the doors were located facing the Cathedral on the east side of the Baptistery but were later relocated due to different architectural needs and preferences.

The doors gained its meaning through liturgical occasions, whereby the doors would be opened for Christians converts well known as catechumens passing the Cathedral to be baptized. The procession thus exhibits the importance of the doors is subject to the door narratives. The subjects reflect quite a number of Gospel stories such as John the Baptist that maintains its relevance from the beginning to the end. Using two major principles of John the Baptist, Andreas Pisano adopted a methodical approach to narrating the life of John the Baptist as a martyr and prophet. Valves on the left side of the door represent John the Baptist chronicles in regards to his preaching and public life, while the ones on the right focused more on martyrdom and subsequent events that followed (Franklin, p 162). Each and every story was uniquely enclosed to a quatrefoil frame that Andreas designed in accordance with French architectural specifications and later on advanced the design to a more complex quatrefoil that had square angles. The quatrefoil had standard compositions that featured a few architectural designs that further enclosed a small number group of figures. In a three dimensional entity, Andreas designed Salome's drapery in a unique architectural design of fashion that could also be seen represented in The Feast of Herod and Confronting the people.

The North Doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti

Although the north doors were initially meant to portray stories of the Old Testament such as the sacrifice of Isaac, the theme of the project changed its cause to the New Testament the moment the project began. In response to directives from Arte di Calimala, Ghiberti doors are close in similarity to Andreas Pisano's both having 28 quatrefoils and twenty sequential in the top five rows. The only difference between the two is that Andreas Pisano's door reflects the life of John the Baptist while that of Ghiberti's represents the life of Jesus Christ. Ghiberti doors have deployed a richer and elaborate border decoration compared to Andreas, by substituting plans, insects, and amphibians with aging and youthful figures (Michael, p 205). Even though the figures cannot be clearly identified, scholars and specialist assume that the figures are prophets, an assumption that cannot be solely relied upon due to the presence of a number of them. Additionally, the figures include a portrait that is arguably considered to be of Ghiberti. Each head of the figures is different from the others, giving more uncertainty to whom the artist was referring to.

Ghiberti maintained a close relationship with the figures reflected in the quatrefoils as compared to Andrea Pisano's doors. Take the Crucifixion, for instance, Ghiberti positions the cross in the top of the quatrefoil triangle and made the horizontal beam tangent to its different points. Ghiberti further positions the body of Christ from a hanging position in response to gravity. It is worth noting that, the grief-stricken angle in either side of the body of Christ is a representation of mourning and grief, tribulations that Jesus Christ went through. Additionally, Ghiberti borrowed a few concepts in The Resurrection whereby the head of divine Jesus Christ fits the upper part while the lower parts consist of tree and shrubbery. The figures are specifically designed to bring out the desired impression while making reference to the surrounding framework. These sort of visual expressions are not frequently seen in Andrea's doors but nevertheless proves beyond doubt that both adopted an artistic approach to sculpture elements of landscape in an architectural project.

The East Doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The east doors represent a shift in architectural design by reducing the number of narratives compared to the north and Andreas doors from twenty-eight to ten large panels. The East doors, however, revived the intention of presenting a narrative of the Old Testament through each set of the ten panels but had its own shortcomings. As designers of the doors resolved to have individual figures removed from the panels, prophets and other symbolic figures had to be moved to the frame. The David Panel for instance from time to time has been facing criticism due to its chaotic arrangement. As a number of figures were represented in a panel it was difficult to disentangle each period and the hidden message behind every message. Even so, we cannot fail to acknowledge that the panel of the doors held quite a number of significance in relevance to Old Testament stories. On the right of the panel, the war between the Israelites and Palestine's soldiers was well reflected, while King Saul on the left side is followed by a mass of Israelites in celebration of victory (Michael, p 204). In the middle of the two symbols is a presentation of feeble David slaying the mighty Goliath whose image is a representation of Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Conclusion

The three Baptistery doors of Florence, hold a number of significance to the Cathedral of Florence. From architectural designs, the paper brought to light that the designs including quatrefoils and panels had sculptures and images had its significant meaning in the religion of Christianity. Giving a representation of baptism in the South Doors, New Testament in the North Doors and Old Testament in the East Doors, Cathedral of Florence is a statue of the Christian religion.

Works Cited

Angiola, Eloise. "Gates of Paradise' and the Florentine Baptistery." Art Bulletin (1978): 242-248. 20 February 2019.

Antonio, Paolucci. "The Origins of Renaissance Art, the Baptistery Doors, Florence." (1996). 20 February 2019.

Dixon, Edward. "The Florentine Wool Trades in the Middle Ages: A Bibliographical Note." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (1898): 151-179. 20 February 2019.

Falk, Isle and Lanyi Jeno . "The Genesis of Andrea Pisano's Doors." Art Bulletin (1943): 132-153. 20 February 2019.

Franklin, Toker. "A Baptistery below the Baptistery of Florence." Art Bulletin (1976): 157-167. 20 February 2019.

Michael, Moore. "On the Significance of Doors and Gates in the Visual Arts." Leonardo (1981): 202-205. 20 February 2019.