Figure 3.17 Baptistery of St John, south door, by Andrea Pisano, Florence. Fourteen scenes each on the left and right doors illustrate the life and death of John the Baptist in quatrefoil shapes.
Figure 3.16 Plan of the baptistery showing the position of the doors.
Quatrefoil: A shape commonly used in medieval architecture of four arcs linked together.
The Competition for the Second Baptistery Doors
The year 1400 in Florence began with one of the most famous competitions in the history of art. To celebrate the new century, the Calimala instigated a
CHAPTER 3 FLORENCE, BIRTHPLACE OF THE RENAISSANCE
competition to design new doors on the east of the baptistery to match those already in place on the south by Pisano.
Contestants were required to submit a relief panel. The strict rules dictated that it must:
l include the subject of the sacrifice of Isaac, from the biblical story
l be the same format of quatrefoil panels as Pisano
l be made of gilded bronze.
Seven artists took part, but this was reduced to two intense young rivals: Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti (Fig. 3.18). Ghiberti’s was selected due to his superior technical skills, and Brunelleschi was bitterly disappointed. He immediately left for Rome.
