I want to talk about the comparison between Ghiberti vs Brunelleschi, and my personal thoughts on it.
I think from the competition we can get a pretty good idea of what was valued at the time during the High Renaissance. We talked earlier in class about Studia Humanitatis, and how at the time, there was an emphasis on the stuff that what made by us. I think it is interesting that moral philosophy plays a big part in this, for in medieval times, it is pretty clear to me that morals were thought of as entirely dogmatic. (Given, as long as the Catholic Church is in command this is still true).
So with this in mind, it is very obvious why Ghiberti wins. He brings out the moral conflicts of the scene by building tension, he creates a narrative that is thought provoking in the way that the story of the sacrifice is meant to be experienced. It is supposed to make you think. I personally think that Ghiberti’s composition is very crowded, specially with the inclusion of the mountain. Another thing worth mentioning is Ghiberti’s depiction of Isaac. He looks heroic, he thinks his dad is going to kill him and yet he is depicted in the full splendor of a brave boy. In a way, it is counterintuitive that they would choose this scene as it shows you Abraham’s most cruel moment: when he is willing to kill his own child for a God that seems cruel. So it seems to me that this also shows just to how a high regard art was held in the ecclesiastical world at the time in Florence. It is not only about the stories, and no one questions the church so there is no imminent danger in depicting the perceived cruelty of God instead of his benevolence.