Today in class we began discussing 15th-century Italian art, known as the Early Renaissance. We began with a discussion of the context of the time period, learning about the various guilds that controlled Florence and how the republic of Florence was attempting to emulate that of Ancient Rome. We then moved to the most interesting part of class, which was the competition for the bronze doors of the baptistery of St John, owned by the wool guild. We analyzed the submissions of the finalists, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, each of whom used slightly different techniques to portray the sacrifice of Isaac. Ultimately, Ghiberti was determined to have the better submission, and won the competition. Funnily enough, as was mentioned in class, this led to Ghiberti being tied up with the doors for two decades while Brunelleschi went on to be more famous with the production of his dome.
As we learned, Brunelleschi switched from artist to architect, and created a few important works in Florence, mainly the dome of the Florence cathedral. The dome is an architectural marvel, being the largest ever created up to that point. it is quite impressive that Brunelleschi could change professions and remain at the top of his game.