although Signor Pandolfo, with all his Court and the other painter, kept
showing him the greatest favour, Lorenzo took leave of that lord and of
the painter, and they, with great unwillingness and displeasure, allowed
him to go, neither promises nor increase of payment availing to detain
him, since to Lorenzo every hour appeared a thousand years until he
could return to Florence. Having departed, therefore, he arrived safely
in his own city. Many foreigners had already assembled and presented
themselves to the Consuls of the Guild, by whom seven masters were
elected out of the whole number, three being Florentines and the others
Tuscans; and it was ordained that they should have an allowance of
money, and that within a year each man should finish a scene in bronze
by way of test, of the same size as those in the first door. And for the
subject they chose the story of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac,
wherein they thought that the said masters should be able to show their
powers with regard to the difficulties of their art, seeing that this
story contained landscapes, figures both nude and clothed, and animals,
while the foremost figures could be made in full-relief, the second in
half-relief, and the third in low-relief.
The competitors for this work were Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donato,
and Lorenzo di Bartoluccio, all Florentines; Jacopo della Quercia of
Siena, and Niccolo d'Arezzo, his pupil; Francesco di Valdambrina; and
Simone da Colle, called Simone de' Bronzi. All these men promised
before the Consuls that they would deliver their scenes finished within
the said time; and each making a beginning with his own, with all zeal
and diligence they exerted all their strength and knowledge in order to
surpass one another in excellence, keeping their work hidden and most
secret, lest they should copy each other's ideas. Lorenzo alone, who had
Bartoluccio to guide him and to compel him to labour at many models
before they resolved to adopt any one of them--Lorenzo alone was ever
inviting the citizens, and sometimes any passing stranger who had some
knowledge of the art, to see his work, in order to hear what they
thought and these opinions enabled him to execute a model very well
wrought and without one defect. And so, when he had made the moulds and
cast the work in bronze, it came out very well; whereupon, with his
father Bartoluccio, he polished it with such love and patience that
nothing could be executed or finished better. And when the time came for
comparing the various works, his and those of the other masters were
completely finished, and were given to the Guild of Merchants for
judgment; but after all had been seen by the Consuls and by many other
citizens, diverse opinions were expressed about them. Many foreigners
had assembled in Florence, some painters, some sculptors, and others
goldsmiths; and they were invited by the Consuls to give judgment on
these works, together with the other men of that profession who lived in
Florence. They numbered thirty-four in all, each well experienced in his
own art. Now, although there were differences of opinion among them,
some liking the manner of one man and some that of another, nevertheless
they were agreed that Filippo di Ser Brunellesco and Lorenzo di
Bartoluccio had composed and completed their scenes better and with a
richer abundance of figures than Donato had done in his, although in
that one, also, there was grand design. In that of Jacopo della Quercia
the figures were good, but they had no delicacy, although they were made
with design and diligence. The work of Francesco di Valdambrina had good
heads and was well finished, but was confused in the composition. That
of Simone da Colle was a beautiful casting, because the doing of this
was his art, but it had not much design. The specimen of Niccolo
d'Arezzo, which was made with good mastery, had the figures squat and
was badly finished. Only that scene which Lorenzo made as a specimen,
which is still seen in the Audience Chamber of the Guild of Merchants,
was in every part wholly perfect. The whole work had design, and was
very well composed. The figures had so graceful a manner, being made
with grace and with very beautiful attitudes, and the whole was finished
with so great diligence, that it appeared not made by casting and
polished with tools of iron, but blown with the breath. Donato and
Filippo, seeing the diligence that Lorenzo had used in his work, drew
aside, and, conferring together, they resolved that the work should be
given to Lorenzo, it appearing to them that thus both the public and the
private interest would be best served, and that Lorenzo, being a young
man not more than twenty years of age, would be able to produce by this
exercise of his profession those greater fruits that were foreshadowed
by the beautiful scene which he, in their judgment, had executed more
excellently than the others; saying that there would have been more sign
of envy in taking it from him, than there was justice in giving it to
him.
Beginning the work of that door, then, for that entrance which is
opposite to the Office of Works of S. Giovanni, Lorenzo made for one
part of it a large framework of wood, of the exact size that it was to
be, with mouldings, and with the ornaments of the heads at the corners,
round the various spaces wherein the scenes were to be placed, and with
those borders that were to go round them. Having then made and dried the
mould with all diligence, he made a very great furnace (that I remember
seeing) in a room that he had hired opposite to S. Maria Nuova, where
to-day there is the Hospital of the Weavers, on the spot that was called
the Aia, and he cast the said framework in bronze. But, as chance would
have it, it did not come out well; wherefore, having realized the
mischief, without losing heart or giving way to depression, he promptly
made another mould and cast it again, without telling anyone about it,
and it came out very well. Whereupon he went on and continued the whole
work in this manner, casting each scene by itself, and putting it, when
finished, into its place. The arrangement of the scenes was similar to
that which Andrea Pisano had formerly made in the first door, which
Giotto designed for him. He made therein twenty scenes from the New
Testament; and below, in eight spaces similar to these, after the said
scenes, he made the four Evangelists, two on each side of the door, and
likewise the four Doctors of the Church, in the same manner; which
figures are all different in their attitudes and their draperies. One is
writing, another is reading, others are in contemplation, and all, being
varied one from another, appear lifelike and very well executed; not to
mention that in the framework of the border surrounding the scenes in
squares there is a frieze of ivy leaves and other kinds of foliage, with
mouldings between each; and on every corner is the head of a man or a
woman in the round, representing prophets and sibyls, which are very
beautiful, and demonstrate with their variety the excellence of the
genius of Lorenzo. Above the aforesaid Doctors and Evangelists, which
are in the four squares below, there follows, on the side towards S.
Maria del Fiore, the first scene; and here, in the first square, is the
Annunciation of Our Lady, wherein, in the attitude of the Virgin, he
depicted terror and a sudden alarm, as she turns away gracefully by
reason of the coming of the Angel. And next to this he made the Nativity
of Christ, wherein the Madonna, having given birth to Him, is lying down
and taking repose; with Joseph in contemplation, the shepherds, and the
Angels singing. In the scene next to this, on the other half of the
door, on the same level, there follows the story of the coming of the
Magi, and of their adoration of Christ, while they give Him their
tribute; and their Court is following them, with horses and other
equipage, wrought with great genius. And beside this, likewise, there is
His Disputation with the Doctors in the Temple, wherein the admiration
and the attention which the Doctors give to Christ are no less well
expressed than the joy of Mary and Joseph at finding Him again. Above
these--beginning again over the Annunciation--there follows the story of
the Baptism of Christ by John in the Jordan, wherein there are seen in
their gestures the reverence of the one and the faith of the other.
Beside this there follows the Temptation of Christ by the Devil, who,
terrified by the words of Jesus, stands in an attitude of terror,
showing thereby that he knows Him to be the Son of God. Next to this, on
the other side, is the scene where He is driving the traders from the
Temple, overturning their money and the victims, doves, and other
merchandise; wherein the figures, falling over each other, have a very
beautiful and well conceived grace in their headlong flight. Next to
this Lorenzo placed the shipwreck of the Apostles, wherein S. Peter is
issuing from the ship and is sinking into the water, and Christ is
upholding him. This scene shows an abundance of various gestures in the
Apostles, who are toiling to save the ship; and the faith of S. Peter is
recognized in his coming towards Christ. Beginning again above the story
of the Baptism, on the other side, there is His Transfiguration on Mount
Tabor, wherein Lorenzo demonstrated, in the attitudes of the three
Apostles, how celestial visions dazzle the eyes of mortals; even as the
Divinity of Christ is also recognized as He holds His head high and His
arms outstretched, between Elias and Moses. And next to this is the
Resurrection of the dead Lazarus, who, having issued from the sepulchre,
is standing upright with his feet and his hands bound, to the marvel of
the bystanders. Martha is there, with Mary Magdalene, who is kissing the
feet of the Lord with very great humility and reverence. Beside this, on
the other half of the door, there follows the scene when He rides on an
ass into Jerusalem, while the children of the Hebrews, in various
attitudes, are casting their garments on the ground, with the olives and
palms; not to mention the Apostles, who are following the Saviour. And
next to this is the Last Supper, very beautiful and well composed, the
Apostles being placed at a long table, half on the near side and half on
the farther side. Above the scene of the Transfiguration there is the
Prayer in the Garden, wherein the three Apostles are seen asleep in
various attitudes. And beside this there follows the scene when He is
taken and Judas kisses Him, wherein there are many things worthy of
consideration, since we see therein both the Apostles, who are flying,
and the Jews, who, in taking Christ, are making most violent gestures
and efforts. On the other side, next to this, is the scene when He is
bound to the Column, wherein is the figure of Jesus Christ writhing not
a little with the pain of the blows, in a pitiful attitude, while there
are seen, in those gestures that the Jews who are scourging Him are
making, terrible rage and lust of vengeance. Next to this there follows
the leading of Christ before Pilate, who washes his hands and condemns
Him to the Cross. Above the Prayer in the Garden, on the other side and
in the last row of scenes, is Christ bearing His Cross and going to His
death, led by a crowd of soldiers, who appear, with strange attitudes,
to be dragging Him by force; besides the gestures of sorrow and
lamentation that the Maries are making, insomuch that one who was
present could not have seen them better. Beside this he made Christ on
the Cross, and Our Lady and S. John the Evangelist seated on the ground,
with gestures full of sorrow and wrath. Next to this, on the other side,
there follows His Resurrection, wherein the guards, stunned by the
thunder, are lying like dead men, while Christ is ascending on high in
such an attitude that He truly appears glorified, by reason of the
perfection of His beautiful limbs, wrought by the most ingenious
industry of Lorenzo. In the last space is the coming of the Holy Spirit,
wherein are very sweet expressions and attitudes in those who are
receiving it.
This work was brought to that completion and perfection without sparing
any labour or time that could be devoted to a work in bronze, seeing
that the limbs of the nudes are most beautiful in every part; and in the
draperies, although they hold a little to the old manner of Giotto's
time, there is a general feeling that inclines to the manner of the
moderns, and produces, in figures of that size, a certain very lovely
grace. And in truth the composition of each scene is so well ordered and
so finely arranged, that he rightly deserved to obtain that praise which
Filippo had given him at the beginning--nay, even more. And in like
manner he gained most honourable recognition among his fellow-citizens,
and was consummately extolled by them and by the native and foreign
craftsmen. The cost of this work, with the exterior ornaments, which are
also of bronze, wrought with festoons of fruits and with animals, was
22,000 florins, and the bronze door weighed 34,000 libbre.
[Illustration: S. JOHN BEFORE HEROD
(_After_ Lorenzo Ghiberti. _Siena: Baptistery_)
_Alinari_]
This work finished, it appeared to the Consuls of the Guild of Merchants
that they had been very well served, and by reason of the praises given
by all to Lorenzo they determined that he should make a statue of
bronze, four braccia and a half high, in memory of S. John the Baptist,
on a pilaster without Orsanmichele, in one of the niches there--namely,
the one facing the Cloth-dressers. This he began, nor did he ever leave
it until he delivered it finished. It was and still is a work highly
praised, and in it, on the mantle, he made a border of letters, wherein
he wrote his own name. In this work, which was placed in position in the
year 1414, there is seen the beginning of the good modern manner, in the
head, in an arm which appears to be living flesh, in the hands, and in
the whole attitude of the figure. He was thus the first who began to
imitate the works of the ancient Romans, whereof he was an ardent
student, as all must be who desire to do good work. And in the frontal
of that shrine he tried his hand at mosaic, making therein a half-length
prophet.
The fame of Lorenzo, by reason of his most profound mastery in casting,
had now spread throughout all Italy and abroad, insomuch that Jacopo
della Fonte, Vecchietto of Siena, and Donato having made for the
Signoria of Siena some scenes and figures in bronze that were to adorn
the baptismal font of their Church of S. Giovanni, the people of Siena,
having seen the works of Lorenzo in Florence, came to an agreement with
him and caused him to make two scenes from the life of S. John the
Baptist. In one he made S. John baptizing Christ, accompanying it with
an abundance of figures, both nude and very richly draped; and in the
other he made S. John being taken and led before Herod. In these scenes
he surpassed and excelled the men who had made the others; wherefore he
was consummately praised by the people of Siena, and by all others who
have seen them.
The Masters of the Mint in Florence had a statue to make for one of
those niches that are round Orsanmichele, opposite to the Guild of Wool,
and it was to be a S. Matthew, of the same height as the aforesaid S.
John. Wherefore they allotted it to Lorenzo, who executed it to
perfection; and it was much more praised than the S. John, for he made
it more in the modern manner. This statue brought it about that the
Consuls of the Guild of Wool determined that he should make in the same
place, for the niche next to that, a statue likewise in bronze, which
should be of the same proportions as the other two, representing S.
Stephen, their Patron Saint. And he brought it to completion, giving a
very beautiful varnish to the bronze; and this statue gave no less
satisfaction than the other works already wrought by him.
The General of the Preaching Friars at that time, Maestro Lionardo Dati,
wishing to leave a memorial of himself to his country in S. Maria
Novella, where he had taken his vows, caused Lorenzo to construct a tomb
of bronze, with himself lying dead thereon, portrayed from nature; and
this tomb, which was admired and extolled, led to another being erected
by Lodovico degli Albizzi and Niccolo Valori in S. Croce.
After these things, Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici, wishing to honour the
bodies and relics of the three martyrs, Protus, Hyacinthus, and
Nemesius, had them brought from the Casentino, where they had been held
in little veneration for many years, and caused Lorenzo to make a
sarcophagus of bronze, in the middle of which are two angels in
low-relief who are holding a garland of olive, within which are the
names of those martyrs; and they caused the said relics to be put into
the said sarcophagus, which they placed in the Church of the Monastery
of the Angeli in Florence, with these words below, carved in marble, on
the side of the church of the monks:
CLARISSIMI VIRI COSMAS ET LAURENTIUS FRATRES NEGLECTAS DIU
SANCTORUM RELIQUIAS MARTYRUM RELIGIOSO STUDIO AC FIDELISSIMA
PIETATE SUIS SUMPTIBUS AEREIS LOCULIS CONDENDAS COLENDASQUE
CURARUNT.
And on the outer side, facing the little church in the direction of the
street, below a coat of arms of balls, there are these other words
carved on marble:
HIC CONDITA SUNT CORPORA SANCTORUM CHRISTI MARTYRUM PROTI ET
HYACINTHI ET NEMESII, ANN. DOM. 1428.
And by reason of this work, which succeeded very nobly, there came a
wish to the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del Fiore to have a sarcophagus
and tomb of bronze made to contain the body of S. Zanobi, Bishop of
Florence. This tomb was three braccia and a half in length, and two in
height; and besides adorning it with diverse varied ornaments, he made
therein on the front of the body of the sarcophagus itself a scene with
S. Zanobi restoring to life a child which had been left in his charge by
the mother, and which had died while she was on a pilgrimage. In a
second scene is another child, who has been killed by a wagon, and also
the Saint restoring to life one of the two servants sent to him by S.
Ambrose, who had been left dead on the Alps; and the other is there,
making lamentation in the presence of S. Zanobi, who, seized with
compassion, said: "Go, he doth but sleep; thou wilt find him alive." And
at the back are six little angels, who are holding a garland of
elm-leaves, within which are carved letters in memory and in praise of
that Saint. This work he executed and finished with the utmost ingenuity
and art, insomuch that it received extraordinary praise as something
beautiful.
The while that the works of Lorenzo were every day adding lustre to his
name, by reason of his labouring and serving innumerable persons,
working in bronze as well as in silver and gold, it chanced that there
fell into the hands of Giovanni, son of Cosimo de' Medici, a very large
cornelian containing the flaying of Marsyas by command of Apollo,
engraved in intaglio; which cornelian, so it is said, once served the
Emperor Nero for a seal. And it being something rare, by reason both of
the size of the stone, which was very great, and of the marvellous
beauty of the intaglio, Giovanni gave it to Lorenzo, to the end that he
might make a gold ornament in relief round it; and he, after toiling at
it for many months, finished it completely, making round it a work in
relief of a beauty not inferior to the excellence and perfection of the
intaglio on the stone; which work brought it about that he wrought many
other things in gold and silver, which to-day are not to be found. For
Pope Martin, likewise, he made a gold button which he wore in his cope,
with figures in full-relief, and among them jewels of very great
price--a very excellent work; and likewise a most marvellous mitre of
gold leaves in open-work, and among them many little figures in
full-relief, which were held very beautiful. And for this work, besides
the name, he acquired great profit from the liberality of that Pontiff.
In the year 1439, Pope Eugenius came to Florence--where the Council was
held--in order to unite the Greek Church with the Roman; and seeing the
works of Lorenzo, and being no less pleased with his person than with
the works themselves, he caused him to make a mitre of gold, weighing
fifteen libbre, with pearls weighing five libbre and a half, which, with
the jewels set in the mitre, were estimated at 30,000 ducats of gold. It
is said that in this work were six pearls as big as filberts, and it is
impossible to imagine, as was seen later in a drawing of it, anything
more beautiful and bizarre than the settings of the jewels and the great
variety of children and other figures, which served for many varied and
graceful ornaments. For this work he received infinite favours from that
Pontiff, both for himself and his friends, besides the original payment.
Florence had received so much praise by reason of the excellent works of
this most ingenious craftsman, that the Consuls of the Guild of
Merchants determined to commission him to make the third door of S.
Giovanni, likewise in bronze. Now, in the door that he had made before,
he had followed their directions and had made it with that ornament
which goes round the figures, and which encircles the framework of both
parts of the door, as in the one of Andrea Pisano; but on seeing how
greatly Lorenzo had surpassed him, the Consuls determined to remove that
of Andrea from its position in the centre, and to place it in the
doorway that is opposite to the Misericordia, and to commission Lorenzo
to make a new door to be placed in the centre, looking to him to put
forth the greatest effort of which he was capable in that art. And they
placed themselves in his hands, saying that they gave him leave to make
it as he pleased, and in whatsoever manner he thought it would turn out
as ornate, as rich, as perfect, and as beautiful as it could be made or
imagined; nor was he to spare time or expense, to the end that, even as
he had surpassed all other sculptors up to his own time, he might
surpass and excel all his own previous works.