(b Florence, 1378; d Florence, 1 Dec 1455). Bronze-caster, sculptor, goldsmith, draughtsman, architect and writer. He was the most celebrated bronze-caster and goldsmith in early 15th-century Florence, and his many-sided activity makes him the first great representative of the universal artist of the Renaissance. His richly decorative and elegant art, which reached its most brilliant expression in the Gates of Paradise (Florence, Baptistery), did not break dramatically with the tradition of Late Gothic, yet Ghiberti was undoubtedly one of the great creative personalities of early Renaissance art; no contemporary artist had so deep an influence on the art and sculpture of later times. His art, in which idealism and realism are fused, reflects the discovery of Classical art as truly as the realism of Donatello, and to label Ghiberti a traditionalist is to define the Renaissance art of the early 15th century one-sidedly in terms of increased realism. His competition relief of the Sacrifice of Isaac (1401; Florence, Bargello) determined the development of low relief not only in the 15th century but through the stylistic periods of Mannerism and Baroque, and up until the work of Rodin in the 19th century. Ghiberti’s writings, I commentarii, which include his autobiography, established him as the first modern historian of the fine arts, and bear witness to his ideal of humanistic education and culture. He was wealthier than most of his contemporary artists, and he owned considerable land and securities.

Part of the Ghiberti family

• Ghiberti, Lorenzo (di Cione)
  • Bruni, Leonardo
  • Ghiberti
  • Ghiberti: (1) Lorenzo Ghiberti, §I, 1(iii): The `Gates of Paradise’ for the Baptistery, Florence, c 1426–52
  • Humanism, §3: Humanism and the visual arts
  • Italy, §IV, 3: Renaissance and Mannerist sculpture, c 1400–c 1600
  • Italy, §IV, 3(i)(a): Early Renaissance sculpture, c 1400–c 1480: Florence
  • Italy, §IX, 1: Gold and silver
  • Mariotto di Nardo
  • Medici, de’: (2) Cosimo de’ Medici
  • Siena, §II: Art life and organization
  • assistants
    • Gozzoli, Benozzo, §1: Life and work
    • Michele da Firenze
    • Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, §1(i): Life and career, 1420–40
    • Robbia, della: (1) Luca della Robbia
    • Spinelli: (2) Parri Spinelli
  • collaboration
    • Brunelleschi, Filippo, §I, 1(i): Dome of Florence Cathedral
    • Florence, §II, 1(ii): Art life and organization, c 1400–c 1530
    • Florence, §IV, 1(i)(a): Cathedral architecture
    • Florence, §IV, 1(iv): Cathedral works
    • Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, §2(i): Sculpture
    • Pesello
    • Toscani, Giovanni
  • competitions
    • Competition, §I, 1: Architecture, before 1600
    • Competition, §II, 1: Sculpture: Italy
  • copies
    • Bertin, Edouard
  • frames
    • Frame, §II, 3(i): Italian Early Renaissance
    • Lippi: (1) Filippo Lippi, §1(ii): Life and work, 1437–52
  • methods
    • Science and art, §2(ii): Treatment of space
  • patrons and collectors
    • Angelico, Fra, §I, 2: c 1433–9
    • Bank, §1: Patronage
    • Colonna: (1) Martin V
    • Guild, §3: Patronage
    • Rome, §III, 3: Art life and organization, 1420–1502
    • Strozzi: (1) Palla Strozzi
    • Vasari: (1) Giorgio Vasari, §IV: Collection
  • personal collection
    • Gaddi (ii): (1) Giovanni de’ Gaddi
    • Rome, ancient, §IV, 3: Sculpture: Collections, museums and exhibitions
    • Vitruvius, §3(ii)(a): Influence, c 1350–c 1500
  • pupils
    • Donatello, §I, 1: Training and early work, before 1409
    • Filarete
    • Finiguerra, Maso
    • Ghiberti: (2) Vittorio Ghiberti I
    • Masolino, §1: Training and early career, to c 1424
    • Pollaiuolo, §I: (1) Antonio Pollaiuolo
    • Rossellino: (1) Bernardo Rossellino, §1(i): Life and sculpted works
    • Uccello, Paolo, §1(i): Training and early work, c 1412–43
  • reproductive prints by others
    • Grand Tour, §IV: The climax, 1763–97
    • Gregori
    • Patch, Thomas
  • restorations by others
    • Hologram
  • sculpture
    • Baldovinetti, Alesso, §1(i): Before 1460
    • Italy, §IV, 3(i)(a): Early Renaissance sculpture, c 1400–c 1480: Florence
    • doors
      • Door, §II, 2: Western world, c 1400–c 1550
      • Florence, §IV, 1(ii)(c): Baptistery doors
      • Ghiberti: (1) Lorenzo Ghiberti, §I, 1(i): The north doors of the Baptistery, Florence, 1400–24
      • Iconographic programmes, §2: c 1420–c 1550
      • Istoria
      • Paragone
      • Relief sculpture, §2(vi): Renaissance
      • Renaissance, §2: Early Renaissance, c 1300–1450
      • Terracotta, §II, 2(i)(b): History and uses in the Western world: Sculpture, before the 17th century
    • fonts (baptismal)
      • Font, §4: Renaissance
      • Italy, §IV, 3(i)(c): Early Renaissance sculpture, c 1400–c 1480: Lucca, Siena & Bologna
      • Jacopo della Quercia, §1(ii): 1408–25: Fonte Gaia, Siena, Trenta Chapel, Lucca, & related works
      • Siena, §III, 1(ii): Cathedral sculpture
    • reliefs
      • Ghiberti: (1) Lorenzo Ghiberti, §I, 1(ii): Bronzes for Orsanmichele and the Siena reliefs, 1413–27
    • sarcophagi
      • Sarcophagus, §III, 3: Renaissance and after
    • shrines (i) (cult)
      • Florence, §IV, 1(i)(e): Cathedral furnishings
    • statues
      • Florence, §IV, 2: Orsanmichele
      • Monument, public, §4: Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque
  • stained glass
    • Castagno, Andrea del, §1(i)(a): Documented and accepted works, c 1440–46
    • Florence, §IV, 1(i)(d): Cathedral stained glass
    • Stained glass, §II, 1(iv): 1300–1539
  • studio
    • Studio, §II, 1: History and development, before c 1450
  • writings
    • Art criticism, §2: As a historical practice
    • Gusmin of Cologne
    • Italy, §XVII, 1: Historiography, 14th–16th centuries
    • Treatise, §III: Sculptural
    • on art
      • Art history, §I, 2: Historical development, 15th century to the late 19th
      • Giotto, §I, 2(ii): Early commentators: Ghiberti’s I Commentarii
      • Perspective, §II, 2(i): Linear: Orthodox scientific
      • Pliny: (1) Pliny the elder, §4: Influence
    • on artists
      • Buffalmacco
      • Cimabue, §3: Influence and reputation
      • Giotto, §I, 2(i): Early commentators: Written sources, to c 1450
      • Giotto, §I, 3(iii)(a): Assisi and related works: The Assisi debate
      • Gothic, §IV, 3: Painting: Working practices
      • Stefano Fiorentino