The Gates of Paradise

Artist After Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian, 1378 - 1455)

Fabricator Frilli Gallery (Italian, 1860 - present)

Date1425-1452; cast 1990

MediumGilded bronze with iron

DimensionsOverall (without metal frame): 197 1/2 × 115 3/4 × 8 1/2 inches (501.65 × 294.01 × 21.59 cm)

Credit LinePromised gift of Paul DeBruce and Linda Woodsmall-DeBruce

Object number18.2017.1-31

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Bloch Lobby

Terms

DescriptionMonumental pair of bronze doors seventeen feet tall with inset of ten electroplated gold square panels that present narrative scenes from the Old Testament. Surrounding the doors are a series of 20 cast prophets in niches alternating with 24 projecting heads, including portraits of the artist and his son Vittorio.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Florentine Renaissance: The City as the Crucible of Culture, Dr. Bhauu Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Mumbai, India, March 30–July 8, 2014; The Beauty of Christianity: Masterpieces from the Florence Cathedral and Vatican, National Palace Museum of Korea, Seoul, August 12–November 12, 2014, no cat.

Provenance

Commissioned from the Frilli Gallery, Florence, Italy, by Choichiro Motoyama, Japan, 1990-2017 [1];

Purchased from Motoyama, through the Frilli Gallery, by Paul and Linda Woodsmall-DeBruce, Kansas City, MO, 2017;

Their promised gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.

NOTES:

[1] This is one of two casts commissioned by Motoyama. The other cast is on the east doors of the Baptistery of St. John, Florence.

Published References

Julian Zugazagoitia and Laura Spencer. Director's Highlights: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Celebrating 90 Years, ed. Kaitlyn Bunch (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), 210-213, (repro.).

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