The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece (High Museum of Art Series (Yale)) - Tapa dura

In 1452, Florentine sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti unveiled a masterpiece that had been a quarter-century in the making: ten bronze panels depicting intricate scenes from the Old Testament. The monumental gilded bronze doors (each more than 15 feet tall) were designed for the Baptistery in the Piazza del Duomo in Florence. Centuries of admirers have considered Â"The Gates of ParadiseÂ" one of the great masterworks of Western art. This extensively illustrated book displays the full glory and elaborate details of many of the newly restored bronze panels, the extraordinary work of the conservators and restorers who cleaned the priceless doors. In a series of fascinating chapters, expert contributors capture GhibertiÂ's world, his remarkable talent at representing human emotion in rich illusionistic settings, the relationships between Renaissance patrons and artists, and the collaborations and rivalries among artists. Other chapters explore the challenging craft of bronze sculpture, GhibertiÂ's casting and finishing techniques, and the painstaking process involved in documenting and restoring the treasured doors. A chronology of GhibertiÂ's life completes this lavishly produced volume. An exceptional copy; fine in an equally fine dw, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Literally as new.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 182 pages; Description: 182 p. : ill. (chiefly col. ) ; 32 cm. Issued in connection with an exhibition at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, April 28-July 15, 2007, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, July 28-October 13, 2007, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, October 30, 2007-January 13, 2008. Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Ghiberti, Lorenzo (1378-1455) --Gates of paradise --Exhibitions --Bible --Illustrations --Art metal-work --Technique --Bronze doors --Conservation and restoration --Italy --Florence.