The Gates of Paradise in Florence, the East entrance of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, finally reopens to the public after a precious restoration lasted 26 years. A great piece of work that has returned to humanity a true masterpiece of Lorenzo Ghiberti artistic genius, damaged as a result of the disastrous flood of ’66 and it replaced by a copy pending restoration of the original. Today, the “Gates of Paradise” is preserved in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, in whose courtyard it will possible to admire it from 8th September 2013 every day from 09:00 to 19:30 and on Sundays from 09:00 to 13:45.
The Gates of Paradise in Florence, born twice
The extraordinary “Portal”, who was defined a miracle by Michelangelo, returns in all its splendour after 26 years, practically the same that Ghiberti employed to achieve it. The author worked on it between 1420 and 1436. And now, a similar relationship has been established between the portal and its restorers, engaged since ‘90s to remove the patina of time, the remains of the flood, and rebuild, by using the laser, the gold amalgam that covered the bronze. A story that repeats itself over the centuries, for a new real gestation, which restores in all its glory a legendary portal which, in 10 frames and through 48 biblical characters, tells the stories of the Old Testament.
The Gates of Paradise in Florence, the entry for a trip not to be missed
The opportunity to admire again the Gates of Paradise in Florence is only a first, great, gift that will become even more extraordinary. In fact, the restoration of work by Ghiberti anticipates a larger ambitious and spectacular project: that to include the portal in a breathtaking scenery that will copy in wood and at life-size the facade of the Florence Cathedral, as it was during the fourteenth century. An idea of the art historian Monsignor Timothy Verdon, which will be completed within three years. Meanwhile, the appointment is in the beautiful Florentine reality, perhaps at the Hotel Brunelleschi in Piazza Santa Elisabetta, to enjoy the magic and grandeur of the Gates of Paradise in Florence.
Ready to cross the Gates of Paradise in Florence?
