Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/274

 244 Sculpture in the Renaissance Period. of Lucca, is an example of this struggle ; his fountain in the great square of Siena, which is considered his finest work, is a typical specimen of the result of his earnest study of nature. Jacopo was, however, surpassed by his contemporary. Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378 — 1455), who was successful in the competition, in which the greatest artists of the day took part, for the designs of the bronze gates for the northern side of the Baptistery at Florence. These gates were subsequently followed by the great western or central gates, which are considered Ghiberti's finest work.* The reliefs represent scenes in Old Testament history ; and, although the subjects are too complicated for sculpture, the fertility of imagination displayed, the sense of beauty, the easy execution, and the life of the whole, entitle them to the high praise bestowed on them by Vasari, the great art-critic of the sixteenth century, and justify the enthusi- astic exclamation of Michelangelo, that they were worthy to be called the Gates of Paradise. Our illustration (Fig. 102) gives one of the compartments of this remarkable composition, in which is epitomised the story of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. Of Ghiberti's isolated works, we must name the bronze statues of St. John the Baptist, St. Matthew, and St. Stephen, in the church of Or San Michele at Florence. St. Matthew is considered the finest ; the face and pose of the figure admirably express the character of the great Christian preacher. Brunelleschi (1377 — 1446), the great Florentine Renais- sance architect, also produced several fine works of sculp- lection.
 * A cast of the gates and doorway is in the Crystal Palace col-