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University of Iowa

Iowa Research Online


1eses and Dissertations

Fall 2011

Opening the gates of paradise: function and the


iconographical program of Ghiberti's bronze door
Gwynne Ann Dilbeck
University of Iowa

Copyright 2011 Gwynne Ann Dilbeck


1is dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: h2p://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2691
Recommended Citation
Dilbeck, Gwynne Ann. "Opening the gates of paradise: function and the iconographical program of Ghiberti's bronze door." PhD
(Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2011.
h2p://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2691.

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Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons

OPENING THE GATES OF PARADISE: FUNCTION AND THE


ICONOGRAPHICAL PROGRAM OF GHIBERTI'S BRONZE DOOR

by
Gwynne Ann Dilbeck

An Abstract
Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Art History
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
December 2011
Thesis Supervisor: Professor Wallace Tomasini

ABSTRACT
Lorenzo Ghibertis east door of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, long
famed as the Gates of Paradise, displays Old Testament stories in sculptural relief on ten
gilded bronze panels. Stressing the significance of the Gates of Paradise as a public
monument imbedded in the fabric of Florentine society will enhance our understanding of
the cultural use of the door within its built environment. Consideration of its context
could in turn clarify the motivation behind the choices for the iconographical program.
Previous studies of the Gates of Paradise tend to isolate each narrative panel rather than
examining the Gates as one door made up of ten unified panels (including decorative
framing). As a result, the Gates of Paradise have rarely been looked at in terms of
architectural function or context. The approach of the present study focuses on the Gates
of Paradise as a significant architectural feature of Florences built environment, as a
feature that functioned as a centerpiece for the Baptistery and the Cathedral complex, and
as a setting for the many spectacles that took place in that environment.
This investigation aims to define the inseparable religious and civic functioning of
the Gates of Paradise and to identify connections between specific function and the
iconographical program. The research examines in depth the imagery of the Gates of
Paradise, scrutinizing the function of the Gates within its physical setting, in the
ceremonies of baptism, and in the regular rituals of the Florentine liturgical calendar.
This hitherto-unexamined analysis of the Florentine liturgical ritual utilizes Medieval and
Renaissance service books such as the Ritus in ecclesia servandi, Mores et consuetudines
canonice florentine, Missal Ms. Edili 107 (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana), and the
Missale romanum Mediolani, 1474. The examination of the Gates function offers

2
illumination of the possible meaning(s) conveyed by the choice of biblical narratives that
make up the program.
Research suggests that the iconographical program for the Gates of Paradise
connects predominantly to its major function as the principal ritual entrance for the
Baptistery. The program reiterates the liturgy for the season leading up to the Churchs
traditional celebratory period of baptism and the baptismal liturgy. While most days
throughout the year the south portal was used for the daily baptismal ceremony, this
special baptism-related use of the Gates reinforce the liturgy of the season which teaches
and emphasizes the significance of the sacrament of baptism and the role of the Church in
salvation.

Abstract Approved: ____________________________________


Thesis Supervisor
____________________________________
Title and Department
____________________________________
Date

OPENING THE GATES OF PARADISE: FUNCTION AND THE


ICONOGRAPHICAL PROGRAM OF GHIBERTI'S BRONZE DOOR

by
Gwynne Ann Dilbeck

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment


of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Art History
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
December 2011
Thesis Supervisor: Professor Wallace Tomasini

Copyright by
GWYNNE ANN DILBECK
2011
All Rights Reserved

Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_______________________
PH.D. THESIS
_______________
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Gwynne Ann Dilbeck
has been approved by the Examining Committee
for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree in Art History at the December 2011 graduation.
Thesis Committee: ___________________________________
Wallace Tomasini, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Brenda Longfellow
___________________________________
Robert Rorex
___________________________________
John Beldon Scott
___________________________________
Ralph Keen

To Zachary, Charlie, and Amelia

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my parents, Robert and Janet Rohner, for their unwavering
support of my aspirations in the art historical field. Thank you for never questioning
what I was passionate about in life, and for actively involving yourselves in my
passiontraveling with me, visiting museums with me, discussing art and experiences. I
could not have reached this point without your support, advice, and love.
A very special thanks to my family. My husband is my constant champion with
encouragement, advice, editorial notes, patience, and well-timed jokes when I needed
them most. It takes a lot of time to research and write a dissertation, not to mention
grant-writing and funding applications. I thank Zac for ensuring that I had the time I
needed to complete this dissertation while juggling our crazy life; some days I am sure
you felt like a single dad (while trying to pursue your own doctorate as well). Thank you
for taking such great care of our babies while I plucked away at my computer. My son
Charlie and daughter Amelia are certainly too young to remember how hard it was for
their mom to lose some precious moments to long hour work days, but I do it all for you.
I thank you for the gift of light-hearted smiles and laughs to lift my spirits, and a few
hug-filled interruptions to keep me going.
To my committee members Wallace Tomasini, Robert Rorex, Brenda
Longfellow, John Beldon Scott, and Ralph Keen: thank you for all your great advice and
humor throughout the process of the dissertation. My work as a whole has been greatly
improved and enhanced by Maso Tomasinis comments and support. I value most his
ability to continually question and re-evaluate works of Renaissance art, and I continue to
be inspired by him. Thank you for your thought-provoking conversations, and constant
encouragement and confidence. I am so honored to be your final mentored student. I
iii

thank Robert Rorex for his excellent editorial suggestions toward finishing this
dissertation, and kind support throughout my graduate experience. Brenda Longfellow
always offered me superb feedback that has greatly improved my writing. Thank you for
your time, careful comments, and editorial advice. John Beldon Scott has been a wealth
of advice and support throughout my graduate years, placing his confidence in me before
I even begain graduate school. I greatly appreciate the feedback and direction you have
given to me. Ralph Keen has been supportive as a scholar and a friend. I thank you for
our enlightening discussions over the long course of my research, and for your excellent
encouragement, humor, and smiles. It has been a joy to work with you all at the
University of Iowa.
I wish to thank the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana for allowing me access to its
holdings in Florence, specifically Ms. Edili 106, and Edili 144-147. This research was
made possible by a University of Iowa T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation
Research Fellowship (2010). I thank the BML as well for access to a full copy of Ms.
Edili 107, made possible through a research grant from the Executive Council of
Graduate and Professional Student (University of Iowa, 2010). This research was also
funded through an Elizabeth Gilmore Holt Scholarship (University of Iowa, 2010-2011).

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2. THE GATES OF PARADISE: A CLOSE LOOK AT THE
NARRATIVES .............................................................................................. 22
Creation.......................................................................................................... 25
Cain and Abel ................................................................................................ 29
Noah ............................................................................................................... 30
Abraham ........................................................................................................ 33
Jacob and Esau ............................................................................................... 36
Joseph ............................................................................................................ 38
Moses ............................................................................................................. 40
Joshua ............................................................................................................ 42
David.............................................................................................................. 43
Solomon ......................................................................................................... 44
Niches and Frame .......................................................................................... 48
Summary ........................................................................................................ 55
CHAPTER 3. INTRODUCTION TO CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS .............................. 59
The Baptistery Reconstructed ........................................................................ 61
Problems Identifying Context ........................................................................ 68
CHAPTER 4. SPACE AND FUNCTION ........................................................................ 72
Locating the Baptistery Doors ....................................................................... 72
The Space....................................................................................................... 76
CHAPTER 5. BAPTISMAL FUNCTION ....................................................................... 84
Liturgical Sources .......................................................................................... 84
The Baptismal Ceremony .............................................................................. 88
CHAPTER 6. LITURGICAL FUNCTION: HOLIDAYS OF THE PROPRIUM
DE TEMPORE ............................................................................................. 104
An Introduction to Liturgy........................................................................... 106
Liturgical Sources ........................................................................................ 108
Liturgical Holidays ...................................................................................... 112
Conclusions.................................................................................................. 161
CHAPTER 7. LITURGICAL FUNCTION: HOLIDAYS OF THE PROPRIUM
SANCTORUM .............................................................................................. 163
Liturgical Sources ........................................................................................ 164
Liturgical Holidays ...................................................................................... 167
v

CHAPTER 8. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................... 191


Problems Identifying the Author or Adviser of the Program ...................... 196
APPENDIX A: FIGURES .............................................................................................. 206
APPENDIX B: TABLES ................................................................................................ 241
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 252

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LIST OF TABLES
Table B1.

Major liturgical events that included the Baptistery of San Giovanni


in Florence. ................................................................................................ 241

Table B2.

Prescribed Mass Readings in the proprium de tempore. ........................... 245

Table B3.

Prescribed Mass Readings in the proprium sanctorum. ............................ 251

vii

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure A1. View of the Baptistery (San Giovanni) with the Cathedral (Santa
Maria del Fiore) and the Campanile, Florence. ..........................................206
Figure A2. Baptistery of San Giovanni, eastern facade, c.1059-1150, Florence. .........206
Figure A3. Floor plan of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, c. 1150, Florence. ..............207
Figure A4. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise, eastern portal of the Baptistery of
San Giovanni, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, approx. 15. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................207
Figure A5. Diagram of the narrative program for the Gates of Paradise. This
diagram lists the separate episodes represented on each panel. ..................208
Figure A6. Diagram of Leonardo Brunis plan for the Gates of Paradise, 1424(?) ......209
Figure A7. Ghiberti, Creation panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................210
Figure A8. Ghiberti, creation of Eve, detail from Creation panel, Gates of
Paradise. ......................................................................................................210
Figure A9. Ghiberti, Expulsion, detail from Creation panel, Gates of Paradise. .........211
Figure A10. Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve, 1424-1427. Brancacci Chapel,
Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. ...........................................................211
Figure A11. Ghiberti, Cain and Abel panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................212
Figure A12. Ghiberti, First parents with Cain and Abel as toddlers, detail from
Cain and Abel panel, Gates of Paradise. .....................................................212
Figure A13. Ghiberti, Noah panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni,Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................213
Figure A14. Ghiberti, Ark, detail from Noah panel, Gates of Paradise. .........................213
Figure A15. Ghiberti, Abraham panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................214
Figure A16. Ghiberti, Two youth at the bottom of the mountain, detail from
Abraham panel, Gates of Paradise. .............................................................214
Figure A17. Ghiberti, Jacob and Esau panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................215

viii

Figure A18. Ghiberti, Birth of Jacob and Esau, detail from Jacob and Esau panel,
Gates of Paradise.........................................................................................215
Figure A19. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Baptist, 1485. Cappella Maggiore,
Santa Maria Novella, Florence. ..................................................................216
Figure A20. Ghiberti, Isaac Blessing Jacob, detail from Jacob and Esau panel,
Gates of Paradise.........................................................................................216
Figure A21. Ghiberti, Esau denied blessing from Isaac, detail from Jacob and Esau
panel, Gates of Paradise. .............................................................................217
Figure A22. Ghiberti, Joseph panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera
del Duomo, Florence. ..................................................................................217
Figure A23. Ghiberti, Silver Cup in Benjamins Bag, detail from Joseph panel,
Gates of Paradise.........................................................................................218
Figure A24. Ghiberti, Josephs reconciliation with his brothers, detail from Joseph
panel, Gates of Paradise. .............................................................................218
Figure A25. Ghiberti, Moses panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera
del Duomo, Florence. ..................................................................................219
Figure A26. Ghiberti, Crowd of Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai, detail from
Moses panel, Gates of Paradise. ..................................................................219
Figure A27. Ghiberti, Joshua panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera
del Duomo, Florence. ..................................................................................220
Figure A28. Ghiberti, Procession around the walls of Jericho, detail from Joshua
panel, Gates of Paradise. .............................................................................220
Figure A29. Ghiberti, David panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera
del Duomo, Florence. ..................................................................................221
Figure A30. Ghiberti, Davids Triumphal return with the head of Goliath, detail
from David panel, Gates of Paradise. .........................................................221
Figure A31. Ghiberti, Solomon panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo
dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.................................................................222
Figure A32. Ghiberti, Solomon and the Queen, detail from Solomon panel, Gates
of Paradise. ..................................................................................................222
Figure A33. Ghiberti, Solomons Temple, detail from Solomon panel, Gates of
Paradise. ......................................................................................................223

ix

Figure A34. Nave of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, new plan 1366 (original plan
c. 1294 by Arnolfo di Cambio). ..................................................................223
Figure A35. Ghiberti, Adam (a) and Eve (b) niche figures in the top frame of the
Gates of Paradise.........................................................................................224
Figure A36. Ghiberti, Noah (a) and Puarphara (b) niche figures in the bottom
frame of the Gates of Paradise. ...................................................................224
Figure A37. Ghiberti, Hiding blooms, detail from the left side of the Noah niche in
the bottom frame of the Gates of Paradise. .................................................224
Figure A38. Diagram of the Gates of Paradise with proposed identities of the
border niche figures. ...................................................................................225
Figure A39. Piazza del Duomo circa 1285, showing the location of the Hospital to
the north, the Bishops palace to the west, the orientation of Santa
Reparata (in relation to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore begun
in 1296). ......................................................................................................226
Figure A40. Interior vault mosaics, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, c. 12401310.............................................................................................................226
Figure A41. Pavement of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence. (The central
octagon pavement is an eighteenth-century addition). ...............................227
Figure A42. Cutaway view of the Baptistery of San Giovanni with reconstruction
of 13th century font and choir screens (demolished in 1577). .....................227
Figure A43. Andrea Pisano, southern portal of the Baptistery of San Giovanni,
1329-1336. Gilded bronze. Florence. .........................................................228
Figure A44. Lorenzo Ghiberti, northern portal of the Baptistery of San Giovanni,
1403-1424. Gilded bronze. Florence. .........................................................228
Figure A45. Guiseppe Zocchi, Procession of the Corpus Domini, 1754. Etching .........229
Figure A46. Interior west end of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence. ................................230
Figure A57. Bernardino Poccetti, drawing of the Arnolfian faade of Santa Maria
del Fiore, Florence ......................................................................................231
Figure A48. Arnolfio di Cambio, Madonna and Child Entroned, St. Reparata
(left), and St. Zenobius (right), early 14th century. Reconstruction of
the sculptural group above the central portal of the 14th century faade
of Santa Maria del Fiore (demolished in 1587). Museum of the Opera
del Duomo, Florence. ..................................................................................232
Figure A49. Arnolfio di Cambio, Virgin Mary of the Nativity (a) and Virgin Mary
of the Dormition (b), early 14th century. Reconstruction of the
Arnolfian faade of Santa Maria del Fiore. Museum of the Opera del
Duomo, Florence.........................................................................................233

Figure A50. Giovanni Stradano, The Baptism of Francesco I (Aug. 1, 1541), 15561559. Sala di Cosimo I, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. ..................................234
Figure A51. Ghiberti, Noahs family exiting the ark, detail from Noah panel, Gates
of Paradise. ..................................................................................................235
Figure A52. Giovanni Stradano (Jan van der Straet), Procession in Piazza del
Duomo, 1561. Sala di Gualdrada, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. ..................236
Figure A53. Stradano, detail of procession, from Procession in Piazza del Duomo. .....236
Figure A54. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Marriage of the Virgin, 1485. Cappella
Maggiore, Santa Maria Novella, Florence. .................................................237
Figure A55. Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, Wedding Procession, c. 1440. Adimari
cassone, Galleria dellAccademia, Florence. ..............................................237
Figure A56. Ghiberti, procession moving around the Temple, detail of Solomon
panel, Gates of Paradise. .............................................................................238
Figure A57. Ghiberti, spectators around the Temple, detail of Solomon panel,
Gates of Paradise.........................................................................................238
Figure A58. Giovanni Stradano, Festival of the Homages in Piazza della Signoria,
1562. Sala di Gualdrada, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. ................................239
Figure A59. Giovanni di Francesco Toscani, Chest of Standards, early fifteenthcentury. Bargello, Florence. ........................................................................240
Figure A60. Toscani, detail from left half of the Chest of Standards. ............................240

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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Situated directly across from the main portal of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del
Fiore in a large bustling piazza is the Baptistery of San Giovanni, one of the most
significant structures in the history of Medieval and Renaissance Florence (figure A1).
The octagonal Baptistery is prominent in any rendering of the city and as such is a visual
part of Florences identity. The Baptistery of San Giovanni also embodies Florences
religious identity as the ecclesiastical building consecrated to one of the citys patron
saint, John the Baptist, and the buildings legendary Roman foundations are verification
of the citys great ancient lineage. Lorenzo Ghibertis Gates of Paradise (1425-1452),
located on the eastern facade of San Giovanni, stood in a prime location in Piazza di San
Giovanni facing the Cathedral (figure A2).1 The Gates of Paradise are an exceptional
feature on arguably the most recognizable building in Florence, a mark of the city and her
prized Roman heritage.
The Gates of Paradise are the last of three bronze doors to be placed at the south,
north, and east entrances of the Baptistery (figure A3). Andrea Pisanos door represents
scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist and Ghibertis first door, the north portal,
contains scenes from the life of Christ. Ghibertis Gates of Paradise display Old
Testament stories in sculptural relief on ten gilded bronze panels arranged on two valves
of a double door (figure A4).2 Read chronologically from left to right (across both

Today copies of the Gates stand in the original location on the eastern facade of the Baptistery. The
original panels are expected to be on display in the Museum of the Opera delDuomo in Florence the
summer of 2012.
2

The popular story on the origin of the name stems from Vasari who recorded in his Lives the anecdote that
Michelangelo, standing before Ghibertis door, said they were so beautiful they could well be the Gates of
Paradise (see Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists, trans. Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter
Bondanella [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998], 98). However, the name probably originated from

2
valves) and top to bottom, the main subjects of the ten panels are easily identifiable as the
Creation, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Esau, Joseph, Moses, Joshua,
David, and Solomon. Most of the panels represent more than one episode of the narrative
subject. While the narrative subjects on each panel are clear, the reasons for the choices
made in grouping these particular Old Testament stories together are not transparent, and
have not received due attention in art historical scholarship. The ten bronze narrative
panels that make up the Gates of Paradise have often been viewed as individual reliefs
with little discussion of a complete theological program. Because of this approach of
isolating panels rather than examining the Gates as one door made up of ten unified
panels (including decorative framing), the Gates of Paradise have rarely been looked at in
terms of their architectural function or liturgical context. This dissertation considers the
relief panels of the Gates of Paradise as architectural sculpture that functioned in
Florences most public religious and civic arena. Stressing the significance of the Gates
of Paradise as a public monument imbedded in the fabric of Florentine society will
enhance our understanding of the cultural use of the door within its built environment.
Consideration of its context could in turn clarify the motivation behind the choices for the
program.
Clarification of the iconographical program for the Gates of Paradise is a primary
impetus for this study. Scholars tend to focus on individual panels to the detriment of
viewing the Gates as a unified whole; however, as will be shown in this dissertation, the
images represented on the door are part of a constructed theological program. This is

the doors location in front of the Cathedral because this space was called the paradisus. See Richard
Krautheimer and T. Krautheimer-Hess, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1956),
1:18; Eloise M. Angiola, Gates of Paradise and the Florentine Baptistery, Art Bulletin 60 (1978):242.

3
evidenced by the inclusion of scenes rarely represented in works of religious art being
created at this time, and the exclusion of scenes typically represented in the baptismal
context. For example, the scene of Moses Receiving the Tablets of Law is depicted
instead of the Parting of the Red Sea, a scene more obviously associated with baptism.3
The episodes from Noahs life are post-Flood (Exiting the Ark, Noahs Sacrifice, and the
scene of Noahs Drunkenness), and these scenes were not common in Old Testament
cycles during this period.4 The ways in which some scenes are represented also indicate
significance, chiefly an emphasis on Eve in the Creation panel. In addition to the
uniqueness of this presentation of Old Testament stories, extant documentation confirms
that advice was sought from prominent scholars in order to create a unique program for
the door. Most notable is the surviving plan submitted by humanist Leonardo di Ceccho
Bruni dArezzo, whose program presumably was found unacceptable because it differs
significantly from the final arrangement.5
While elements of water are included in several panels, the program for the Gates
is more complex than simply connecting such a literal motif of baptism with the Old
Testament. The foremost function of the Baptistery is conferring the sacrament of
baptism to infants and adult catechumens. Baptism is the sacrament by which people are
initiated into the Church family and is thus described as the door to life and to the
3

For instance, the Parting of the Red Sea is juxtaposed with the Baptism of Christ in the Biblia Pauperum.

Krautheimer notes the rarity of this subject as well (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 176). Yet interestingly, the subject
is also found in the Sistine Chapel, suggesting perhaps some parallels in program.
5

This interesting document will be explained later in this discussion as will the possible author of the
iconographical program. In addition to the evidence of Brunis plan, a letter written by Ambrogio
Traversari to Niccolo Niccoli mentions the consultation of Bruni for the narrative scenes (Krautheimer,
Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:161). Krautheimer interprets the letter as revealing other scholars, including
Traversari, were involved. And 18th century historian Francesco Antonio Gori, who apparently had access
to the diaries of the Calimala, said that the guild asked several scholars to create programs for the doors
and finally commissioned Bruni (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:161).

4
Kingdom of God.6 The door to life is an entrance, or re-entrance, into Paradise through
the absolution of original sin made possible due to the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Through this ceremonial washing, which re-creates the death and resurrection of
Jesus, the baptized triumph over death because this initiation opens the gates for eternal
life in Heaven. As the sacrament of baptism opened this metaphorical door for the
Christian, the building of a baptistery is envisioned as a gateway, a monumental portal
leading the baptized Christian into the Heavenly City.7 The baptism at the font is related
to both a death and birth, as the initiates sinful life is put to death (buried in the water of
the font) and reborn into a new life and new Christian lineage. What does the Old
Testament have to do with the sacrament of baptism? Does the iconographical program
have more to do with the larger function(s) of the church of San Giovanni? Even as the
Gates are an architectural part of the Baptistery, its gleaming expanse also is a dominant
part of the dialogue of the surrounding space, the piazza and the Cathedral.
Obviously the main function of a door is as an entrance/exit into and out of a
building; however, there is evidence that the Gates of Paradise were not frequently open.8
This indicates the probability that the Gates were only used for special events, such as
major religious and civic rituals. Each event that took place in the Gates environment

Rites of the Catholic Church (New York: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1976), 4. This visual of baptism opening the
gates to Heaven is found in the writing of Thomas Aquinas (Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 245). See
Thomas Aquinas, Summa, III, Question 69, Article 7. The image of a gate to Heaven stems from
Apocalypse 4:1. The importance of baptism for Christian initiation has its roots in the Gospel of John 3:5.
7
8

Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 242.

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:114. Today, as well, the Gates are only open for special occasions and
rituals that continue to use the east portal as its entrance.

5
had opportunity to connect with the visual narratives presented in the reliefs.9 The
current study includes an analysis of liturgy and liturgical events that took place in
proximity to the Gates of Paradise, events that used the door by passing through it, and
the actual physical location of the door itself in the eastern facade.10 Neither an in-depth
analysis of the functionality of the Gates nor the relation of the Old Testament subjects to
the function of the Gates has been attempted previously. In order to determine how the
Gates of Paradise functioned as part of a major public monument, I have distinguished
for this study four different avenues of inquiry by viewing the door (1) in its physical
space facing the Cathedral and the surrounding area; (2) in its function as part of the
Baptistery alone and the baptismal ceremony; (3) in its function as part of the larger
Cathedral context and the liturgical rituals of the seasonal holidays;11 (4) in its function as
part of the more civic-natured spectacles, such as feast day celebrations.12 After
reviewing the evidence for the function of the door in these four sections, I will argue that
the imagery on the Gates of Paradise played a vital role in the liturgical events associated
with St. John the Baptist and the baptismal instruction for the season of Lent.

Amy Bloch also discusses the possible connection between content and a processional audience (The
Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance in Renaissance Florence, [Ph.D. diss., Rutgers
University, 2004], 178).
10

My use of the term liturgy follows the simple definition given by George Dameron: the official public
rites and prayers of the church, divided into daily, weekly, and annual cycles. It includes the celebration of
the Mass and the recitation of the Divine Office. (George Dameron, Florence and Its Church in the Age of
Dante [Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005], 195).
11

Holidays found in the proprium de tempore, or office of the seasons, section of liturgical service books.

12

Holidays found in the proprium sanctorum, or office of the saints, section.

6
A few scholars have incorporated context into their interpretations of the
program;13 however, a complete study of the Gates function as a primary approach to its
iconographical design has been lacking. In fact, there has been very little inquiry into the
function(s) of the eastern portal of the Baptistery. The focus of the Gates of Paradise in
art historical scholarship has been predominantly on Ghibertis style,14 the technical and
chronological details of the doors execution, the identity of a program author/adviser,
and the value of the artist in Renaissance development. The complex iconography and
context for the Gates of Paradise are equally important aspects of the monument; this
research initiates a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between these two
elements, an investigation not previously attempted. The choices made in the final
narrative program have been on the periphery of discussion about the door, little more
than part of the debate over the identity of the presumed author or artistic advisor of the
program and its design.
The most authoritative and substantial scholarship on the Gates of Paradise has
been done by Richard Krautheimer, and his two-volume monograph, Lorenzo Ghiberti, is
the modern comprehensive publication on the artist.15 Krautheimer provides thorough
analysis of documents and sources, and his work serves as a basis for subsequent studies
13

For example, Richard Krautheimer, Eloise Angiola, and Amy Bloch (see below for a description of these
scholars work).
14

The dialogues on Ghibertis style center on both its evolution and its place in the development of
Renaissance movements. Basically, is Ghiberti a progressive or a conservative? How did his style
change over the years and why? What has not been discussed in relation to Ghibertis style, as admitted by
Krautheimer, is attention to minor works, the artists impact on later artists, and any links with
contemporary painting.
15

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti. Originally printed in 1956. Before Krautheimer, Julius von Schlosser
paved the way for studies of Ghiberti in the last century (Leben und Meinungen des Florentinischen
Bildners Lorenzo Ghiberti. [Basel:Holbein, 1941]). His work both analyzed and interpreted the
Commentaries, and also discussed Ghibertis collection of antiques. Schlossers focus was on Ghiberti as a
writer and collector.

7
on the Gates of Paradise. Krautheimers digest of documents remains an essential
collection of all known documents relating to Ghibertis work and life.16 In regards to the
overall program, Krautheimer suggests a general theme of salvation history. His more
detailed interpretations of the iconography are guided by his argument that Ambrogio
Traversari was the theological adviser.17 The author or adviser for the iconographical
program of the Gates of Paradise continues to be debated. Much of the subsequent
scholarship has taken Krautheimers proposal of Traversari as fact, but the identity of the
fifteenth-century scholar involved is still questionable. Other recent scholars, such as
Georgia Clarke, have argued against Traversari as the adviser.18 Krautheimers early
discussion of the panels comments on their patristic nature and probable Early Christian
sources, particularly St. Ambrose and Origen. Then he discusses Traversaris own study
of such sources. It is true Traversari was one Renaissance scholar who was particularly
interested in Origen; however, it is important to keep in mind that passages from Origen
were also included in the liturgical readings of Renaissance Florentine lectionaries.19

16

Three hundred and two documents are included in a chronological digest with one hundred sixty-three
documents are fully transcribed. Also impressive is his extensive bibliography of five hundred sixty-three
entries. Early chapters of the book are dedicated to the artists biography, fame, and artistic origins as well
as the competition with Brunelleschi for the north door, and Ghibertis bronze statues for Orsanmichele. In
the chapter entitled The Panels Krautheimer dealt solely with Ghibertis style on the basis of which he
recreated the exact order and dates in which the panels were designed, modeled, and cast.
17

Ambrogio Traversari (1386-1439): General of the Camaldulensian Order in 1431 at Santa Maria degli
Angeli,, Papal Nuncio to the Council of Basel, Authority at the Council of Ferrara-Florence.
18

Georgia Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari: artistic adviser in early 15 th century Florence? Renaissance
Studies 2, no. 3 (1997): 161-178. This will be discussed further in the final chapter of the current study.
19

Origen is listed in the set of lectionaries, Ms. Edili144-E145 in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. For
instance, see E144: 28r (Vigil of the nativity), 62v (Octave of Epiphany), 84r and E145: 22r, 33v. In later
lectionaries, St. Jerome takes the place of Origen (however, they are Jeromes translations of Origen). The
writings of St. Ambrose were also extremely popular and influential; there are commentaries and homilies
by Ambrose throughout the prescribed liturgy, and some evidence that the early baptismal ceremony was
Ambrosian in nature. On the baptismal ceremony and the Ambrosian rite in early medieval Florence, see
Lamberto Crociani, La liturgia Battesimale, in Il Bel San Giovanni e Santa Maria del Fiore, edited by
Domenico Cardini (Florence: Le Lettere, 1996).

8
A major part of Krautheimers discussion of the program focused on the Solomon
panel which, in his view, possessed the most evidence that Traversari was the author of
the program. He believes that the Solomon panel, which depicts the Meeting of Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba, is symbolic of the hoped-for unification of the Eastern and
Western Churches at the Council of Ferrara/Florence (1438-9), which convened after the
panels were cast.20 The council first opened in Ferrara but was moved to Florence in
1439 due to a recurrence of the plague. Traversari took active part in preparations for
that council. Krautheimer fails to develop his unification theory into a unified theme
across all ten panels of the Gates. However, Krautheimer does look to this important
religious context to help clarify the Solomon panel. Context could be the key to
understanding the program as a whole, as well as offer further valuable information on
the type of individual who could have been responsible for the iconographical program.
In the past thirty years scholars such as Frederick Hartt, Eloise M. Angiola, David
Finn, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Antonio Paolucci, and Amy Bloch have discussed the
iconography in various ways, often building on Krautheimers seminal work.21 While
some of the interpretations of these scholars take into account context, they are neither
fully comprehensive nor completely successful.
Frederick Hartt offered his interpretation of the program within his general
textbook, The History of the Italian Renaissance Art.22 Like Krautheimer, Hartts focus

20

According to Krautheimer, Ghibertis Solomon panel breaks from traditional representation of the scene
in its festival atmosphere and the marriage-like portrayal (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:181).
21

Hartt and Lavin are included here because they each offer a unique and clear thesis regarding the imagery
of the Gates of Paradise despite the fact that their conclusions are tucked into monographs far from focused
on Ghiberti or the Gates. Both arguments are very brief yet effective enough to be discussed here.
22

Frederick Hartt, History of Italian Renaissance Art, 2nd edition (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003), 277.
See also the summary in my initial study of the Gates: Gwynne Rohner, Legitimacy, Establishment,

9
is on the programs author, whom he identifies as St. Antonine (Fra Antonino Pieruzzi).
He relates the panels to a chapter from Antonines Summa Theologica which apparently
was originally a sermon on St. John the Baptist.23 In reality the excerpt from Antonines
Summa does not seem to be the key to the doors program; the episodes and details do not
match the scenes on the Gates beyond the general sense.24 Hartt glosses over religious
context in his interpretation. What was the context of St. Antonines sermon? A sermon
dedicated to the patron saint of the Baptistery and the city could be significant, but this
line of investigation into the liturgical context is not pursued.25
Eloise Angiola, in her article Gates of Paradise and the Florentine Baptistery,
states that what has seemed to be missing in the reading of the program is the single
unifying theme that ties together the sequence of Old Testament stories and clarifies the
presence of the doors at the Porta Paradisi.26 Despite this initial suggestion that there is
meaning behind the placement of the Gates at the eastern portal, Angiola later asserts that
all three Baptistery doors were actually interchangeable. While her attempt to analyze

Authority: The Iconography of Lorenzo Ghibertis Paradise Doors, (M.A. Thesis, University of Iowa,
2005), 5-6.
23

St. Antonine (Fra Antonino Pieruzzi, 1389-1459): Dominican friar, prior of San Marco 1436, archbishop
of Florence 1446-1459, at San Dominico in Fiesole (1424-25). Summa Theologica (Lib. III, tit. 31, cap. 7),
1455. The date for Summa is well after the design for the Gates and depends on when his ideas were in
circulation. Krautheimer notes the discrepancy in dating .
24

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1: 187, note 77. Krautheimer responds to Hartts support for St.
Antonine as program author in the second printing of his book (see Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1: 187,
note 77). In addition, Krautheimer pointed out the dating of the Summa and the estimated date for the
programs creation do not match. Eight out of ten stories are represented on the Gates and are meant to
display prefigurations of Christ: Creation of Adam and Eve; Slaying of Abel; Noahs Salvation and
Drunkenness; Abrahams Sacrifice; Jacobs Blessing and his Flight; Josephs Suffering and Triumph and
Distribution of Grain; Moses Childhood and Passage of Red Sea; Joshuas Conquest of Promised Land;
Jobs Sufferings; David Slaying Goliath.
25

The context of this sermon is unknown to me and not discussed by either Hartt or Krautheimer.

26

Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 246.

10
the Gates of Paradise in their baptismal context is valuable, her argument and her
proposed unifying source for the program is not entirely convincing. She suggests the
source for the subjects on the Gates is the exemplary behavior of Old Testament
ancestors given by St. Paul in Hebrews. However, the passage from Hebrews does not
include the Creation or the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.27 There is
some similarity of figures, but the episodes of the biblical passage are often not those
represented in the reliefs of the Gates of Paradise. Angiola dismisses this problem by
suggesting that the separate episodes take second place to the main theme of each panel,
the glorification of the righteous and faithful life of each ancestor.28 This downplays the
careful selections made in Old Testament scenes for representation of the Gates of
Paradise. It also only considers the main characters for each panel and completely
ignores the specific stories represented. One of her aims is to connect the iconography of
the door to its specific location on the Baptistery, and it is constructive to the discussion
of the program that the symbolic function of the Gates is considered.29 Her main
argument is that the decorative program for the Baptistery as a whole relates to the theme
of the heavenly gates of Paradise. Angiola asserts Ghibertis Gates, as well as the other
two doors, represent paths to reaching those heavenly gates; thus, looking to the

27

The other figures are present, among many others not included in the doors program; however, the
examples of faith taken from their lives often are not those scenes represented on the Gates of Paradise.
Noahs example of faith is in building the Arkvery different from the three narratives depicted from his
life. I discuss her argument further in my M.A. thesis (Rohner, Legitimacy, Establishment, Authority, 89). She does go on to discuss how Adam and Eve, and Solomon and the Queen are related to this theme
despite being left out of the biblical passage.
28

Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 247. If this was the case why not just condense the scenes originally
chosen by Bruni? And why not chose scenes that actually represent these acts of faithfulness?
29

Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 242-248.

11
Baptisterys symbolic context as spiritually leading the initiate to the Church/ Paradise.30
However, she then determines that the three doors themselves were interchangeable
aspects of the Baptistery architecture because they all presented this common theme of
salvation through faith. Angiola suggests that the first two doors represent the way into
Heaven through baptism and the Passion. Ghibertis east door then for her displays Old
Testament role models who present the way to Heaven through faithfulness. An analysis
of the biblical stories chosen for the program shows that the scenes do not emphasize
models of faithfulness. This is especially evident in the first three panels, which highlight
the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Fratricide of Abel, and the Drunkenness of Noah.
In The Florence Baptistery Doors, David Finns close photographic observations
of the panels with commentary by George Robinson looks for common themes in the
subjects represented.31 Finn and Robinson distinguish two themes that they believe
Ghiberti made evident on the Gates of Paradise: a recurrence of brothers, and the
preference for the younger sibling.32 This preference reflects the social and political
reality of fifteenth-century Florence when lineage and bloodlines were extremely
important and inheritance was usually passed on to the eldest son. The preference for a
younger son in the Old Testament is also typologically related to the New Testament over
Old, or the Church over the Synagogue. This important typological interpretation will be

30

This idea stems from a suggestion by Margaret Frazer that Italians following a Byzantine tradition
viewed their doors a surrogates for the gates of Paradise representing four paths to entering those
heavenly gates. See Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 245; Frazer, Church Doors and the Gates of Paradise:
Byzantine Bronze Doors in Italy, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 27 (1973):143-162.
31

David Finn, The Florence Baptistery Doors (New York: Viking Press, 1961). Commentaries written by
George Robinson, a scholar of the Jewish religious tradition. David Finn is a photographer who has
specialized in sculpture.
32

Finn, The Florence Baptistery Doors, 199.

12
discussed further below. In fact, many of the scenes on the Gates of Paradise represent
enraged older brothers whose blessings are stolen by the younger. Unfortunately, Finn
and Robinson do not connect the brotherly theme to other panels not containing episodes
of sibling interaction. As Finns study consists primarily of formal analysis, the context
of the door is not considered in his interpretations.
In her considerable study of narrative murals, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin concludes
that the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, depicted on the last panel of the
Gates of Paradise, allegorically refers to the marriage of Christ and Mary-Ecclesia.33
This, she suggests, is central to the overall meaning of the doors program. Lavin also
notes the importance of Mary in the guise of Ecclesia on the Gates, particularly alluding
to the advent of Mary on the portals placed opposite the faade of the Duomo, long since
dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, the doors that give access to baptism truly are the
Gates of Paradise.34 In addition, Lavin recognizes the generational focus that comprises
the genealogy of Mary and Christ (Adam and Eve through Abraham, Rebekah through
David, and Solomon is the start of the line to Mary).35 Therefore her analysis involves
both the genealogical elements that Finn cites, as well as the allegory of the Church that
Krautheimer and Hartt also interpret as significant in the Solomon panel.

33

Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, The Place of Narrative: Mural Decoration in Italian Churches, 431-1600
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).
34
35

Lavin, Place of Narrative, 131. See also page 328, n. 27, 28 from her text.

Lavin, Place of Narrative, 131. Lavin notes the composition of the first two registers create matching
chevron patterns and these paired tiers cover twenty-one generations of Christ. The third register is
connected through architectural backgrounds, the fourth by landscape and the fifth with centralized
compositions. The third to fifth registers, she suggests, cover fourteen generations (Rebekah through
David), and Solomon begins a group of forty-two generations leading to Mary and Christ.

13
Antonio Paoluccis contribution lies mostly in his unique interpretations of the
iconography. He characterizes the theme of the Gates as the promise of salvation and the
prophetic prefiguration of Christ,36 both logical themes in the context of a baptistery
dedicated to the life and role of St. John the Baptist. While Paoluccis interpretations
relate to the general context of a baptistery (its function in salvation through the
sacrament of baptism), he does little in considering further the context and function of the
Florentine Baptistery.37
Amy Blochs doctoral dissertation on Lorenzo Ghiberti looks to a number of
factors besides artistic developments to explain Ghibertis changes in style, narrative
construction, and creation of space, including social context, environment, and ritual
use.38 She notes that the conclusions of previous scholars on the evolution of Ghibertis
sculptural style and narrative construction paint an incomplete picture because they do
not take into account the physical or historical context or Ghibertis understanding of
the relationship between the door and its audience.39 Blochs main focus is on the artists
style, suggesting that Ghiberti adjusted his style and narrative construction to suit the

36

Antonio Paolucci, The Origins of Renaissance Art: The Baptistery Door, Florence, translated by
Francoise Chiarini (New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1996). See also by Paolucci, Ghiberti Orafo: al
Servizio della Liturgia, in Ghiberti e la sua arte nella Firenze del 3-400 (Firenze: Citta di Vita, 1979).
37

He nods to Krautheimers suggestion that the subject was also intended as an allusion to the
reconciliation of the East and West Churches (Origins of Renaissance Art, 125).
38

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance. The focus of her dissertation is the St.
Zenobius Shrine, but also touches on the Baptistery doors.
39

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 7. She adds that the focus on general
stylistic development has hindered our appreciation of how these other works [like the St. Zenobius
shrine] themselves functioned as individual monuments capable of creating meaning (6). Bloch is reexamining Ghibertis construction of space (Ghiberti, Perspective, and Vision), which was the topic of
her presentation at the symposium for the Gates of Paradise Exhibition held by the Metropolitan in New
York in November 2007.

14
ritual use and space surrounding his work.40 Bloch briefly comments on the relationship
between ritual function and the subject matter of Ghibertis Gates of Paradise. Her study
of this ritual function utilizes three visual examples showing the portal in use.41 From
these examples she observes a commonality that processions entered the east door and
exited the north door; therefore, she concludes participants took part in the narrative of
Christian history by passing through the Old Testament imagery into the space dedicated
to the Baptist, the link between Old and New, then proceeding past the events of the New
Testament. This is a broad reading, grouping the program into the overarching subject of
Old Testament.42 Blochs investigation does not analyze the specific liturgical events of
the visual examples nor how these might have played into the relationship.43 Nor does
she investigate any other functional aspects beyond what is presented in these examples;
although, as I will discuss below, there were other instances when the doors and their
surrounding space were utilized in ritual. Bloch has published several studies
proficiently discussing the function of the imagery of Pisanos south door, Ghibertis
frame of the south door, and the interior space of the Baptistery in the baptismal

40

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 11. She suggests Ghiberti was
concerned with the immediacy of his images to the public as they participated in the ritualized activities in
the surrounding space (14).
41

Bloch, Sculpture ofLorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 204. The three images were: Giovanni di
Francesco Toscani, Chest of the Standards, early 15th century in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence; Giovanni Stradano, Procession into San Giovanni, 1562 in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; Guiseppe
Zocchi, Procession of the Corpus Domini, 1754;. These images are discussed below.
42

Bloch herself discusses what she saw as two primary types of reading the images: specific or broad/ close
or general engagement with the viewer (Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 189).
43

Bloch stated that she would not cover all possible ritual uses but focus on the link between the doors
locations and their functions in select rituals (Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance,
191). Her purpose was to show Ghibertis concern with function in his other sculptural works besides the
Zenobius Shrine.

15
ceremony.44 The most recent of these studies, in Meaning in Motion, is a major
contribution to our understanding of the use of the south portal, as well as the decoration
and architecture of the Baptistery, in Renaissance ritual.
The most recent published scholarship on Ghiberti and the Gates of Paradise
returns full circle to Richard Krautheimer. The exhibition, The Gates of Paradise:
Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece, which visited the High Museum of Art in
Atlanta, the Art Institute of Chicago, and New York Citys Metropolitan Museum of Art
in 2007, showcased three of the newly restored panels: Creation, Jacob and Esau, and
David. The accompanying exhibition catalog gathered together images of panels, details
of the more than twenty-five year restoration, and a group of Renaissance scholars to
contribute essays.45 Krautheimers work has come under intense scrutiny by scholars
associated with the recent restoration. Prior to the exhibition, an interdisciplinary
workshop in 2006 titled Lorenzo Ghibertis Porta del Paradiso: Technology and
Creativity was organized to discuss the newly restored monument.46 One session focused

44

She begins this analysis in her dissertation (191-202). See by Bloch Baptism and the frame of the south
door of the Baptistery, Florence, Sculpture Journal 18.1 (2009): 24-37, in which Bloch discusses the links
between Pisanos south door and Vittorio Ghibertis frame and the ceremony of baptism; and a more
complete analysis of the relation between ceremony and art, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery at the
Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, in Meaning in Motion: The Semantics of Movement in Medieval
Art, eds., Nino Zchomelidse and Giovanni Freni (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011): 131-160. I
will discuss her analysis further within my investigation of the baptismal ceremony.
45

Gary M. Radke, ed., The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece, exh. cat.
(New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007). As part of the tour of the United States, the exhibit
went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Met held a symposium coinciding with the
event (November 16, 2007). Several scholars spoke, including Gary Radke, the organizer of the exhibit,
Rolf Bagehihl, Andrew Butterfield, Keith Christiansen, and Amy Bloch. The topics ranged from the
restoration and documentation to space and collaboration. The proceedings of this symposium are
unpublished at this time. For a review, see Anne Leader, Review: The Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo
Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece: A Symposium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. November
16, 2007 CAA.Reviews, April, 2008. http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/1103 (accessed 8/9/2008)
46

Organized under the Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the High Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan
Museum on Art with a grant funded from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

16
on a review of the archival documentation (and verification of Krautheimers canonical
corpus) organized by Rolf Bagemihl and Gabriella Battista.47 It was found that only a
few corrections to Krautheimers conclusions were necessary. But for the most part
Krautheimers analysis and digest of the documents, and his chronological conclusions
were substantiated, a sign of the excellence of his scholarship.48 The focus of the
exhibition and its catalog was to present the work of the conservators and restorers, as
well as new information gained on Ghibertis technique in creating the door. However,
other issues related to the Gates were also given a fresh look, including a serious
revisiting of previous research. Pointing out the lack of research that has been done since
Krautheimer, an essay contributed by Andrew Butterfield discusses the past scholarship
on Ghiberti.49 Butterfield points out that Krautheimer, in addition to resolving many
questions through his research and analysis of the documents, also raised many issues
left unchallenged for over half a century. These issues include the iconographical
program, the identity of the programs adviser, and the function of the Gates in the
eastern faade.
The 2007 exhibition, catalog, and associated symposium at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art made great advancements in Ghibertian studies as scholars considered the
47

Their work was produced in a limited edition for the workshop (Margaret Haines, Documentation on the
Gates of Paradise, in The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece, exh. cat., ed.
Gary M. Radke [New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007], 85, note 7). See also Francesco
Caglioti, Reconsidering the Creative Sequence of Ghibertis Doors, in The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo
Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece, 86-97.
48

The catalog essays by Margaret Haines and Francesco Caglioti present the findings of the workshop
discussed above. Haines offers a state of the extant documents relating to the Gates of Paradise, the history
of these documents and scholarship of them. Cagliotis contribution discusses the results of reviewing the
documents along with new information gleaned from the restoration.
49

Andrew Butterfield, Art and Innovation in Ghibertis Gates of Paradise, in The Gates of Paradise:
Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece, 17-41. The second half of Butterfields essay discusses the
representation of space by Ghiberti.

17
Gates of Paradise from many different perspectives in order to better address Ghibertis
construction of space, his collaboration on the door, how his style and technical
achievements fit within the development of Renaissance art.50 The current study builds
primarily on Blochs study, her analysis of the function of Pisanos south portal and her
assertion that Ghibertis construction of space reveals an understanding of the doors
function in ritual, to consider the Gates of Paradise from the perspective of function; the
goal is to analyze the imagery of the Gates of Paradise within its architectural setting and
in relation to the religious life of urban Florence.
Numerous studies have appeared within the past ten to twenty years on Florentine
daily life and ritual, led by scholars such as Gene Brucker, Richard Trexler, Timothy
Verdon, and Paola Ventrone.51 The interconnection of visual culture and ritual is a recent
topic of interest in Renaissance scholarship. One of the more important studies of this
nature is Carol Lewines approach to the interpretation of the Sistine Chapel murals

50

Andrew Butterfield correctly asserted that the restoration, exhibition, catalogue, and symposium will
permanently change our understanding of the artist and his impact and force us to abandon the
interpretations of John Pop-Hennessy, Krautheimer, and Ernst Gombrich who saw Ghiberti as a Gothic
and uninventive artist (Anne Leader, Review: The Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance
Masterpiece: A Symposium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. November 16, 2007 CAA.Reviews,
April, 2008. http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/1103 [accessed 8/9/2008]).
51

Gene Brucker, Florence: The Golden Age, 1138-1737 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998);
see also by Brucker, Renaissance Florence (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969). Richard C.
Trexler, Church and Community 1200-1600 (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1987); see also by
Trexler, Public Life in Renaissance Florence (London: Cornell Univ. Press, 1980), and Ritual Behavior in
Renaissance Florence: The Setting, Medievalia et Humanistica 4 (1973):125-144. Timothy Verdon,
Christianity, the Renaissance, and the Study of History: Environments of Experience and Imagination, in
Christianity and the Renaissance, ed. John Henderson and Timothy Verdon (Syracuse: Syracuse
Univiversity Press, 1990), 1-40; see also by Verdon, Il Battistero di San Giovanni: un monument religioso
al servizio della citt, in Il Battistero di San Giovanni a Firenze, edited by Antonio Paolucci (Modena:
Franco Cosimo Panini, 1994), 9-32. Paola Ventrone, Thoughts on Florentine 15th century Religious
Spectacle, in Christianity and the Renaissance, ed. John Henderson and Timothy Verdon (Syracuse Univ.
Press, 1990), 405-412.

18
through a study of the liturgical practices.52 She has presented a strong argument for the
influence of the Lenten liturgy on the fresco cycle on the Sistine Chapel walls.53 Another
example is Antonio Nieros study of the relation between liturgy and the Old Testament
mosaics of St. Marks in Venice, in which each vault of the atrium represents an Old
Testament story.54 Niero suggests the scheme is based on the choral liturgy which
commenced with Septuagesima.55
Two notable studies have been published recently by Marica Tacconi and
Franklin Toker on Florentine liturgical sources. Their research is essential for scholars of
Florentine Renaissance liturgy, particularly their analysis of liturgical ritual as it relates to
the urban environment of Florence. Marica Tacconi, in Cathedral and Civic Ritual in
Late Medieval and Renaissance Florence, comprehensively investigates the production
of service books for the Florentine Cathedral.56 Following her in-depth presentation of
the extant core of this archival material, she provides an analysis of what these Florentine
products tell us about the cultural and religious context: what the calendar of feasts
reveals, how the weaving paths of processions highlight architecture significant to the
52

Carol F. Lewine, The Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania
State Press, 1993).
53

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy. The walls depicts scenes from the life of Moses
and the life of Christ by various Renaissance artists. This subject has also been discussed in relation to the
Sistine Ceiling by Lynette M.F. Bosch (Genesis, Holy Saturday, and the Sistine Ceiling, Sixteenth
Century Journal 30, no.3 [Autumn, 1999]: 643-652). See also John OMalley, The Theology behind
Michelangelos Ceiling, in The Sistine Chapel: the Art, the History, and the Restoration (New York:
Harmony Books, 1986), 92-148; and Edgar Wind, The Religious Symbolism of Michelangelo: the Sistine
Ceiling, ed. Elizabeth Sears (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
54

The Creation, Flood, Story of Noah and the Tower of Babel, Story of Abraham, Story of Joseph, Story of
Moses and the Red Sea are the subjects represented.
55

Antonio Niero, Liturgy in St. Marks, in Basilica di San Marco a Venezia, ed. Ettore Vio (London:
Thames and Hudson, 2000), 25.
56

Marica Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual in Late Medieval and Renaissance Florence: The Service
Books of Santa Maria del Fiore (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).

19
city, the musical history, and what the commissioning of service books and their
decorations reveal about the religious and civic life at the time. Tacconis approach to
Florences civic rituals is through direct engagement with the extant service books,
raising these rich sources to the level of libri civitatis, as she refers to them.57 In this way
she investigates the books not exclusively as worship tools or art works, but as sources
for the history of Florentine culture.58
Franklin Tokers 2009 publication, On Holy Ground: Liturgy, Architecture, and
Urbanism in the Cathedral and the Streets of Florence is the first of four monographs
planned for the Florence Duomo Project. 59 Toker presents annotated transcriptions of
the two surviving medieval Florentine ordinals, the Ritus in ecclesia servandi (c. 1173)
and the Mores et consuetudines canonice florentine (c. 1231).60 He uses these texts to
examine the relationship between liturgy and the physical landscape in which the
liturgical year unfolded. This landscape included Santa Reparata, the cathedral that was
replaced in 1296 by Santa Maria del Fiore, and the Baptistery. In Tokers own words, he
recreates a virtual Santa Reparata through the textual evidence and examines what a
religious procession can reveal about the fabric of a city. Not only does Toker recreate
the architecture and structure of the old cathedral of Florence, Santa Reparata, but also
the ritual context. Toker draws a vivid picture of the ritual life of the Cathedral and
Florence through direct analysis of the early service books. Because the ritual guides

57

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 5.

58

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 5.

59

Franklin Toker, On Holy Ground: Liturgy, Architecture, and Urbanism in the Cathedral and the Streets
of Medieval Florence (London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2009) .
60

Within his discussion select excerpts from the texts are also translated.

20
display a significant link between the Cathedral and the Baptistery, Toker focuses his
discussion on both churches.
In this dissertation I build on the work of Tacconi and Toker by connecting the
imagery and function of the Gates of Paradise to its ritual context. I set out to answer the
following questions: How did the Gates of Paradise function in Florentine daily life and
ritual? When and for what liturgical purposes was the east door used, opened or, closed
or, as an entrance for a procession? Did the use of the doorway relate to the biblical
scenes represented on the ten panels adorning its exterior? These are questions left
unanswered in previous scholarship. As discussed above, only Bloch has considered a
functional aspect of the Gates, and no one has dedicated study to the function of the
Gates imagery as presented in the Florentine liturgical manuscripts. This approach
focuses on the Gates of Paradise as a significant architectural feature of Florences built
environment that functioned as a centerpiece for the Baptistery and the Cathedral
complex, and as a setting for the many spectacles that took place in that environment.
The following dissertation consists of eight chapters that examine the imagery of
the Gates of Paradise and scrutinize the function of the Gates within its physical setting,
in the ceremony of baptism, and in the regular rituals of the liturgical calendar. This
investigation aims to identify connections between the specific function and the
iconographical program. The examination of the Gates function may explain the
possible meaning(s) conveyed by the choice of biblical narratives that make up the
program. It is also hoped that this investigation may clarify the individual who was
responsible as either author or adviser for the design of the program for the Gates of
Paradise, since this is an ongoing question related to the Gates program.

21
Before analyzing the role of the Gates of Paradise in the ceremony of baptism or
other liturgical rituals of the Church of Florence, it is necessary to examine carefully the
iconography of the door, and then to briefly reconstruct its setting in the Renaissance.

22
CHAPTER 2. THE GATES OF PARADISE:
A CLOSE LOOK AT THE NARRATIVES
The Gates of Paradise are made up of ten gilded bronze panels depicting a
chronological sequence of scenes from Creation and the lives of important Old Testament
figures and patriarchs: Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Esau, Joseph, Moses,
Joshua, David, and Solomon (figure A5).61 The large square format used for the
continuous narrative panels is a dramatic change from the small quatrefoil-framed single
scenes adorning the north and south Baptistery portals; this new format was most likely
introduced by Ghiberti who had executed, perhaps even designed, plaques in such a
format for the Siena Baptistery Font (1424-1427). Each valve, containing a vertical row
of five panels, is framed on either side by a figural border that alternates tondo heads with
standing figures in niches and with reclining figures at the top and bottom.62 Although
not fully identified, the niche figures are thought to represent important Old Testament
characters including prophets, heroes and heroines. The floral frame on the jambs and
architrave of the portal begins in vessels and is crowned by a gilded eagle, both an
emblem of the Calimala guild and baptism.
In studying the Old Testament iconography of the Gates of Paradise, a certain
amount of typological study and consideration is required, and will constitute a
considerable portion of the discussion which follows. Typology is a conception of
history which viewed allegorically the progression from Old Testament to New. Events
described in the Old Testament are interpreted as an allegory, prophecy, or a pre61

The following analysis of the panels in this chapter is revised from my M.A. Thesis. Rohner,
Legitimacy, Establishment, Authority.
62

No one has attempted to identify the heads in tondos, where Ghiberti included his own portrait head and
that of his sons.

23
figuration of the Messiah and New Testament events. As a whole, the three doors of the
Baptistery can be linked thematically in their representations of the Old and New
Testaments, which are connected by St. John the Baptist, the last prophet and forerunner
of Christ. Many Church Fathers viewed the Old Testament as a veiled prophecy of the
New Testament events.63 Typological references were applied widely by Origen and the
Alexandrine Fathers, and stemmed from statements of Jesus in the New Testament.
Origens approach gave importance to the Old Testament and the allegorical meaning,
which later became part of the tradition of typology. His views are significant for this
study due to the fact that his commentaries were revived and translated into Latin by
fifteenth-century scholars.64 Origens homilies were incorporated into the lectionaries of
Renaissance Florence for use in liturgical services. In addition, his understanding that
Noahs Ark took the form of a pyramid informs the shape of the Ark in Ghibertis Noah
panel.
Typological references were not just important to the Greek Fathers of the
Church, but also to the Latin Fathers. Both St. Ambrose and St. Augustine interpreted
the Old Testament in its relation to the New, and their analogies created a tradition which
has continued to this day. With the humanistic interest of the Renaissance in pagan and
Christian antiquity, Medieval and Renaissance scholars investigated with vigor these
traditions of the early Church.
63

In fact, St. Augustine wrote that, The Old Testament is nothing but the New covered with a veil and the
New nothing but the Old unveiled. (St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, xvi, quoted in L.D. Ettlinger, The
Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965], 95). In Augustines Two Books on
Genesis Against the Manichees (Book 2), he promises to consider Genesis as prophecythus Adam was a
prophecy of Christ (Roland J. Teske, trans, St. Augustine: On Genesis in The Fathers of the Church, v.
84 [Washington D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1991], 132).
64

Some of these translations were preserved in the Vatican Library during the papacy of Sixtus IV
(Ettlinger, Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo, 95).

24
There were also several typological texts available in the Middle Ages: Glossa
ordinaria (c. 1050-1117), Biblia Pauperum (early fourteenth-century), Speculum
Humanae Salvationis (early fourteenth-century), and the Concordantiae Caritatis (mid
fourteenth-century).65 However, the typological representations in these texts cannot be
heavily relied upon as direct sources for Italian cycles, only as sources for the presence of
the tradition of typological interpretation for the Old Testament. Several of the scenes
from the Gates of Paradise are not presented in the typological texts just mentioned, nor
has any extant cycle been brought forth employing the same choice of scenes.66 The
reason for the application of typology in the following iconographic interpretations
follows a medieval tradition of interpreting the Old Testament in this way, as shadow or
darkness that is revealed through the New Testament light. Not only was this an
established tradition, but moreover the method had also been employed by the Church
Fathers.
The administration, construction, and maintenance for the Baptistery of San
Giovanni was given to the guild of the Arte di Calimala (cloth merchants). As mentioned
above, a committee of the Calimala evidently sought submissions from scholars for the
iconographical program of the east door of the Baptistery including Leonardo di Ceccho
Bruni dArezzo (1370-1444), a leading Florentine humanist, whose plan has survived

65

The Biblia Pauperum pairs the Old Testament with the Life of Christ, whereas the Speculum Humanae
Salvationis pairs Old Testament episodes with the Life of the Virgin. I have not been able to personally
study the Concordantiae Caritatis, although Ettlinger (Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo, 96) states that
its organization is liturgical. The Glossa ordinaria by Anselmus of Laon was a source for twelfth-century
typological art. The texts of the Biblia Pauperum most likely originated from Germany and have no
counterparts in Italy (Ettlinger, Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo, 96).
66

For instance, the scenes from the Old Testament depicted in the interior vault mosaics of San Giovanni
are not the same scenes on the Gates of Paradise. There are some overlapping themes at the Parma
Baptistery, but not the same selection of scenes.

25
(figure A6).67 Monica Preti points out that the choice to involve scholars in the program
indicates the civic and social significance of the bronze door.68 There was thought and
motivation behind the choice of narratives that make up the program. However, the Old
Testament scenes which grace the Gates of Paradise today are not those of the program
envisioned by Bruni. Of his twenty episodes, all of which were intended to have
quatrefoil frames, only eleven are incorporated into the final scheme of the door.69 While
Brunis program design was not executed, it offers confirmation that the Gates were
being conceived, at least early on, as a theological program. Brunis program begins with
the creation of Heaven, but the focus for the Creation panel on the Gates of Paradise is
Adam and Eve.
Creation
The Creation panel is the first in the sequence of Old Testament stories on the
Gates, and it is made up of four episodes: the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, the
67

Brunis letter and submitted program were addressed to Niccolo da Uzzano, chairman of the committee
at the time. This is the first of such a design to be found. Its survival among the Calimala documents
shows its importance. Brunis plan for the program is located in the Archivio di Stato in Florence. See
Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:372, doc. 52 and 2:408, digest 106.The date for the submission of this
proposed plan, 1424, is Krautheimers hypothesis. Krautheimer dated this document from around 1424
(thus intended for the third door) because Niccolo da Uzzano, to whom Brunis letter was addressed, was
chairman of the committee at the time.
68

Monica Preti, Museum of the Opera del Duomo of Florence (Milan: Electa, 1989), 79. The program of
the third door may have needed a selection committee or advisor because a selection of Old Testament
scenes can vary so much more than those of the Life of Christ.
69

The following scenes from Brunis documented plan are represented on the Gates of Paradise: The Lord
makes man and woman; Adam and Eve flanking the tree, eat the apple; How they are driven from Paradise
by the angel; Cain kills his brother Abel; Abraham is willing to sacrifice Isaac; Isaac gives his blessing to
Jacob; The brethren of Joseph sell him out of envy; Joseph recognizes his brethren who have come to
Egypt; The laws given to Moses on the burning mountain; Crossing the river Jordan; David and Goliath.
Of these the Temptation and the selling of Joseph into slavery are very small background scenes on the
Gates. The following scenes from Brunis documented plan were not represented: Creation of Heaven and
stars; Animals enter into the Ark (they are represented exiting on the Gates); Pharoahs dream; Moses and
the burning bush; Moses speaking to the Pharoah and miraculous signs; Parting of the Red Sea; Aaron
makes sacrifice on the altar; David made King; Judgment of Solomon. Brunis also planned for eight
prophets to be represented.

26
Temptation, and the Expulsion (figure A7).70 The continuous narrative sweeps left to
right with the exception of the Temptation scene which is tucked in the left background.
With the Creation of Adam on the left, the central scene is the Creation of Eve, in which
God helps the first woman step out of the side of the reclining, sleeping figure of the first
man. The Expulsion, on the right, leads the viewer to the next panel. The setting for the
episodes is Paradise, with its river cutting diagonally across the bottom of the panel; any
representation of water on the door, given the function of the Baptistery, can be seen as a
motif of baptism.
The first man, Adam, prefigured Christ, who is seen as the second Adam.
Adams side is pierced during the Creation of Eve; likewise Christs side is pierced on
the Cross.71 There is naturally emphasis on the symbols of Christ within the doors
program, but it is coupled with an emphasis on the Virgin Mary as the second Eve.
Emile Mle explains that the doctors of the Church had distinguished certain references
to the Virgin Mary which could be inferred from the Bible.72 In the same manner that
Christ is related to Adam, Mary is related to Eve.
Since Eve is the mother of all living humans she prefigures Mary, but through her
disobedience Eve causes death, or mortality. Because Mary is the mother of Christ, who
70

Genesis 1:26-31 (creation of Man and Woman); 2:7 (creation of Man); 2:10 (river in Eden); 2:18-25
(creation of Woman); 3:1-7 (Temptation); 3:8-21 (Fall); 3:23-24(Expulsion). The Scripture quotations
contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), Catholic Edition, Anglicized
Text, copyright 1989.
71

Emile Mle, The Gothic Image (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), 153-158. Mles major reference
here was a manual by Isidore of Seville, Allegoriae quaedam Scripturae sacrae (circa 615), which reviews
the persons of the Old Testament and their mystical significance. Isidore of Seville was a source known in
Italy as he is mentioned by Jacobus de Voragine in Legenda aurea (1260). See William Granger Ryan,
trans., The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
72

Mle, Gothic Image, 146. Most often the Virgin was seen as related to the burning bush and Gideons
fleece. Gideons Fleece is represented with Eve and the serpent as typological images of the Annunciation
in the Biblia Pauperum.

27
dies to remove sin and open the gates to Heaven, she creates life, immortality. The
Virgin Mary is considered the new Eve. Saint Ambrose states yet woman, we are told,
will be saved by childbearing, in the course of which she generated Christ.73 The new
Eve redeems the sin of the old. One angel places a hand on Eves belly during her
creation to foreshadow and emphasize her identity as a mother and her punishment of
pain in childbirth, a punishment which will in turn become the means for mans salvation
through Mary, Christ, and the Church (figure A8). This emphasizes Marys role in
salvation, and references the function of the baptistery where the sacrament that opens the
gates to Heaven is received. The original sin of Eve and Adam is the reason baptism is
necessary. Original sin has to be washed away before the gates back into Paradise would
be opened.
These four figures (Adam, Christ, Eve, and Mary) are also connected as
representative types of the Church by reason of the same analogies. For instance, the
Church was born through the wound in Christs side. St. Augustine explains this
prophetic moment: Hence, he too was put to sleep by the sleep of the Passion in order
that the Church might be formed as his wife; thus the Church was formed out of the
faith of the Passion and Baptism as his side struck with a lance poured out blood and
water.74 As a parallel in creation, Eve then was a type of the Church or Ecclesia. The
central focus of the Creation of Eve on the Gates of Paradise therefore can be interpreted

73

John J. Savage, trans., St. Ambrose: Hexameron, Paradise, and Cain and Abel in The Fathers of the
Church, v. 42 (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1961), 327.
74

Teske, Saint Augustine, 133.

28
as a focus on the creation of the Church, and the emphasis on Eve is partly in her
evocation of the Church and Mary.75
Eve is the most prominent figure in this panel, not Adam. Not only is she the
central figure in the Creation scene (surrounded and framed clearly by a host of angels
and Adams reclining body below), but also God the Father is placed directly above her
at the top of the composition, emphasizing the central scene. The Temptation episode
shows Adam partially obscured between trees and an angels wing; Eve is much more
clearly visible. In the scene of the Expulsion, Eve is the frontal figure, almost blocking
Adam completely from view, especially considering the panels high placement on the
door (figure A9). Typically, Adam is the figure represented closest to the foreground, as
in Masaccios Expulsion (figure A10) and in earlier traditions.76 From the perspective of
the viewer entering the Baptistery, Eves figure protrudes from the panel leaving Adam in
a shallow relief, less visible behind his counterpart. The story of Adam and Eve is logical
in baptismal context because its primary function is to wash away original sin. However,
the Temptation and Fall are represented in the background in shallow relief, relegating
focus to the Creation scenes and the Expulsion in which Eve is the more outstanding
character. I believe the reason for the focus on Eve is typological and serves to
emphasize, here and elsewhere on the door, the Virgin Mary in her important roles as
both Mother and Bride of the Church. Furthermore, the symbolic presence of Mary

75

Frederick Hartt (History of Italian Renaissance, 277) also interprets the Creation of Eve as referring to
the doctrine of the creation of the Church. Although he admits that this relation was represented in
manuscripts and stained glass, it could also be found in the Summa of St. Antonino (Hartts candidate for
the programs advisor).
76

For instance, compare to the more common representation like Masaccios Expulsion in the Brancacci
Chapel. Other examples of the conventional representation are Giottos in the Arena Chapel, Fra
Angelicos in the Annunciation in San Marco, and Michelangelos on the Sistine Ceiling.

29
Ecclesia establishes a bond between the Baptistery and the Cathedral of Florence that is
evident in the religious rituals that spatially often connected the two churches through
dual masses and processions.
Cain and Abel
The next panel relates the story of Cain and Abel in six vignettes (figure A11).77
Cain appears in the left foreground working the fields, while in the middle ground
directly above him Abel watches his flock. The background shows the first parents in
their labor and the two brothers as toddlers (figure A12). The everyday life and
consequences of original sin on the left side of the panel are separated from the action on
the right by a grove of trees and another stream which cuts diagonally through the middle
of the panel. The episodes to the right of this division portray the first sibling rivalry and
first murder. High in the background is the episode of Cain and Abels sacrifices to
God.78 More notable, perhaps, is the dramatic figure of Cain in the act of murdering Abel
and the outcome of that act. In the foreground, Cain is sent wandering by God. The
separation from his land is made apparent by the stream that creates a boundary beyond
which he is sent to wander. In this sense, the first two panels of the Gates represent
expulsions.
The focus of the drama is given to the competition and jealousy between brothers.
As a shepherd Abel is a prefiguration of Christ, and Abel was betrayed by his brother as
Christ was betrayed.79 God shows preference for Abel and his sacrifice over that of Cain,
77

Genesis 4:1-12

78

Although this scene is executed in a shallow relief, it is emphasized at the top of the panel, the tip of a
pyramidal mountain setting above the more active and three-dimensional scenes below.
79

See Mle, Gothic Image, 154.

30
the older brother. According to the Glossa ordinaria, the elder son represents Gods
ancient people and the action of Cain killing Abel parallels that of Jesus being put to
death by the Jews.80 Therefore, the preference of the younger son, which recurs as a
theme on the Gates, is a preference for the new over the oldecclesia over synagoga.
Because of Abels death and Cains expulsion, Adam and Eve have another child, Seth,
who continues the genealogical line toward Noah, Abraham, and eventually David.81
Noah
Noah is nine generations after Adam by Seth. The panel of Noah does not portray
the more common image of the Flood, which seems strange given that the Flood is
interpreted as a parallel to the sacrament of baptism. However, in Ghibertis narrative
panel the waters have receded leaving the past washed away (figure A13).82 In the
middle ground, the family and animals of Noah are represented exiting the Ark, which
takes the form of a pyramid. Their salvation is underlined by the dead body lying at their
feet. The two scenes in the foreground depict Noahs Sacrifice and his Drunkenness.83
The sloping sides of the Ark serve to frame and draw attention to the foreground scenes,
and the three episodes themselves form a pyramid in the composition.

80

See Mle, Gothic Image, 144.

81

There are two genealogical lines given for Christ. One by St. Luke (3:23-38) begins with Adam and the
other by St. Matthew (1:1-17) begins with Abraham. Of course, both include Jesse, David, and Solomon in
tradition with the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in the House of David. Church Fathers
believed that not only Joseph, but also Mary was part of the lineage of David.
82

Genesis 8:6-12 (Noah sends out the raven and dove); 8:15-19 (Exiting the Ark); 8:20-29 (Noahs
Sacrifice and Covenant); 9:18-27 (Drunkenness of Noah).
83

Krautheimers discussion of this panel only highlights its connection to St. Ambrose, and thus Traversari.
He states that while the Drunkenness of Noah was commented on by Ambrose and the Church Fathers, it
was not often illustrated. The episode of the Drunkenness is also displayed in a panel on the Campanile of
the Cathedral.

31
The Ark itself in this panel has a unique shape, a pyramid. This may refer directly
to Origens interpretation of the Ark. 84 There are small Latin numbers marking the sides
of Ghibertis representation of the Ark (figure A14). Across the right face of the Ark is
ccc corresponding to three hundred. Across the breadth of the left face of the Ark on
each plank: x, xx, xxx, xxxx, and xxxxx (fifty). The central plank also has numbers
along is vertical face: x, xx, xxx (thirty). These measurements reflect the biblical story in
which God commands the length of the Ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits,
and its height thirty cubitsfinish it to a cubit above (Genesis 6:15).85 This attention to
the detail of the Bible is significant and shows an obvious reliance on the biblical passage
if not commentaries on the Ark.
The family exiting the Ark from the side door, a more rare analogy to Christs
pierced side,86 does reflect a sense of salvation, especially with the dead body included
just below them. The Ark of the Flood is a mystic metaphor for the saving Church.87
Through the Church and its sacraments, one can be saved from death. Because the Ark is
pictured, rather than the terror of the Flood episode, there is a focus on salvation through
the Church.

84

Origen, an Egyptian Father of the Church envisioned the Ark as a truncated pyramid with three decks.
St. Augustine agrees that the Ark had three decks. Augustine also states that the Ark was built in the
proportions of the human body, a notion that Ambrose develops at length [in De Noe et arca]Alcuin
accepts the older notion of the five deck Ark and so do many others, but all of the earlier writers thought of
it as pyramidal in shape. (Don Cameron Allen, The Legend of Noah: Renaissance Rationalism in Art,
Science, and Letters [Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1963], 71).
85

See also Ronald E. Heine, trans., Origen: Homilies on Genesis and Exodus in The Fathers of the
Church, v. 71 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1982), 72.
86

Mle, Gothic Image, 188.

87

Paolucci, Origins of Renaissance Art, 125.

32
The inclusion of the details referring to the prescribed measurements of the Ark
may further emphasize it as a prefiguration of the Church. This may connect it to the
Temple of Solomon, pictured in the last panel on the Gates of Paradise, which also has
divinely prescribed measurements and is a prefiguration and model of the Church.88
Origen makes this comparison: This peoplewhich are saved in the Church, is
compared to all those whether men or animals which are saved in the Ark.89 The Ark
floating on the waters of the Deluge signifies allegorically that the Church finds her
salvation in the waters of baptism. More precisely, the people receive salvation in the
Church, accentuating the role of the Church in humanitys redemption. In addition, eight
people were saved in the Ark and eight is the number of regeneration and eternal life. 90
It is therefore fitting that the Florentine Baptistery itself is octagonal and topped with a
pyramidal roof.
In the right foreground Noah gives sacrifice in thanks to God for his familys
salvation. As a result of the sacrifice, God makes a covenant with Noah, his descendants
and the earth. He promises to never again destroy every living creature (Genesis 8:21).
As a sign of that covenant God makes the rainbow, which may suggested in the incised
lines of the orb surrounding God as he accepts the sacrifice.
The left narrative is the Drunkenness of Noah. Noah grows the first vineyard and
becomes drunk on wine. He is discovered by his son Ham, who runs to tell his brothers.
Ghiberti shows the moment in which Shem and Japheth are walking backward toward

88

Thanks to Professor Wallace Tomasini for this suggestion.

89

Heine, Origen: Homilies On Genesis and Exodus, 78.

90

Mle, Gothic Image, 154.

33
their father to cover his nudity. Continuing the story, Ham is cursed for his mocking of
Noah. More specifically, Noah curses Hams son, Canaan, to be a slave to his brothers.
In the same speech in which Noah curses Canaan, he blesses Shem (Genesis 9:25-27).
The sin of Noah is one of intemperance, but early Church Fathers give many excuses for
the beloved patriarch and instead focus on the sons, especially Ham.91 This scene
represents the unworthy action of Ham. On the Gates of Paradise, Ham and his brothers
are a focus, in the central foreground of the panel. Furthermore, Shem and Japheth are
under the pinnacle of the saving Ark, not Ham.
The Noah panel represents the themes of the saving Church as well as, covenant
and lineage. Noah is a type of Christ and the Ark is an allegory of the Church. Noah is
considered a father of humanity, like Adam. His son Shem continues the genealogical
line to David and to Jesus.92 The covenant that God establishes with Noah continues with
his descendants.
Abraham
The themes of covenant and lineage are also implied in the Abraham panel.
Abraham is the first patriarch and the forefather of Israel. He is named in both
generations of Christ by the evangelists Matthew and Luke. The Abraham panel
represents two scenes. The Visitation of the Three Angels to announce that the aged
Sarah will conceive is seen in the left foreground (figure A15).93 The depiction follows
the biblical narrative in which the aged Sarah listens from the tent, and Abraham

91

Perhaps this scene can also be interpreted as a warning of intemperance to a region that produces wine.

92

According to the generations given by Luke.

93

Genesis 18:1-15 (Annunciation); 22:1-19.

34
immediately recognizes the three visitors as angels of the Lord.94 God tells Abraham that
he would have a son by Sarah to be named Isaac, and that an everlasting covenant will be
established with this son. The panel is divided by a line of trees that frames the popular
(and chronologically later) story of the Sacrifice of Isaac. Far below the mountain two
figures sit with an ass near a spring of water.95
The three angels symbolize the Trinity, and their fulfilled prophecy prefigures the
Annunciation to Mary. The Visitation of the Angels on the Gates of Paradise relates to
Christ and St. John the Baptist as the cycles of their lives on the north and south
Baptistery doors begin with annunciations.96 The Annunciation to Abraham was not in
the original plan for the door, neither in Brunis plan nor as part of the surviving
Abraham competition panels by Filippo Brunelleschi or Ghiberti. The inclusion of the
Annunciation to Abraham and the emphasis on other birth-related prophecies on the
Gates of Paradise strongly foreshadow the Annunciation to Mary.97
The sacrifice of Isaac is often associated with the Crucifixion. Like God,
Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son.98 Isaac, as the beloved son, is the utmost
94

Hartt (History of Italian Renaissance, 277) points out the reference to the Eucharist as well, although the
meal prepared for the Three Angels by Sarah is not actually pictured on Ghibertis panel. In the Biblia the
Three Angels Visiting Abraham is juxtaposed with the Three Men of the Firey Furnace (from the book of
Daniel) and the Transfiguration.
95

Frederick Hartt notes that the spring depicted on the mountainside, from which the donkey drinks, is in
accordance with St. Antoninos emphasis on the water of baptism (Hartt, History of Italian Renaissance,
277).
96

Pisanos south door depicting the life of St. John the Baptist begins with the Annunciation to Zachariah,
and Ghibertis north door depicting the life of Jesus begins with the Annunciation to Mary.
97

As will be explained further below, the frame figure flanking the right side of the panel is Samson, whose
birth was also announced by God. Rebekah is also a prominent mother (in the panel of Jacob and Esau)
who receives a prophecy about her twins. Other parallels to Mary and the Annunciation are evident in the
frame figures discussed below as well.
98

This relation can be found in both the Biblia and Speculum.

35
prefiguration of Christ. In the biblical story, the wood he carries symbolizes the Cross
that Jesus carried, and the sacrificial ram caught in the thicket by its horn symbolizes the
crown of thorns. The two servants symbolize Israel and Judah, two divisions of the
Jewish people.99 The story of the Sacrifice of Isaac is laden with mystery, and in the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance every detail was seen to exemplify typological links
between the Old and the New Testaments.
Although two servants and a donkey accompany Abraham and Isaac in the
biblical story, David Finn suggests that the two figures in the right foreground may recall
the friendship and rivalry of the half-brothers, Isaac and Ishmael (figure A16).100
Abraham has an older son, Ishmael, by a maidservant named Hagar.101 Nevertheless, the
covenant with Abraham for the Promised Land is to continue through the line of the
younger Isaac. There were interpretations which saw the two Testaments also reflected in
the two sons of Ishmael and Isaac, similar to that interpreted in Cain and Abel.102 Both of
the seated figures in the Abraham panel, who seem to be involved in amiable discussion,
are youthful boys, which lends itself to the possibility that they could represent the
brothers. In the story, the Lord speaks to Hagar, tells her to name her son Ishmael, and
gives her a mixed blessing (Genesis 16: 10-12). God says that Ishmael shall be a wild
ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyones hand against him.103
Given this prophecy of Abrahams oldest son, it seems significant that the ass in the
99

Mle, Gothic Image, 141.

100

Finn, The Florence Baptistery Doors, 253.

101

The birth of Ishmael is told in Genesis 16.

102

Mle, Gothic Image, 136.

103

Genesis 16:12.

36
Abraham panel is represented with its rear toward the viewer.104 Between the two seated
youth and the ass, a little spring exits the rock of the mountain and pours into a well or
font. The location where God gives Hagar the prophecy about her son is by a spring of
water in the wilderness.105 The spring may be another allusion to Ishmael. The water, as
well as the flask among the servants supplies, is also a motif of baptism, and a small
reference to water has been included on all of the first four panels.
Jacob and Esau
The next panel is one of the few not to contain some watery allusion to baptism,
but it does include a birth, the birth of the twins Jacob and Esau. The Jacob and Esau
panel has an architectural setting which forces each episode of the narrative of Jacob and
Esau to be compacted into horizontal and vertical strips (figure A17).106 The scenes
begins in the upper right background where Rebekah receives a message from God about
the twins in her womb and their struggle, which will ultimately play out as the elder
serving the younger: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall
be divided; one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger
(Genesis 25:23). Because of this prophecy, Rebekah gives her support to Jacob. Her
intercessory role as mother aligns her with Mary as a type of the Church as well.
The main foreground scenes portray the Blessing of Jacob and the revelation of
this pious deception to Esau. There are several incidents depicted in this one panel,
104

This is not the case in Ghibertis competition panel of the same subject, the Sacrifice of Isaac. One of
the servants is older-looking in the face and the ass turns its head to the viewer. Perhaps the fact that these
two figures are more dramatic, youthful, and framed into the foreground than Ghibertis representation on
the competition panel suggests they are more than part of the story of the Sacrifice of Isaac.
105
106

Genesis 16: 7.

Genesis 25:21-26 (Rebekahs conception and prophecy of the twins); 25:29-34 (Esau sells his
birthright); 27:1-29 (Isaac blesses Jacob); 27:30-40 (Esaus lost blessing).

37
beginning the story of Jacob and Esau as sibling rivals.107 The many episodes of the
Jacob and Esau panel, in the middle and foreground, can be read left to right in the
middle ground, and then right to left across the foreground. However, the middle ground
scenes literally act as background stories for the foreground drama as one reads the
narrative episodes as left, right, and center respectively. In the middle ground, the left
section under the first arch shows the reclining figure of Rebekah at the birth of the twins
(figure A18). The group of women in the foreground then become part of this birth
scene, typical of many similar representations of the birth of a saint, like Ghirlandaios
Birth of the Baptist (figure A19).108 On the right side of the panel, Jacob receives the
blessing from Isaac, that was Esaus birthright as the oldest, with Rebekah standing by
his side (figure A20). The background for this episode is Esau leaving for a hunting trip
at the request of his father, and Rebekah advising Jacob to wear the skin of a kid in order
to gain the blessing from a blind Isaac. In the center grouped under the middle arch, Esau
stands before his father, with his two hunting dogs, and learns his father was deceived
(figure A21).109 The background to this scene is the earlier Sale of the Birthright. As
Esau comes back from the hunt, laying his bow on the ground, Jacob holds out the lentil
soup for which a hungry Esau trades his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34). Isaacs gesture to
Esau in the foreground seems almost directed to the scenes in the middle ground,
pointing out the past to Esau. Esaus sale of his birthright for a bowl of lentils is

107

Esau was a hunter and Jacob a sedentary shepherd.

108

The birth scene is not often discussed, although it is identified as such also by Krautheimer (Lorenzo
Ghiberti, 1:176). The inclusion of the birth is significant as it adds emphasis to the female character of
Rebekah, a type of Mary and the Church, and it adds a baptismal motif.
109

Esaus two hunting dogs embody the brothers as one is hairy and one is hairless (Thank you to Amy
Bloch for pointing out this detail).

38
juxtaposed in the Biblia Pauperum with the Fall of Adam and Eve and the Temptation of
Christ. This background scene is a reminder of the serious lack of judgment by Esau that
results in his loss of Isaacs blessing.
Sibling rivalry is the major focus of the panel. St. Ambrose offers the following
interpretation for the meaning of the brotherly opposition between both Jacob and Esau,
and between Cain and Abel:
Two nations are in your womb; two peoples shall stem from your body
[Rebekah]. These two brothers, Cain and Abel, have furnished us with the
prototype of the Synagogue and the Church. In Cain we perceive the parricidal
people of the Jews, who were stained with the blood of their Lord, their Creator,
and, as a result of the childbearing Virgin Mary, their Brother also. By Abel we
understand the Christian who cleaves to God110
In his interpretation, St. Ambrose correlates the allegorical meaning understood in the
rivalry of Cain and Abel to the brothers of Jacob and Esau, through the prophecy given to
Rebekah. In both cases, the rivalry is a symbol of the conflict of the Church and
Synagogue. Rebekah is also a prefiguration of the Church, in her protection of Jacob,
who, as a shepherd, is a type of Christ.111
Joseph
The next narrative panel portrays stories from the life of Joseph (figure A22).112
Joseph was the first born of Jacobs second wife Rachel, and Jacobs eleventh son
overall. In the upper right corner of the panel, and in low relief, is a scene which acts

110

Savage, St. Ambrose, 362.

111

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:176. Hartt (History of Italian Renaissance, 278) also notes that Esau
signifies the Jews, apparently from St. Antoninos interpretation. The persistent emphasis on sons on the
Gates reveals a theme of new over old, and emphasis on the Church. It also conveys a theme of lineage or
patriarchal inheritance.
112

Genesis 37:21-36 (Joseph thrown in well and sold into slavery); 42 (Josephs brothers go to Egypt); 43
(Josephs brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin); 44 (Silver cup in the sack); 45 (Joseph reveals himself
to his brothers).

39
both as a preface to the major narrative and as a symbolic connection to baptism. Here
Josephs older brothers are resurrecting him from the well in order to sell him to
slavery. In the middle ground scene framed underneath an arched circular edifice grain is
distributed. In the right foreground, Joseph recognizes his brothers when they come to
Egypt in search of grain during the famine.113 The foreground scene to the left shows the
silver cup, planted by Joseph, found in Benjamins sack, the youngest son, who replaced
Joseph in the eyes of their father (figure A23). Finally, in the left middle ground, Joseph
reveals himself to his brothers (figure A24). Josephs reunion with his father is not
depicted, only this interaction with his brothers, who show great regret over their
treatment of him.114 Again the blessing and patriarchal inheritance follows the younger
son, as does the genealogy of Christ.
Joseph is thought to typify Christ through the activities of his whole life; he is
betrayed by his brothers and welcomed by strangers. The well into which he is thrown is
a symbol of the betrayal, Passion, death, and resurrection, and it is also compared to

113

The scene representing the distribution of the grain is very similar to images of the same activity in
medieval Florence. Orsanmichele, originally a square arcaded building was the grain market and used as a
storehouse in case of emergency shortages, which presents an interesting local parallel to the Joseph story.
The grain market at Orsanmichele was opened in 1290; the arcade was closed up in 1390 (still evident on
the exterior); the upper stories for the grain stores was finished in 1404 (Brucker, Florence: The Golden
Age, 72-76). The Biadaiolo Manuscript (c. 1344, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence) includes
several miniatures depticting grain distribution in the early 14th century. For more information on the
images and the codex, see Annamaria Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, translated by
Steven Grieco (Florence: Mandragora, 2000), 10.
114

A cycle of Josephs life is also on the interior dome of the Baptistery in mosaic. The scenes include
Josephs dream of those paying homage to him; Joseph tells his dream to Jacob and Rachel with his
brothers present; Joseph meets his borthers in Dothan; Joseph is lifted out of the well and sold by his
brothers into slavery; Josephs brother give false news of Josephs death; Joseph is taken to Egypt; Joseph
is sold to Potiphar; Potifars wife accuses Joseph; Joseph in prison interprets dreams; Pharoahs dream;
Joseph interprets Pharoahs dream; Joseph appointed Viceroy of Egypt; Storing Grain; Joseph reveals
himself to his brothers and they worship him; Joseph reunited with Jacob. See Giusti (Baptistery of San
Giovanni in Florence, 81-86) for descriptions of these scenes.

40
Hades where Christ descended after death.115 Josephs revelation of himself to his
brothers correlates with Christs revelation of himself to his disciples.116 The central
moment among these episodes is Josephs interaction with his deceitful brothers which
results in his reunion with his father (not pictured), and the movement of the chosen
people into Egypt.
Moses
The biblical figure of Moses is perhaps most famous for saving the Israelites and
leading them out of Egypt, but this is not the scene depicted on the Gates of Paradise.
The Moses panel on the Gates of Paradise depicts these chosen people after they have
already escaped the Pharaoh. This panel, like the Solomon panel, has a condensed
narrative focusing on the Law (figure A25). To the left is a body of water with a
grouping of tents in the background.117 Krautheimer, identifying the water as the Red
Sea, suggests that both the Crossing of the Red Sea and the Giving of the Law are
depicted in the Moses panel.118 The biblical story does not describe a body of water near
the camp in Sinai, therefore the water is probably a meaningful inclusion. While the
water on the left side of the panel is not direct representation of the Crossing, it seems to
hint at that episode of salvation. A crowd of people surrounds a mountain on which
Moses is receiving the Tablets of the Law from God. On the mountainside sits Joshua (or

115

Mle, Gothic Image, 156.

116

This link is shown in the Biblia.

117

Perhaps this body of water was for the Israelites to wash their clothes and be consecrated as in Exodus
19:10-12. Or it could reference the Red Sea.
118

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:175.

41
Aaron), according to the biblical narrative. 119 The people below (presumably including
Moses wife and children) appear in different poses of awe and fear as lightning and
thunder fill the sky around the mountain (figure A26).
Moses and Joshua are the only major figures on the Gates that are not part of the
genealogical lineage of David and Christ, but they are prefigurations of Christ.120 Moses
gives the first Law to the Jews as Jesus gives the second, so Moses is the precursor to
Christ as lawgiver.121 In addition, the life of Moses is viewed as a parallel to that of
Jesus. Moses is also the younger brother of Miriam and Aaron, although not in the direct
ancestry of David. If the figure accompanying Moses in the panel is meant to be Joshua,
his inclusion could signify the theme of New over Old. Lewine proposes the inclusion of
Joshua on the mountain could be used to emphasize that Gods Law was intendedfor
Christians as well as Jews. That possibility depends upon the opinion of many Christian
exegetes that Joshua is a Jewish forerunner of JesusJoshuas presence at the Lawgiving
on Sinai could thus foreshadow the supplantation of the Old Israel by the New.122 Given
this interpretation and the repetitive theme of New over Old on the Gates, as well as the
fact that the next panel on the Gates of Paradise display narratives from the life of Joshua,
the figure is most likely Joshua.
119

Genesis 24 (Receiving the tablets from God with Joshua) or Genesis 20 (Ten Commandments with
Aaron). The scene could be a conflation of both scenes. Genesis 20:18 describes the thunder and lightning
that made the people tremble in fear at the bottom of the mountain. Moses explains fear of God equals no
sin against Him. Genesis 24 describes Moses up on the mountain with Joshua actually receiving the tablets
of stone with the Law and Commandments. At this time Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40
nights.
120

Although Moses sits atop a genealogical vine (stemming from Levi) on the portal of the Baptistery of
Parma, opposite a vine representing the tree of Jesse. Moses is a descendant of Abraham.
121
122

Mle, Gothic Image, 156.

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy, 61-62. The tents to the side might illustrate
Exodus 33:7-11 (Lewine, 62). Joshua accompanies Moses up Sinai in Exodus 34:29-35.

42
Joshua
Joshua was Moses successor. In the biblical story, God commands that the Ark
of the Covenant be carried to the Jordan River, which is parted so the Israelites could
cross (figure A27).123 As a memorial of this miraculous crossing, Joshua had twelve
stones carried from the riverbed to the bank, as depicted on the right foreground of the
Joshua panel. Twelve tents of the tribes (also depicted in the panel) are established, and
the chosen people have entered into the Promised Land. In the upper part of the panel, a
background scene portrays the walls of Jericho falling as the Israelites, led by Joshua and
trumpeters, process around them (figure A28). The focus of this scene appears to be on
victorythe victory over Jericho, and the fulfillment of the covenant by entering the
Promised Land.
The Jordan River is a significant symbol of baptism because John baptized Jesus
in this river; the connection between the two scenes is given typological significance in
the Speculum. The Ark of the Covenant is also being carried into the Promised Land.
The Ark is a symbol of the Virgin, who bore Christ within herself as the Ark contained
the covenant. Besides the Tablets of the Law inside the Ark, which link to Christ and to
Mary, there is another item. Mle describes that at Gods command Aaron placed a dry
rod in the Ark of the Covenant, and on the day following the stick budded and bore
flowers and fruit. The sterile branch bearing fruit is the Virgin Mary who brought into
the world Jesus Christ, at once God and man.124 The Joshua panel is thus a triumphant
scene that emphasizes themes of covenant, baptism, and symbols of the Virgin Mary.

123

Joshua 3 (Crossing the Jordan); Joshua 5:13-21 (Fall of Jericho).

124

Mle, Gothic Image, 148. Mle is referencing the Speculum Ecclesiae.

43
David
The David panel is closely linked with that of Joshua in its triumphal
representation (figure A29). As in the Joshua panel, the episodes are cut horizontally
with a crowded scene. In the foreground, David beheads Goliath amidst the clashing
armies of Israelites and Philistines. In the middle ground, Saul towers above his army
and directs the advance. In the background, David is triumphantly greeted outside the
city of Jerusalem by figures like the celebratory woman with a tambourine (figure
A30).125
David is the youngest son of Jesse. He is a prefiguration and a direct ancestor of
Christ. David is chosen by the prophet Samuel to succeed Saul as king of the Israelites
after Saul sins against God by not following the Commandments. Saul symbolizes the
Old Law rejected, and thus David represents the New Law.126
When King Sauls army met the Philistine army in battle, the Philistines sent out a
champion named Goliath, a giant man covered with heavy armor. The young shepherd
David is sent to the Israelite camp to bring a care package to his older brothers, and hears
the challenge for someone to kill Goliath. The youth takes the challenge and, to small for
armor, he attacks Goliath with his slingshot in the name of God. David knocks out
Goliath with one stone to the head and uses the heavy sword of the Philistine to cut off
his head. The figure of David was taken up as a civic hero in Florence, symbolizing the
triumph of the commune over tyranny. On Ghibertis panel, David has already struck

125

1 Samuel 17 (David and Goliath); 18:6-7 (Triumphant return). In Brunis program these scenes were
replaced by the Coronation of David. The triumphal entry is related to that of Christs entry into Jerusalem
in the Biblia.
126

Mle (Gothic Image, 136) refers mostly here to Augustines City of God.

44
Goliath with his slingshot and is decapitating the giant. Included in the lower left is the
wadi, dry stream bed, described in the Bible where David chose his five smooth stones (1
Samuel 17: 40).
David conquers Jerusalem as king, and makes it the capital city where Solomon
will build his Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. Davids deceitful actions to gain
Bathsheba as a wife result in a punishmentDavids firstborn dies, leaving Solomon, the
second born, in line for the throne.
Solomon
The final plaque represents only one scene, that of the Meeting between the
Queen of Sheba and King Solomon (figure A31).127 They stand at the top of a flight of
steps before a triple-arched entrance to a church/temple. Except for the lack of a priest, it
is very much like a marriage scene in which man and woman take each others hands
(figure A32).
The Gates portray the moment when the Queen acknowledges Solomons
wisdom. This recognition is represented by the clasped hands of the two figures in union,
in agreement. In other portrayals of this scene, the Queen of Sheba kneels before
Solomon to indicate her submission. Here, the standing Queen is still submitting to King
Solomon through her tilted head and the gesture of her left hand over her chest; however,
127

1 Kings 10 (3 Kings in the Vulgate). This is not a wedding scene as it is sometimes mistakenly
identified. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba were not married in the Bible, their unity was one in thought.
There are typological connections that bring the episode into discussions of marriage. The matrimonial
theme of the Meeting episode was reinforced by its repeated use on later cassonichests given at
weddings. For a discussion of the Queen in Christian Tradition, see Paul F. Watson, The Queen of Sheba
in Christian Tradition, in Solomon and Sheba, ed. James B. Pritchard (London: Phaidon Press Ltd, 1974).
Conversely, the scene that Bruni chose for his original plan was the Judgment of Solomon, which indeed
was the more popular image. Actually, the scene of the Meeting is most often found in cycles of the
Legend of the True Cross, such as that by Agnolo Gaddi in Santa Croce (1380) and as told in the Golden
Legend by Jacobus de Voragine (1260). In fact, most cycles of the Legend of the True Cross are found in
Italy (Watson, Queen of Sheba in Christian Tradition, 123).

45
because the submission is a clasping of hands rather than kneeling, the expressions of
recognition and union that are emphasized. Although not a representation of marriage,
there is a reason for identifying the scene with marriage. Typologically, the Meeting is
linked with the Marriage of Christ and Church, a theme already discussed regarding the
Creation panel. Another typological connection is made between the Meeting and the
Epiphany.
Jerusalem is a model and image of Paradise,128 and it is the background for these
last two panels, yet in the Solomon panel the allusions to Paradise (through Jerusalem and
the Temple) are brought to the Florentine church. The Temple of Solomon is symbolic of
both Ecclesia and Heaven. The two figures and their surrounding entourages are framed
with the three Gothic arches of the buildings facade (figure A33). Several scholars have
suggested the temple in this panel looks like a cutaway of the Florentine Cathedral, thus
linking the Cathedral to the Temple of Solomon (figure A34). Besides the visual
similarities between the represented Temple of Solomon and the Cathedral of Santa
Maria del Fiore, there is one other important factor which serves to connect the two, and
which surprisingly has not been offered as evidence for this connection. This panel is the
only one to employ Gothic architecture with pointed arches and rib vaulting, whereas all
the other panels with urban settings display much more classical architecture with round
arches. This suggests that the representation of the Temple of Solomon is in reference to
a specific extant building. As a viewer stands in the piazza to look at the scene
represented on this last panel of the door, it becomes almost a mirror of the Cathedral

128

Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 242.

46
which is behind him or her, especially when the piazza is full of a crowd for some public
ritual.
The image of Solomon and the Queen was linked in both the Biblia Pauperum
and the Speculum to the Adoration of the Magi. The Queen came to test Solomons
wisdom. Like the Three Magi, she brought with her a great treasure and left after
recognizing the glory of Solomon and Israel. Like the story of the Magi, this displays
submission of the Gentiles to Israel. The Confraternity of the Magi was a very important
lay confraternity in Florence, one also closely involved in the festival of St. John the
Baptist.129 The popular typological reading of this episode as linked with the Adoration
of the Magi, however, this reading may be due to the typical representation of the Queen
bowing or kneeling before Solomon.130 Because the two figures are standing next to each
other and clasping hands, another popular interpretation could be evoked: a prefiguration
of the Marriage of Christ and his Church.131 This idea was voiced by Bishop Isidore of
Seville:
Solomon prefigures the image of Christ who raised the house of God in the
heavenly Jerusalem, not with stone and wood, but with all the saints. The queen
from the south who came to hear the Wisdom of Solomon is to be understood as
the Church, which assembles from the utmost limits of the world to hear the voice
of God.132
129

The emphasis on Magi imagery is also reflected on the interior mosaics of the Baptistery where in the
Life of Christ narrative three scenes are used to portray the Adoration. Confraternities were responsible for
many of the public festivals in Florence. The Magiperformed a sacred representation of the Epiphany
in which Florence was transformed into the image of Jerusalem (Lavin, Place of Narrative, 41).
130

See Dameron (Florence and Its Church, 203) as one source for the rituals. The Queen, who came from
the south, symbolizes the Magi, and King Solomon seated on his throne symbolizes the eternal Wisdom
seated on the knee of Mary (Mle, Gothic Image, 157). The Queen of Sheba is a form of the Church who
came from the ends of the earth to hear the word of God (Mle, Gothic Image, 157, n. 4).
131
132

This typological interpretation is also related to the Coronation of the Virgin.

Isidore of Seville, Allegoriae quaedam Scripturae sanctae, quoted in Watson, Queen of Sheba in
Christian Tradition, 116.

47

Paul Watson, in contradiction to Krautheimers view of a patristic program, states that


this interpretation is not based in patristic thought, but steps beyond the Epiphany theme
while at the same time remaining connected to that theme.133 Given the appearance of
the Virgins other counterpart, Eve, on the Gates of Paradise, this interpretation of the
Queen as Ecclesia becomes extremely plausible. Krautheimer states that it is very likely
that the panel carries one or more of these traditional meanings.134
The Solomon panel has been interpreted separately from the rest of the program as
a symbol of the impending Council of Florence (1439), the meeting between the Eastern
and the Western Churches, or even the hopeful union of the two Churches.135 The
council opened only two to three years after the casting all ten plaques; even if the
Solomon scene was one of the last to be cast, there seems to be enough evidence that talk
of a union was in the air long before.136 As Krautheimer points out, the council was not
called by the pope as a happy, equal marriage but one of submission of the East to the
West and thus universal recognition of the popes supremacy.137 Of course the need for
a strong statement of papal authority stemmed from the Great Schism, which ended in

133

Watson, Queen of Sheba in Christian Tradition, 116.

134

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:180.

135

The significant point of pushing this interpretation was in connection to Traversari as the advisor for the
program. Traversari was a major player in organizing the union of the Eastern and Western Churches.
Krautheimer gave evidence that the analogy had been made by comporaries and Anyone trained in
theological thought in the fifteenth-century would have pictured this reconciliation between the Eastern and
Western churches under the figura of the Queen of Shebas visit to Solomon (Krautheimer, Lorenzo
Ghiberti, 1:184).
136
137

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:183.

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:181. This is not the statement of authority painted on the walls of the
Sistine Chapel, but perhaps its forerunner.

48
1417 with Martin V.138 The facts remain, however, that the council was not planned for
Florence, and it is highly questionable that the guild of the Calimala, or the city of
Florence, spent vast and permanent expense on a door commemorating such an event.
This final panel has dominated discussion of the Gates program because of its
unique representation and accompanying wealth of typological interpretations. The
question here remains, how the context of the expectations for a council (not even
planned to be held in Florence) might be expressed in the larger program beyond that of
the Solomon panel. It is more likely that the talks of the council influenced the imagery
of the Solomon panel, but has less to do with the Gates larger iconographical program.
Niches and Frame
At the top and bottom border of the Gates of Paradise are pairs of reclining
figures whom Krautheimer believes to be Adam and Eve, Noah and Puarphara, Noahs
wife, the first and second parents of mankind.139 Eve holds her attribute of a fig branch,
while Adam holds the tool of his toil, a hoe (figure A35). 140 Krautheimer interprets the
nudity of the Noah as his identifying feature, depicting the exposure of his genitals in
drunkenness; thus the female counterpart to this figure must be Noahs wife (figure
A36).141 Interestingly, the decorative foliage framing Adams and Noahs niches are

138

Negotiations between the two churches began as early as 1418 with Pope Martin V, and a council was
proposed in 1420 (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:183). Eugene IV continued to push for a council, and
after his flight from Rome in 1434 he came to live in Florence under the support of the Medici bank. Papal
presence was not new to the Florentine commune. Martin V had lived in the papal apartments in Santa
Maria Novella for a number of years also (Brucker, Florence: The Golden Age, 252). Thus the two popes
who worked toward a union were residents of Florence.
139

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:172.

140

Krautheimer conjectures that the wheat on which rests and the lamb skin over her shoulder may
symbolize the offerings of Cain and Abel (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:172). Adam also leans on a bundle of
wheat.
141

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:172.

49
unique from the acanthus scroll and flowers of the females niches. Around Adams
niche are two bouquets of what appear to be roses inhabited with lizards, symbolizing the
Fall. For Noahs frame the acanthus flowers are turned away as if hiding their blooms in
shame from the viewer (figure A37). This detail seems to back up Krautheimers theory
that the figure is Noah, shamefully nude and drunk on his wine.
To the left and right of each narrative panel a border of full-length figures posing
in small niches alternate with tondo heads. Of the twenty vertical niche figures
surrounding the narrative panels of the Gates, only about six can be identified securely.
Krautheimer identifies these six by their attributes, and ventures hypothesized identities
for the remaining (figure A38).142 Jonah holds a fish and Samson his jawbone. Miriam
and Judith can also be identified by the tambourine and head of Holofernes they hold
respectively. Krautheimer also names Aaron, dressed as a priest, and Joshua, praying for
the sun to halt.143 The niche figures have been ignored by most other scholars, even
though, as Krautheimer has demonstrated, there seems to be clear association between the
figures and the narrative panels. For example, the prophet Jonah flanks the Noah panel;
Jonah and Noah are associated with one another through their typological relation to
Christs resurrection. Also Judith flanks David, two figures who represent triumph
through the grace of God; and, of course, both decapitate their enemies. The appearance
of Samson flanking the Abraham panel aligns Isaac and Samson as important types of

142

Krautheimer, in his discussion of the niche figures and their possible identities, concludes a simple
relationship with the narrative panels (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173). He suggests the niche figures support the
ten narrative panels by expanding the narratives, offering typological and allegorical counterparts. See
Krautheimers conclusions in Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173-175.
143

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173. The story of Joshua stopping the sun is found in the book of
Joshua 10:12. The proposed figure of Aaron holds fire in his hand, an attribute I have been unable to
connect specifically to Aaron. Aarons attribute is typically his flowering staff.

50
Christ, and the birth of both figures announced by God. Therefore, Krautheimers
suggestion of either Samsons mother or the prophetess Hannah (who also like Sarah is
barren until late in life) relate to the panel of Abraham depicting the Annunciation to
Abraham and Sarah.144 This female figure also appears to be pregnant. Similarly,
Krautheimer hypothesizes the female flanking the Jacob and Esau panel is Jacobs wife
Rachel, who is a woman unable to bear a child until late in her life.145 Rachel is the
mother of Joseph, whose story in represented in the next panel on the Gates. These
figures further expand the theme of annunciation and birth already significant on their
respective panels.
Krautheimer suggests identities for other niche figures as best he can based on
their relation to the panels, and the remaining eight male statuettes he supposes to be the
prophets of Brunis original plan: Samuel, Nathan, Elias, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and Daniel.146 Krautheimer is not able to attach names to these prophet figures
without doubt, although his attempt considers the prophets possible relation to the
biblical narrative. It may be that these figures relate to the subject of the panels of the
Gates, to the liturgy, or as popular biblical figures.
Flanking the Creation panel are two prophets, probably Ezekiel and Jeremiah, or
Isaiah.147 Although not visible, one of Ezekiels attributes is a double wheel representing

144

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173-174.

145

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:174. And Rachel is included in the Lenten readings of the story of
Jacob.
146

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:174. Krautheimer also suggests that the niche figures reveal a
simplicity of symbolism much closer to the writings of Saint Ambrose which is patristic rather than
scholastic (1:175).
147

Krautheimer hypothetically identifies them as such, explaining that Ezekiel alludes to the gates of Eden
and Jeremiah references the Creation in their prophecies (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:174).

51
the Old and New Testaments. One of his prophecies is related to the rebirth of the
Christian through baptism, making him an appropriate figure next to the story of Adam
and Eve, and at the chronological beginning of the Gates imagery:
A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will
remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put
my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe
my ordinances (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Readings from the book of Ezekiel are included during the significant liturgical season of
Lent, including this previous passage read during the fourth week. At the beginning of
Lent, three passages from Ezekiel are read during the liturgical services. Two of these
readings refer to the theme of original sin and the salvation of baptism (Ezekiel 18: 1-9
and 20-28).148 The other figure may be Jeremiah since he appears to be somewhat older
and mournful. Jeremiah, as a prophet of the Passion, would also seem a fitting figure to
expand on the topic of the Creation.149
The female and male flanking the panel of Cain and Abel are difficult to identify.
Krautheimer suggests the male may be Joab or King Saul. Joab seems unrelated to the
adjacent story of the brothers, since he is the nephew of David and commander of the
Kings army; however, Krautheimer suggests either of these rather evil figures could be
parallels to Cain. Perhaps the female figure is Esther, a Jewish Queen, whose biblical
book was included in the liturgy of Lent.150 While liturgy does not seem to be the

148

Ezekiel is also known for his prophecy about a gate, interpreted as referring to the virginity of Mary:
The Lord said to me: This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the
Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut (Ezekiel 44:2).
149

Jeremiah, because his also the author of Lamentations, is often represented as mournful (like
Michelangelos representation on the Sistine Ceiling). Another figure on the Gates that could be Jeremiah
is figure twelve in the diagram of the Gates (figure A38).
150

See Table B2: a reading from the book of Esther is prescribed for Wednesday in the second week of
Lent. I will discuss the liturgical function of the Gates in the Lenten season below.

52
impetus for the design of the niche figures, certainly because Samsons story is not
prescribed in any of the liturgy of the ecclesiastical year, perhaps some of the figures can
be explained through analysis of the liturgy. The armed figure, for instance, could be
Judas Machabeus, as readings from Maccabees are also prescribed during Lent.151
Jonah is on the right side of the Noah panel, and perhaps the figure of Elijah is on
the left side, as has been suggested by Krautheimer.152 Although often represented in
pelts of fur like St. John the Baptist since the prophet also wandered in the desert, Elijah
may be represented next to the Noah panel because he walked in the wilderness for forty
days and forty nights (1 Kings 19: 8), the same duration of the rain of the Deluge.153 The
figure on the Gates points upward, perhaps this alludes to Elijah taken up into Heaven in
a whirlwind.
The prophet Isaiah may flank the panel of Jacob and Esau. One of Isaiahs major
prophecies is about a virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), related to the Annunciation of Mary; an
annunciation is also given to Rebekah regarding her twins.154 For the same reason the
figure of Isaiah could be represented instead on the right of the Creation panel, next to
the scene of the Expulsion from Eden.
151

See Table B2: a selection of Macabees is read during Ember Saturday in Lent, and the passage describes
a sacrifice which is also depicted in the Cain and Abel panel. Machabeus is described as a great Jewish
warrior who was loyal to Gods Law, and after leading a revolt against the King of Syria worked to rebuild
the ruined city of Jerusalem. See James F. Driscoll, "Judas Machabeus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
8 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910), <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08541a.htm>
(accessed Sept. 29, 2011). The figure of Machabeus in this context could relate to the niche with Jeremiah,
the prophet who witnesses the burning of Jerusalem. Krautheimer theorizes that the warrior flanking the
Joshua panel may be Judas Machabeus rather than Gideon (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173).
152

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173.

153

The stories of Elijah, a major prophet sometimes called Elias, are read throughout the season of Lent.

154

Isaiah is also the prophet who proclaims that A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a
branch shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1). The book of Isaiah is read throughout the liturgical
calendar.

53
Krautheimer gives no possible identities for the two figures flanking the Joseph
panel. They may represent Elisha and Elijah (Elisha was a disciple of Elijah). The figure
on the right side is similar to Ghibertis representation of Elijah in the scene of the
Transfiguration on the north door. Elisha is often represented bald, as it is included in
stories about him that some children made fun of his balding head. Passages about Elisha
are prescribed during the third week of Lent during which the story of Joseph is
emphasized in the liturgy. If the figure flanking the Noah panel is Elijah, then the bald
prophet on the right of the Joseph panel could be Elisha. Furthermore, the figure on the
left could be the prophet Daniel. Passages from the book of Daniel were also prescribed
for the third week of Lent, and he is a figure, like Joseph, who rose in court-life for his
ability to interpret dreams.
Krautheimer proposes Gideon as the identity of the figure to the right of the
Joshua panel. This figure is only identifiable by his armor, which is an attribute of
Gideon. Gideon is one of the Judges, and most known for the signs he receives from God
through a fleece (Judges 6:36-40), which is typologically paired with the Annunciation to
Mary. Perhaps the cloth held in the figures left hand alludes to Gideons fleece.
Judith is adjacent to the David panel, but the remaining three male figures on this
lowest register of the Gates of Paradise are not securely identified. The prophet Samuel
is probably the other figure flanking David, as it was Samuel who anointed David as the
future King after Saul. Nathan was a prophet for both David and Solomon. However,
Nathan was instrumental in the placement of Solomon on the throne, so he is most likely
the prophet on the left of the Solomon panel. The final figure could be one of several

54
important biblical prophets.155 The figure could be Balaam, Joel, Zechariah, or perhaps,
liturgically influenced figures of Hosea or Baruch. Krautheimer suggests Balaam
because of his prophecy of a star rising out of Jacob and the prophets juxtaposition with
the Queen of Sheba in the Biblia Pauperum.156 Both Joel and Zechariah are prophets
who discuss judgment and the coming day of the Lord, which is associated with
Solomons legendary wisdom.157 The prophecies of Hosea are related to marriage and
covenant, which could allude to the typological marriage represented by the Meeting of
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.158 A large selection from the book of Baruch was
prescribed in the Renaissance just prior to the baptismal procession on Holy Saturday and
the Pentecost Vigil. The passage, praising Wisdom as the way the Israelites will find an
end to exile, could connect with the adjacent Solomon panel through this subject of
Wisdom as a link to both King Solomon and the illumination initiates receive upon the
conferring of the sacrament of baptism. The subject of an end to exile also relates to the
triumphant scene where a cast of people gather together in Jerusalem. These figures,
without clear attributes, are extremely difficult to identify without any doubt.
The decorative frame of the Gates of Paradise, like those for the south and north
doors, is an ornamental strip of flora and fauna.159 Rather than a continuous garland,

155

Krautheimer suggests Bileam, which must mean Balaam? Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:173.

156

The passage refered to is Numbers 24:17 (printed mistakenly in Krautheimers text as 24:7).

157

Both are also included on the Sistine Ceiling flanking the Old Testament scenes there by Michelangelo.

158

Jean Marie Cals. "Osee." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11 (New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1911), <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11337a.htm> (accessed Sept. 29, 2011). A passage from Hosea
is also read on Good Friday during Holy Week.
159

This frame was completed by both Ghiberti and his son Vittore circa 1449-1452. A more complete
study of the symbolic plants and animals on the Gates of Paradise can be found by Mirella Levi dAncona,
M.A. Signorini, and A. Chiti-Batelli, Piante e animale intorno alla Porta del Paradiso (Lucca: M. Pacini
Fazzi, 2000).

55
clustered plants, inhabited by mostly birds, scale the door jambs from vases at the base of
the frame. Bunches of plants are also repeated between the niche and tondo border in the
door itself. Amy Bloch notes that the thirty-seven varieties of plants and sixteen species
of animals add to the significance of the Gates narrative panels.160 For instance, apples
are found adjacent to the Creation panel that depicts the Temptation of Adam and Eve.161
Above the door, the foliage of the lintel includes replications of three rings that perhaps
reflect how garlands would have been hung around the door for festivals. In the center,
the eagle stands inside a ring flanked by a vine producing large bunches of grapes. The
eagle has a dual symbolic purpose atop the door. The eagle is a symbol of the Calimala
guild, however the emblem typically depicts the eagle with a torsello in its talons, a bale
of cloth. The eagle, believed to renew itself by plunging three times into spring water, is
also a symbol of new life begun at the baptismal font.162 The vine and grapes symbolize
the Eucharist.
Summary
The program begins with the expulsion from Paradise and ends with the
attainment of Paradise (in the guise of Jerusalem and the Church). The first and last
panels of the Gates of Paradise (Creation and Solomon) act as bookends for the program.

160

Bloch, Baptism and the frame of the south door, 28. Bloch suggests that the plants and animals,
through reference to biblical and ancient texts, reiterate the vices and virtues exemplified by the
storiesand help clarify the significance of individual episodes (28). The borders niche figures, along
with their decorative niches, and the jamb frames for the Gates of Paradise together require further analysis
for their possible relation to the iconographical program.
161

See Bloch (Baptism and the frame of the south door, 28-29) for a brief discussion of symbolic foliage
on the Gates.
162

The idenitification stems from Isaiah 40:31. See also Caryl Coleman, Birds, The Catholic
Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907),
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02576b.htm (accessed Nov. 7, 2011).

56
The creation of the Church is represented in the guise of the creation of Eve; the triumph
and recognition of the Church is represented in the guise of the Meeting of Solomon and
the Queen. The strong allegorical reference to the creation of the Church, which is
reiterated in the Solomon panel, serves to establish and emphasize the Church (or
Ecclesia) as a major character on the Gates. Mary Ecclesia is symbolically referenced on
the Gates of Paradise through the prominent female characters of Eve and the Queen of
Sheba.163 Both Eve and the Queen of Sheba significantly are the central figures in their
respective panels (Creation and Solomon).
Because both the David and Solomon panels are triumphant scenes and both
Creation and Cain and Abel panels are expulsions, when the Gates are open each valve
retains that disposition of severance to reconciliation, or perhaps death (in sin) to
redemption. Throughout this chronological expulsion to triumph the imagery repeatedly
presents the importance of the covenant and Law, the lineage of the Church, and the role
of Ecclesia in salvation. The second and fourth registers (Noah, Abraham, Moses, and
Joshua) depict scenes of covenant (Gods promise to bless family descendants and their
people) and of the Law. The important generations of Christ and the patriarchal
inheritance of the covenant are themes offered through the inclusion of scenes of
annunciation, birth, and sibling rivalry.
There are several episodes of sibling rivalry on the Gates that also highlight the
Ecclesia as a major character.164 Each of the episodes representing Gods preference for
the younger son typologically represents the New Testament over the Old or the Church
163

Several other female figures appear on the Gates as well: Sarah and Rebekah on the panels, Eve and
Puarphara reclining at the top and bottom of the frame; and five other women in the framing niches.
Rebekah and Rachel are types of the Church.
164

Cain & Abel, Noahs sons, Isaac & Ishmael (or the two servants), Jacob & Esau, Joseph & his brethren.

57
over the Temple. The Church is also symbolically accentuated in the Ark of the Flood,
the Ark of the Covenant, and the Temple of Jerusalem. Each of these elements are also
significant symbols of Mary Ecclesia.
In my Masters thesis I outlined the programs subject as establishment,
legitimacy and authority of the Church, represented through the recurring imagery of
lineage, covenant, triumph and recognition. The establishment of the Church is
allegorically represented in the Creation. The legitimacy of the Church as a body is
signified in the genealogical episodes and the repetitive scenes interpreted as Gods
blessing New Law over Old. In addition, every panel contains a figure who prefigures or
is a type of Christ. The authority of the Church is finalized in the Solomon panel where
the Queen gives her recognition of the greatness of Solomon, i.e. the bridegroom, Jesus.
The Solomon panel represents not only recognition (through its association with the
Epiphany), but also the Marriage of Christ and the Church, which is itself a covenant.
The Queen of Sheba exclaimed,
Your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your
wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your
wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on
the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel for ever, he has made you king
to execute justice and righteousness (1 Kings 10:7-9).
These are themes that can also be associated with initiation into the Church community as
a function of the Baptistery. Upon confirmation of baptism the initiate finalizes his or her
place within the lineage of the chosen people, making his or her own covenant with the
Lord and recognizing the authority of the Church as central in salvation. These
conclusions are primarily derived through formal analysis, as well as studies on Medieval
and Renaissance theology and traditional typological interpretations. The themes

58
recognized throughout the analysis are used to direct ongoing research into the
significance of context for the Gates of Paradise.

59

CHAPTER 3. INTRODUCTION TO CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS


Quattrocento Florentines were a churchgoing people.165 Their faith was
expressed through regular worship and devotion, and through their participation in church
ritual. While the secularism of the humanistic Renaissance is often an emphasis in
scholarship, Timothy Verdon points out that, Humanist ideas were perhaps in the air
but ancient religious tradition was in the blood.166 The roots of many of the Florentine
religious rituals reached well back into the Middle Ages, and even earlier. There were
many opportunities to engage in such ritual due to a full liturgical calendar replete with
universal and local feast days. The celebration of these feasts often included processions
during which the church and streets were crowded with worshippers. These public
religious spectacles would sometimes include extravagant floats and sacred
representations weaving through the city streets.167
Processions, each taking a distinctive meaningful path through the city streets to
different monuments, often included the Baptistery in the route or sometimes passed
through and terminated at the church San Giovanni.168 Ritual processions were so
common in the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Florence that there were probably few
weeks when a Florentine did not encounter at least one procession in the street, especially

165

Brucker, Renaissance Florence, 202. For more detailed information of Renaissance Christianity in
Florence see, Dameron, Henderson, Trexler, Trinkhaus, and Verdon.
166

Verdon, Christianity, the Renaissance, and the Study of History, 5.

167

Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 197. Also popular were the sermons preached by celebrated friars
in the piazza, particularly during Lent (Brucker, Renaissance Florence, 202. See also Dameron, Florence
and Its Church, 207).
168

See Franklin Toker (On Holy Ground) for a discussion of meaning in the well-planned routes for certain
holidays.

60
in the area around the Cathedral and the Baptistery.169 The path and props of the
procession were laden with symbolism and significant, and contributed layers of
meaning to the processions.170 The opportunities for the public to take part in the
religious experience were numerous, multiplied by the concentration of mendicant
churches and confraternities in the commune.
Often for the occasion of a religious feast day, secular and political activities were
incorporated into a religious procession or spectacle, and so this religious experience was
also replete with civic overtones. The charge of administration, construction, and
maintenance for both the Cathedral and the Baptistery was given to the two most
important secular guilds, the Arte della Lana (wool guild) and the Arte di Calimala (cloth
merchants).171 Public funds for the administration of these monuments were given to
these secular organizations, and they were accountable to the city government, not to
ecclesiastical authorities.172 In 1427, a new administrative structure for the Cathedral
placed even the commissioning and financing of service books into the hands of the Arte
della Lana. As such, service books reflect the civic messages mingled with those of the
spiritual found in almost all aspects of Florentine religious life. Tacconi notes that:
Santa Maria del Fiore was not only the great spiritual center of the city, but also a
monument with a distinctive civic function. It served as the venue for diplomatic

169

Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 196. Tacconi was struck by the constant attempt to involve the
populace in the religious life of the ecclesia maior while reading the liturgical prescriptions of the Ritus in
ecclesia servandi and Mores et consuetudines canonice florentine (98).
170

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 190.

171

The Opera del Duomo was assigned to the Arte della Lana in 1331. The Arte di Calimala became in
charge of the Baptistery in the twelfth-century.
172

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 137.

61
visits, housed important political events, and welcomed within its walls many of
the cultural, spiritual and intellectual leaders of the time.173
Along these lines, Tacconi discerned that the adornment of Missal Ms. Edili 107 in the
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (BML) exemplified a new and important trend in the
manuscript production of the cathedral: the book as a vehicle for the expression of
Florentine civic identity and for the preservation of ecclesiastical history.174 As a
principal religious and civic monument, this research focuses on both the religious
function of the Baptistery and the Gates (liturgical and specifically baptismal), and the
civic function, in an attempt to discern the significant interconnections between the
imagery chosen for the Gates and their context. In order to understand Renaissance
Christianity in Florence it is necessary to consider the local liturgical ritual and public
spectacle. Therefore, the current analysis of the function for the Gates of Paradise
examines both the religious and civic overtones present in Renaissance art and ritual.
This chapter presents a background to the the analysis of function by reconstructing the
Baptistery of San Giovanni at the time the Gates of Paradise were created, as well as
discussing the problems that such an analysis must overcome in regards to sources.
The Baptistery Reconstructed
The backbone to this study, the very reason context should be understood, is the
significance of the Gates of Paradise as part of the Florentine Baptistery, which cannot be
emphasized enough. The bronze panels of Ghiberti were experienced in the Renaissance
just as its copies are experienced today, amidst a crowded piazza. They were not seen as
a stand-alone work of art in a museum separated from a vital context, nor were they
173

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 3.

174

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 140.

62
viewed only on special occasions or by special guests. The Gates of Paradise at the
moment of installation became part of the very public, very active scene of the Piazza
San Giovanni. In addition, they became a functional architectural part of arguably the
most distinctive building in the city. The Baptistery of San Giovanni was, as Vasari
called it, the oldest church and the principal cathedral in the city.175 Scholars have
been willing to align the Old Testament images with general baptismal symbolism;
however, this downplays the importance of this individual Baptistery in Florentine
religious and civic life. This complex was originally on the north end of town, framed by
the antique city walls. The church of San Giovanni played a central role in Florence. All
Florentine baptisms occurred in the Baptistery, unless the sacrament was conferred in the
household because of an eminent risk of death.176 The prominence of the church of San
Giovanni is also evident through a controversy which erupted when a new bishop made
his entry into the city and had to decide where he would hold his first Mass, in San
Giovanni or in the Cathedral of Santa Reparata.177
The legendary Roman origins for the churchs foundations served as the citys
visual proof of their proud Roman heritage, which was an important aspect of civic selfidentity in the Renaissance. This, added to the fact that this baptismal church was
dedicated to the citys patron saint, gave the building a strong civic as well as religious
175

Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists, trans. Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1991), 85.
176

Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 40. Only recently were parochial churches equipped with fonts.
See the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore di Firenze official website, Archive of the Credo of Baptism,
http:www.operaduomo.firenze.it/english/archivio/archivio_fedi.asp (accessed 9/25/07). The Opera del
Duomo now holds most of the Baptisterys documents.
177

Franklin Toker, On Holy Ground, 54-55, 145. The custom in the thirteenth-century was for the bishops
first Mass to be celebrated in the Baptistery. This event was actually a ritualized conflict, part of a new
bishops procession into the city. See also Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 199-200.

63
identity.178 As the city struggled to gain supremacy over its neighbors, the Baptistery
soon became the chief monument and symbol of Florence, an inheritance which ancient
Rome had bequeathed to the city, urging it to accomplish deeds as great as its own.179
Excavations have proved that the walls of the Florentine Baptistery do rest on
Roman foundations dating from the first and third centuries.180 The dates for the original
construction of the Baptistery are still unclear. However, the current building was
consecrated (either at the beginning of new construction or of a reconstruction) in 1059
by Pope Nicholas II.181 The Baptistery of San Giovanni is located directly west of the
Cathedral, a pattern seen in many Italian religious complexes of the Medieval period, and
surrounded by the Piazza San Giovanni. In 1296, work began to enlarge and rebuild the
small Cathedral of Santa Reparata and to rededicate the church to the Virgin Mary (Santa
Maria del Fiore). At the same time other important changes were made to the fabric of
the cathedral complex. Piazza San Giovanni was enlarged to make room for the public
outdoor sermons.182 The cemetery of San Giovanni Evangelista, which had occupied the
space between the Baptistery and Cathedral, was removed, particularly many of the
178

The Baptistery held some important relics of the Florentine church, including one of St. John the Baptist
himself (a finger), obtained in 1393. The arm of St. Philip was the other prominent relic kept in the
Baptistery.
179

Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 11.

180

Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 15. Florentines believed that the church was built
on the foundations of a temple of Mars, perhaps built under Emperor Augustus, to celebrate the Romans
victory over the Etruscan city of Fiesole. Giovanni Villanis Nuova Cronica (fourteenth-century) cites this
popular legend. For an excellent and brief discussion of the Roman origin, see Giusti, The Baptistery of
San Giovanni in Florence, 9-11.
181

Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 16. Borsook (The Companion Guide to Florence,
41) dates the Baptistery tentatively between 1059 and 1150.
182

George W. Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 209. The new Cathedral project was begun in 1296 by
Arnolfo di Cambio and the project was expanded under Francesco Talenti in the second half of the
fourteenth century.

64
ancient and medieval sarcophagi, and Arnolfo di Cambio repaired, leveled, and paved the
square (figure A39).183 In the 1170s and again 1284-1333, the city expanded the walls to
place the Cathedral complex physically at a more central location in the growing urban
environment.184 Major roads led into the square and opened into the enlarged Piazza San
Giovanni and Piazza del Duomo.
Spanning the thirteenth- to fifteenth-centuries, the decorative projects for the
Baptistery of San Giovanni were among Florences major artistic endeavors. The
decoration of San Giovanni was the responsibility of the Arte di Calimala, the guild of
cloth merchants.185 No wall was left undecorated; the interior contains an expansive
mosaic program filling the whole space of the dome, drum, gallery, and scarsella. The
mosaics in the vault of the Baptistery were finished circa 1300. The west side of the
vault mosaics, oriented above the apse, is an apocalyptic scene of the Last Judgment;
from that large focal scene, four registers of narrative wrap around the remaining portions
of the vault: Genesis (Creation to Flood), the life of Joseph, the life of Christ, and the life
of St. John the Baptist (figure A40). The remaining walls are covered in mosaic busts of
figures (prophets, apostles, evangelists, saints) and geometric motifs in bi-chrome inlaid
marble.186

183

Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 14 and 18.

184

John M. Najemy, A History of Florence 1200-1575 (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 99.

185

The guild primarily was involved with the international wool trade. Since the twelfth century the
Baptistery had been the responsibility of the Calimala (Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 203). For a
summary of the decoration of Florentine monuments, see Borsook, Companion Guide to Florence. For a
description of the construction and decorative projects for the Baptistery, see Giusti, The Baptistery of San
Giovanni in Florence.
186

Some of these decorations continued into the fourteenth century.

65
In the middle of the thirteenth century, the floor of the Baptistery was carpeted in
geometric patterns and figurative motifs of inlaid marble (figure A41).187 The design of
the marble carpet squares nearest the Gates of Paradise are more complex and create a
marble runner from the east portal to the central area where a great baptismal font
stood.188 The Baptistery was equipped with this large central font in the early thirteenth
century (figure A42). This font was primarily used for the baptismal rite of full
immersion. It was demolished in 1577; a smaller font added to the Baptistery in 1370
remained in use up to the 1970s.189
The exterior projects for the Baptistery included three expensive and massive sets
of bronze doors at each of its entrances (south, north, and east). Each was to be cast with
multiple panels of narrative reliefs. Andrea Pisano, as a result of a competition, was
commissioned to cast the first of the three bronze sets of doors for the Baptistery. Begun
in 1330, the south door, consisting of twenty-eight relief panels framed in quatrefoils,
were installed by June 20, 1336 (figure A43). Twenty panels display twenty moments
from the life of St. John the Baptist. The narrative is read across and down each valve of
the double door, from left to right. This signifies that the portal was more frequently
used, as the narrative is not interrupted when open, which was not the case with the later

187

The paving was organized into squares, circles and rectangles inlaid with white, green, and red marble
and stone. See Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 51-53. On the pavement see Anna
Maria Giusti, Il pavimento del Battistero, in Il Battistero di San Giovanni a Firenze, ed. Antonio
Paolucci (Modena: Franco Cosimo Panini, 1994): 373-295.
188

After entering the Baptistery by the main entrance, the faithful would thus follow a symbolic itinerary
in three stages: from the bestiaryto the Zodiac, or sky, and finally to the baptismal font Giusti, The
Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 53.
189

The central font was demolished both to regain the desired Roman space of the interior and for the
christening celebration of Grand Duke Francesco deMedicis first son, Filippo. Bernardo Buontalenti, in
charge of the demolition, made a drawing of the old furnishing. See Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni
in Florence, 51, 113-114, 53-54 and Toker, On Holy Ground, 109-111.

66
two doors.190 As will be discussed further below, the south door probably figured in the
ceremony of baptism and faced the center of the early Renaissance city. The narrative
panels conclude with eight allegorical representations of the Theological and Cardinal
Virtues in the lowest sections of the door.191 Originally above the south portal was a
sculptural group of the Baptism of Christ by Tino da Camaino.192
An appointed committee of the Calimala held another competition in 1401 to seek
out an artist to execute a second bronze door, which was to be placed on the eastern
faade facing the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.193 The supposed motivation behind
the commission of the Baptistery doors was to secure divine intercession for communal
protection. This second door, which today adorns the north entrance was offered as an
appeal to God during an outbreak of the plague.194 Artists competed by submitting
finished bronze panels representing the Sacrifice of Isaac from the Old Testament.
Lorenzo Ghiberti won the competition and the presumed subjects from the Old Testament
were then apparently shelved in favor of twenty scenes from the life of Christ, figures of
190

Other evidence suggests the south door was often open and incorporated into the baptismal ritual. This
will be fully discussed below.
191

The seated Virtues are: Hope, Faith, Fortitude, Temperance, Charity, Humility, Justice, and Prudence.

192

In 1320 Tino da Camaino did sculptural groups above all three doors: Baptism of Christ (south), St. John
the Baptist and the Theological Virtues (east), St. John the Baptists Sermon (north). These were replaced
in the sixteenth-century. The Beheading of St. John the Baptist by Vincenzo Danti was installed above the
south portal circa 1570. The Baptism of Christ by Andrea Sansovino, begun in 1505, was placed above the
east portal in 1569 (finally finished by Vincenzo Danti). In 1511 the sculptural group of St. John the
Baptists Sermon by Giovan Francesco Rustici was placed above the north portal. Fragments of Tino da
Camainos sculptures are now in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Florence.
193

Whether this door was actually meant to be placed on the eastern faade is debated, as is whether
Pisanos door was originally placed in the eastern facade as well. I will discuss the issues of location
below.
194

Frederick Hartt (History of Italian Renaissance, 199) notes that the competitions theme might have
been divine intervention, given that the commune was saved by the unexpected death of Giangaleazzo
Visconti, Duke of Milan (September 1402). See also Christopher Hibbert, Florence: The Biography of a
City (Penguin, 1993), 76.

67
the four Evangelists, and the four Church Fathers (figure A44).195 The format of this
door in many ways repeats that of Pisanos: twenty single episodes, each framed in a
quatrefoil, and eight lower panels representing seated figures. However, this door is to be
read left to right across both valves and from bottom to top. Krautheimer argues that this
arrangement, which would break up the chronology of the narrative when the door is
open indicates that this door was probably not intended to be opened frequently, except
on certain high holy days.196
Upon completion of his commission, on January 2, 1425, Ghiberti was given the
contract to execute the third and final door.197 This finished bronze door was called the
Gates of Paradise, most likely referring to their placement facing the paradisus, the
space between the Baptistery and the Cathedral that had been previously used as a
cemetery.198 The Gates of Paradise were installed in the eastern facade in 1452, although
probably by 1437 the design, modeling and casting were finished.199 As discussed
earlier, this final door contains ten roughly square panels depicting episodes from the Old
Testament.

195

One presumes the original commission was to be for an Old Testament door that would use the
expensive bronze winning competition panel of the Sacrifice of Isaac. Ghibertis panel, and that of Filippo
Brunelleschi, were saved perhaps to be used later on an Old Testament door. The contract for the second
door was signed in 1403 and it was installed in April 1424. The seated figures are: St. Augustine, St.
Jerome, St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, John, Matthew, Luke, and Mark.
196

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 114.

197

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:370, doc. 36 and 2:408, digest 110. The original contract is lost;
information survives from the Strozzi exerpts. Documents for much of the decorations survive in copies
that Carlo Strozzi made from the books of the Calimala archive in the late seventeenth century.
198

See Krautheimer (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:18) for a discussion of the popular name. For other
interpretations, see Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 242-248.
199

The date of 1437 was given by Krautheimer (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:164) after careful consideration of the
documents.

68
Whether used directly or as a setting for events, an analysis of the context and
function of the architectural sculpture will enhance our understanding not only of the
imagery chosen for the Gates but also how the narrative was read and understood by
Florentines. Little explicit evidence has been found to indicate the days when the
Baptistery doors were opened, or how they functioned in the ritual of the Baptistery. The
south door was probably used primarily for the entrance of baptismal initiates.200 Based
on the format of their imagery, Krautheimer believed the north and east doors were rarely
open.201 The north and east doors were probably only open for special events and
ceremonies. An eighteenth-century print of a Corpus Domini procession documents the
portals use as a procession moves from the Cathedral into the Baptistery through the
Gates of Paradise and exits through the north door (figure A45).202 This represents just
one of the prescribed rituals which included the Baptistery and the Gates of Paradise.
Problems Identifying Context
The inherent problems of this study are in identifying and framing the context to
be studied. As Krautheimer discusses, there are lines which could be drawn to the global
political and religious context surrounding Florence during in the Quattrocento. My
discussions of context, however, are concentrated on a more local level and limited to the

200

For reference to the south doors as the baptismal portal, see Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:367, doc.
14 and 16, and 2:420, digest 285 and 288; Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance,
201-202; Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 135. Also probably for normal daily use.
201

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 114.

202

The liturgical ritual of Corpus Domini will be discussed further below.

69
immediate environment of the Gates. As this subject is a relatively untouched one, the
problem becomes the ability to specify function from the available sources.203
To understand the function of the Gates of Paradise means attempting to recreate
the public liturgy of Renaissance Florence, a difficult task. Limited sources, limited
information within the sources, and lack of documentation for the unscripted events (such
as sermons preached) present barriers.204 While one can study the prescribed liturgical
readings, prayers, psalms, et cetera given in a Missal or Breviary, it is hard to know for
sure how closely these were followed or to detect any changes that might have occurred.
It is especially hard to find information on specific ritual movements from these books.
Missals and Breviaries are not rich in ritual description, for instance they do not prescribe
or even record the path and details of a procession. This kind of information can be
found in an Ordinal (libro ordinario), and much later in a Rituale. Unfortunately, the
only surviving Ordinals for FlorenceRitus in ecclesia servandi (c. 1190) and Mores et
consuetudines cannonice florentine (c. 1230)predate the Gates of Paradise by more
than a century. These books reference Santa Reparata as the Cathedral rather than Santa
Maria del Fiore. Some basis can be placed on a strong tradition in consistent activities
203

The sources I have looked to belong to a range (the twelfth to fifteenth century primarily) of liturgical
texts used and made in Florence. I have included contemporary descriptions for some of the more major
and popular feast day processions; however, in further research much more of these descriptions could and
should be analyzed more consistently for each major holiday. Even furnished with precise descriptions of
feast day spectacles and dramas, especially those produced by confraternities, these probably could only be
sources for iconography in the recurrent general themes presented. The plays and spectacles were not
consistent from year to year, in fact, they did not even occur every year. Periodic performances and
confraternal processions were diverse. In my analysis of the liturgy, I focused on readings and then for
significant themes in the rest of the material (prayers, ect), but I was not equipped to analyze the choral
liturgy. In addition, I did not attempt to study the many sermons given during the events, as these are
individual and diverse in naturealthough many given during specific feast days retained similar symbolic
language.
204

The preaching of sermons was a mark of a high feast and required for feasts like, Zenobius, St. John the
Baptist, Septuagesima Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent, and Annunciation. Also the bishop was required
to preach on several of these high feasts (Toker, On Holy Ground, 47).

70
and in some cases continue today; however, changes did occur both in the liturgical
calendar and the processional landscape. For example, the feast of the Corpus Christi,
which celebrates the institution of the Holy Eucharist, was not instituted until 1264;
therefore, it is not included in these early Ordinals. The other source specific to
processions would have been a manual dedicated to the priests offices, often called a
Rituale, Manuale, or Agenda. These eventually became a uniform book, the Rituale
Romanum, but not until 1614.205 No earlier Rituale or Manuale survives for the Florence
Cathedral.
Besides the yearly ecclesiastical rituals, the baptismal ritual poses a problem in
the study of the Baptistery of San Giovanni as well. As the baptismal ceremony would
also have been laid out in a Rituale, there is no source for description of the baptismal
ritual specific to Florence. The best one can do is to recreate the ritual based on general
(Roman) prescriptions for the sacramental ceremony at the time.206 In addition to the
sources for liturgical spectacle surrounding the Gates of Paradise, there are some gaps as
well in the available sources for the door itself.207
The location of the Gates of Paradise on the eastern side of the Baptistery is key
for understanding the function of the portal in relation to its iconography. As discussed
in the next chapter, later sources like Vasari record that the Gates were originally
intended for the north entrance, and that the beauty of the imagery influenced their final

205

The Rituale Romanum was published by Pope Paul V in 1614 and contains priests offices like baptism,
matrimony, extreme unction, and procession.
206

Scholars who have written about the baptismal ceremony in relation to the architecture of San Giovanni
include Lamberto Crociani and Amy Bloch.
207

For an excellent summary of the state of the Baptisterys documentation see Haines, Documentation on
the Gates of Paradise, 81-85.

71
placement at the more prominent east portal. However, it seems strange that the door
would be relocated as if rearranging furniture and not prompted by other serious
considerations.208 The shift in location is a significant one because it placed the Gates
across from the Cathedral rather than facing the developing northern suburbs of the city.

208

Thank you to Professor Wallace Tomasini for suggesting this.

72

CHAPTER 4. SPACE AND FUNCTION


Locating the Baptistery Doors
The original locations of all three sets of doors are still somewhat debated, which
complicates the talk of determining the significance of the locations for each door. It is
commonly held that Pisanos door was created for the south faade; Ghibertis first door
of the Life of Christ was originally set in the east faade, then moved north when the
decision was made to set the Gates in the east faade. I am not completely convinced the
Old Testament narratives were not always intended for the eastern portal. It is hard to
imagine this door and its narrative subjects were interchangeable decorations for the
Baptistery. I believe each door functioned in its particular setting and was understood as
appropriate to that setting. That said, even if there is reason to presume the Gates of
Paradise were not created for the location at the east portal, this study will still offer
valuable insight into how the door did function (the received context) as architectural
sculpture and how the imagery of the door was actually experienced by Quattrocento
Florentines.209
Andrea Pisanos door was completed in 1336, and some scholars believe it was
originally placed in the east facade facing the Cathedral.210 This tradition stems partly
from Vasari:
When they [the consuls of the Calimala] saw how far Lorenzo had surpassed
Andrea Pisano, the consuls decided to move Andreas door, which was in the

209

It is difficult to understand authorial intent, even more so when, as in this case, the author/ advisor for
the doors program is currently still debated.
210

For instance, see Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, A Documentary History of Art, vol. 1(Princeton: Princeton
Univ. Press, 1981): 160, n. 38.

73
centre [east], to the side facing the Misericordia [south]. Lorenzo would then
make the new doors for the centre.211
Extant documents gathered by Carlo Strozzi (1587-1670), however, describe a different
set of events from what Vasari believed to have been the case. While the Strozzi
documents do not mention specifically where Pisanos door was originally set, the
documents relating to the placement of the two Ghiberti doors suggest Pisanos door was
always at the south entrance. 212 Strozzi documents published by Krautheimer describe
the placement and eventual repositioning of Ghibertis first door from the east entrance to
the north so that the Gates of Paradise could be placed on the east facing the Cathedral:
The consuls of the Calimala decide to place the new bronze door at the main
portal of the Baptistery facing the Cathedral. (1403, Sept. 3)213
The consuls of the Calimala decide to have Ghibertis second door set up on the
east portal facing the Cathedral, because of its beauty, and to remove his first
door to the north portal. (1452, July 13) 214
These documents do not record the need to move Pisanos door. In addition,
Krautheimer argues that the most likely original position for Pisanos door was the south
portal, which was then the most important of the three Baptistery gates because it alone
faced the city: the east portal certainly originally intended for the main entrance, still
211

Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 93. Brackets mine.

212

Carlo Strozzi (1587-1670) was an officer of the Calimala, and he made archival studies of original guild
documents (like those pertaining to commissions for the Baptistery) before they were destroyed. Strozzis
documents, the Carte strozziane, are in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze.
213

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:402, digest 7. The original transcribed text: Deliberazioni de Consoli
dall 1401 al 1414: Porta di Metallo si delibera che si faccia per la Porta dinanzi della Chiesa di San
Giovanni che risguarda Santa Maria del Fiore (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:374, doc. 60).
214

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:420, digest 283. Deliberazioni de Consoli dallanno 1452 al 1454:
Pratica circa il rizzare e porre la porta di bronzo nuovamente fatta nella chiesa di San Giovanni. Si delibera
stante la sua bellezza, che si metta alla porta di mezzo, che risguarda Santa Maria del Fiore che quell ache
era in d.o luogo si ponga alla porta verso la colonna e case dellOpera (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:
375, doc. 73); Porta terza di bronzo essendo del tutto finite, si ponga alla porta di San Giovanni, che
risguarda verso Santa Maria del Fiore (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:372, doc. 48).

74
faced a disorderly building site upon which the Cathedral had hardly begun to take form;
before the north portal lay the suburbs, an area as yet not built up.215 Amy Bloch also
gives convincing evidence, through a study of the relation of the sculpture to the
baptismal ceremony, that Pisanos door was always located at the south entrance.216 She
also notes that the soffit of the architrave for the south portal was the first to receive
mosaics, while the other two did not receive decoration until after the Gates of Paradise
were finished.217
Ghibertis first door, with scenes from the Life of Christ, was originally placed at
the east entrance, although the decision for this placement is recorded in the later
documents, after the competition. In the Calimala document naming Ghiberti the
competition winner, no specific faade orientation is named: 1402The consuls of the
Calimala decide to entrust the bronze door of the Baptistery to Ghiberti, Nencio di
Bartoluccio Orafo.218
When the Calimala committee held its competition in 1401, the eastern portal
was the priority for decoration as it now was facing a more finished Cathedral and faade.
The competition thus was presumably to commission an artist to work on reliefs for this
east door. The subject of surviving the competition panels, the sacrifice of Isaac,
suggests the original plan was for an Old Testament cycle to be created for the east door,
215

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:32.

216

Bloch, The Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 198-199.

217

Bloch, The Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 196.

218

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:402, digest 4. Original transcription: Libro Grande dellArte de
Mercatanti segnato C, dellanno 1402: Nencio di Bartoluccio orafo debbe fare la Porta del Metallo.
(Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:366, doc. 1). Ghiberti was named winner in late 1402 (or early 1403).
The initial contract was recorded in Nov. 23, 1403 (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2: 368, doc. 26; 2:374,
doc. 61; and 2:402 dig. 8).

75
and Ghibertis panel was gilded in preparation.219 At some unknown time, the consuls of
the Calimala changed the subject to the New Testament Life of Christ.220 Krautheimer
believes that this decision was made in the same year it was decided to place the new
door in the main portal.221 Whenever the program change was decided, the placement of
the door in the eastern faade was probably deemed necessary even if this meant that the
originally planned Old Testament cycle was not placed there. A bronze door must go up
at the main entrance and perhaps the Life of Christ was deemed more important than an
Old Testament cycle at that time.222
Upon their completion in 1452, the Gates of Paradise were given the honored
location on the eastern facade, facing Santa Maria del Fiore. It is not known for certain
when it was decided that the Gates of Paradise should be placed facing the faade of the
Cathedral. I highly doubt that the decision was made as recorded on July 13th, 1452
219

Thank you to Professor Wallace Tomasini for reminding me of this point.

220

Dorassi il Compasso della Storia dAbramo del tesam.o vecchio per fare prova di diversi Maestri e
pigliare che meglio facesse. Deliberossi poi di(?) mettere nella Porta sopradetta il Testamento Nuovo e si
riserbo la detta Storia per metterla nellaltra Porta se Testamento Vecchio vi si facesse. Vi si messe doro in
dorare d.a Storia. (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:370, doc. 33). No date is attached to this document
and Krautheimer assigns it to 1402-3. Kratheimers digest for this document: Ghibertis competition relief
is gilded. Later it is decided to represent on the new door the New Testament and to save this relief for the
other door if there the Old Testament should be represented. (2:402, digest 6). The original document
was paraphrased by Strozzi. Because the document was tucked after the (1407) contract for the door, it has
been thought the change in program was made late. However, Krautheimer, argues for a date of 1402-3
(Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:103). Two months elapsed between contracted start date and the actual
start of work (Jan. 30, 1404) during which, Krautheimer hypothesized, the change in program was made
(1:106).
221

1403, Sept. 3Porta di Mettalo si delibera che si faccia per la Porta dinanzi della Chiesa di San
Giovanni che risguarda Santa Maria del Fiore. (Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:374, doc.60).
Krautheimers digest: The consuls of the Calimala decide to place the new bronze door at the main portal
of the Baptistery facing the Cathedral. (2:402, digest 7). So first the decision is made to change the
narrative cycle and then it is decided that the door should still be placed oppositie the Duomo.
222

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:103-105. No reasons are given in documents to address the switch in
subject from the Old Testament competition panels to the New Testament doors, only that the decision is
made. Or perhaps, since the committee of the Calimala later requested plans for an Old Testament door
from local scholars, the choice to represent the Life of Christ was one of necessity when the conflict
presented itself over what an Old Testament program would entail.

76
because this is also the documented date that the three-ton Gates of Paradise were
actually set up, meaning that such an important decision was made the same day the door
was to be placed, requiring a sudden move of Ghibertis first door to the north portal.
While there is no documentary evidence, I believe the Old Testament cycle was always
meant for the eastern facade. Although Krautheimer sees the Life of Christ as the more
appropriate subject for the eastern portal, the switch in the doors was not merely due to
comparative beauty but because the original plan for the Old Testament cycle was for the
main portal.223 Amy Bloch also argues that the Old Testament cycle seemed more
appropriate on the eastern faade because the processional path from east (Old
Testament) to north (New Testament) evidenced in Zocchis Corpus Domini print creates
a chronologically and theologically appropriate path.224 She states that as the direct route
and most prestigious entrance to San Giovanni, the eastern portal was the door most often
processed through and, on occasions like Corpus Domini, when the procession continued
through the Baptistery, the exit was the northern portal.
The Space
The space immediately surrounding the Gates of Paradise includes the Baptistery
itself, the piazza, and the Cathedral. However, any space or locale across town could also
be related to the Gates/Baptistery/Cathedral complex through the path of a procession.
Both Tacconi and Toker have noted the power of processional paths to connect

223

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:103-105. Krautheimer states that the north portal, as less important,
could wait, but when and if it, too, was to have a door, it was the appropriate place for an Old Testament
cycle, the north being customarily the side absque Christo. But the main portal of the Baptistery of
Parma, which faces the piazza shared with the Cathedral, also represents Old Testament scenes combined
with stories of John the Baptist and Christ.
224

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 189. She goes on to say the interior
connects both Old and New in its imagery. See Figure A45.

77
meaningfully different monuments and spaces within Florence.225 In this sense, the
Cathedral and the Baptistery were continuously united through processions between the
two worship spaces, allowing the religious ceremony to extend into the communal space
of the piazza. The religious procession did more than tie these two edifices together, it
also encouraged a correlation between liturgy, theology, religious drama, and imagery
that could be didactic for the participants.
A Renaissance worshipper involved in a procession from the Cathedral of Santa
Maria del Fiore to the Baptistery of San Giovanni would have first encountered (after
turning away from the crossing and altar) the Cathedrals interior west end (figure A46).
Light shines in through the rose window depicting the Assumption of the Virgin in
stained glass.226 Below this window is a large horizontally formatted mosaic with the
Coronation of the Virgin displayed over the main portal.227 Flanking the central door
were two wall chapels dedicated to the Conception and the Holy Trinity.228 The imagery
of these chapels emphasized the intercessory role of Mary in humanitys salvation.
Timothy Verdon characterizes the interior of the Cathedral faade as representing Marys
role in eternity; the exterior faade displays her role in time.229

225

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual; Toker, On Holy Ground.

226

Designed by Ghiberti and executed in 1404.

227

Designed by Gaddo Gaddi, early fourteenth century.

228

Chapels were demolished in 1843. On these chapels see Timothy Verdon, The Intercession of Christ
and the Virgin from Florence Cathedral: Iconographic and Ecclesiological Significance, in Atti del VII
Centenario del Duomo di Firenze, v. 2, edited by Timothy Verdon and Annalisa Innocenti (Florence:Edifir,
2001), 2:131-146. The Trinity Chapel (to left of those entering) contained an Annunciation statuary group
and an altarpiece of the Holy Trinity with Mary and Donors (2:141-143). The Conception Chapel
contained a fresco fragment of Madonna del Popolo depicting the Virgin and Child.
229

Verdon, Intercession of Christ and the Virgin, 2:146.

78
Stepping out onto the elevated porch of the Cathedral, the vista would have been
dominated by the Florentine Romanesque style Baptistery with its white marble inlaid
with green serpentine stone.230 The glittering eastern gate was additionally framed by the
porphyry columns, which may have at one time stood out from the faade a few feet
creating more of an avenue for entering the Baptistery. At the threshold of the church of
San Giovanni, the multitude of relief figures on the open Gates of Paradise spill out of
their panels.231 Entering and exiting past the images, different episodes would have
presented themselves prominently to the viewer. For instance, the Creation of Adam may
become more prominent from an angle as the three-dimensional elements of the scene are
more visible. The group of angels curve out to frame God the Creator as he gazes down
and reaches for Adam.232 Certainly the stories represented were very familiar to the
urban dwellers who often passed by the Baptistery at the center of town.
The interior of the Baptistery shimmers with mosaics, in the dome, drum, gallery,
and in the apse of the scarsella.233 The Renaissance worshipper would have been
immediately embraced by a pantheon of biblical figures and Christian ancestors in the
dark expanse. Directly opposite the eastern entrance, and looming large above the
Baptisterys apse, is the figure of Christ at the Last Judgment. Amy Bloch notes that a
mosaic gate to Paradise appears on the lowest register to Christs right; its entry is
230

Each of the three bronze entrances were still surmounted by Tino di Camainos statues.

231

The average persons height reaches the Moses and Joshua panels, therefore, unlike a viewing from
straight-on in a reproduction or at the Gates exhibit, viewer look up to most of the panels. Bloch discusses
the relation that could be made between viewer and supplementary figures on the panels.
232

The perspective of each panel as one enters and exits is difficult to decipher until the Gates are re-set.
The copies are usually blocked by a metal gate.
233

The scarsella or rectangular apse was built in 1202. Giusti notes the mosaics above the portals in the
womans gallery underscore the symbolic importance of doorways in a temple devoted to baptism.
(Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 18).

79
guarded by angels and the redeemed are received in the laps and wrapped in the cloaks of
biblical forefathers.234 The floor was covered in thirteenth-century marble inlay designed
like carpets.235 The highly decorative pattern of the flooring made a path from the eastern
door to the center of the building where the baptismal font stood.236 Unlike today, the
area immediately below the dome would have been occupied by a large marble font,
surrounded by an octagonal wall, used to celebrate the baptismal rite of immersion.237
A typical Mass in the Baptistery of San Giovanni would have focused around the
altar, an inlaid Romanesque altar crowned by a tabernacle, in the scarsella, and then
often a procession would return to the Cathedral.238 A large scale procession that might
exit the Baptistery in order to continue the procession through the city presumably would
have exited through the north door, like that depicted in Zocchis print of the Corpus
Domini Procession. But for processions moving between the Cathedral and the
Baptistery at least, one would expect the most direct and prestigious path was utilized,
thus exiting back through the Gates of Paradise. The path from the Baptistery to the
Cathedral would have been highly symbolic, especially in the context of baptism.
234

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 151-152.The three seated figures are Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. The angel by the gate holds a scroll with the inscription Venite Beneditti Patris Me /
[P]osside[n]te Preparatum.
235

These floors are practically unobservable today as they are mostly covered to protect it from tourists.

236

Giusti, Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, 17.

237

This rectangular font was constructed in the early 1200s. The hexagonal basin (1370 and still present
today near the southeastern wall) superseded the original font in the 14th century (Giusti, Baptistery of
San Giovanni in Florence, 17). The large font was dismantled in 1577 by Bernardo Buontalenti (who made
a drawing before the font was destroyed). The 13 th century font was made up of marble intarsia panels,
some remnants of which are now in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo. There is evidence of a smaller
basin between the font and the apse which could have been used in an Ambrosian baptismal rite (Giusti,
11). On the Ambrosian baptismal ceremony and its possible use in the Florentine Baptistery in the early
Middle Ages, see Crociani, La liturgia battesimale.
238

The altar was dismantled in 1731 and re-assembled in the 1900s. On the altar see Giusti, Baptistery of
San Giovanni in Florence, 56. I will analyze specific events below.

80
Angiola suggests, if the medieval baptistery building is thought to be the Porta Paradisi,
the gatehouse through which the Christian enters the Heavenly City, then the baptisterys
eastern portal represents the Golden Gate, its splendid and triumphal principal
entrance.239 This visual symbolism is enhanced with the identification of the Cathedral
with Solomons Temple, a prefiguration of heavenly Jerusalem and a model of the
Church. The suggestion of the Cathedral as representative of the Temple of Solomon is
also found on the Gates of Paradise. In this sense, the door begins with the narrative of
the Expulsion from Paradise and ends with a re-gained Paradise in the triumphant scene
before Solomons Temple. Therefore, the exit from the Baptistery through its gilded
Gates was a triumphal walk to the edifice that represented Jerusalem/Paradise on earth.240
As one passed through the Gates, he or she would have become connected to the lineage
and journey of the elect represented on the door.
Exiting past the Gates of Paradise the urban worshipper would have stepped into
the piazza with the Cathedral rising before them. In 1452, when the Gates of Paradise
were finished, the Cathedral Complex was for the most part complete although, sculptural
projects were continued and the faade remained incomplete. The significance of the
Baptistery of San Giovanni was accentuated over time through continuous decorative
additions and its incorporation into plans for the new cathedral. The Baptistery, Santa
Maria del Fiore, and Giottos Bell tower formed an impressive and cohesive complex.
The piazza had been enlarged, cleared, and raised to create a ritual space for the complex

239
240

Angiola, Gates of Paradise, 243.

The dedication day for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the feast of the Purification. Tacconi
points out that central to the liturgy of that feast is both Mary and the Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:22-32 is
read) because the Presentation in the Temple is also celebrated. (Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 213).

81
as a whole. This had begun the same year the cornerstone of the new cathedral was laid
revealing a priority to connect the two important churches.241 While the cemetery was
cleared and no new burials permitted there, some re-used Roman marble sarcophagi still
remained in the piazza.242
Across the paradisus a partially finished faade, the focus of commissions in the
early fifteenth-century (figure A47) in Arnolfo di Cambios vision, displayed
iconography focused on the Virgin Mary.243 Above the central portal was a sculpture of
the Madonna with Child Enthroned, flanked with local patron saints, St. Reparata and St.
Zenobius (figure A48). The entrance was flanked with large scale statues of seated
evangelists.244 The two left and right portals were crowned with reclining statues of the
Nativity and Dormition of the Virgin, respectively, by Arnolfo (figure A49). The
repetitive reclining figures of the Virgin created a visual bond with the reclining figures
of the frame on the Gates of Paradise.245 High above, the rose window designed by
Ghiberti represented the Assumption of the Virgin (1404). However, the worshipper who
entered the Cathedral was not only taking a place in the Christian community but the
241

The two churches are also connected in form as well. The octagonal space of the Cathedrals
presbytery, also reflected on the exterior mimics that of the Baptistery and the enclosed space of the altar
has the same diameter as the interior of the Baptistery (see Stephanie Johnson and Timothy Verdon, trans.,
Art, Faith, History: A Guide to Christian Florence, [Florence: Studio editorial fiorentino, 1999], 29).
Crociani also discusses geometrical relationships between the two churches (La liturgia battesimale, 5355).
242

Two of these sarcophagi were moved inside the Baptistery in the 1900s (Giusti, Baptistery of San
Giovanni in Florence, 55.
243

The unfinished faade was documented in a drawing by Bernardino Poccetti before its demolition in
1587. The drawing is currently in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Florence near the Museums
reconstruction model of the early 14th century faade.
244

St. Luke (by Nanni di Banco), St. John (by Donatello), St. Matthew (by Bernardo Ciuffagni), and St.
Mark (by Niccol di Piero Lamberti). All were carved between 1408 and 1415.
245

Above, Adam and Eve and below, Noah and his wife.

82
civic community of Florence made emphatic firstly by the new name of Santa Maria del
Fiore (Mary of the Flower or Madonna del giglio). Bergstein states that naming the
cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore in honor of the state, which had as its emblem the
Florentine lily (giglio fiorentino), was a gesture of unusually bold civic self-reference.246
Standing between the two churches, the emphasis on Mary Ecclesia in the
typological guise of Eve and the Queen of Sheba connected to the Cathedral which had
been rededicated to the Virgin Mary, Santa Maria del Fiore.247 The two royal figures and
their surrounding entourages are framed by three Gothic arches, a mirror image of the
interior of Santa Maria del Fiore.248 The connection between the Baptistery and the
Cathedral was further strengthened in the Renaissance by the multitude of liturgical
events, (processions and shared rites), that actually linked the two structures through
ritual. It seems that the relationship between the two religious sites was being constantly
emphasized in the Renaissance. The emphasis on Mary Ecclesia on the Gates of Paradise
justifies the rededication of the Cathedral to Mary, shows that the author of the program
was probably connected to the religious life of the Cathedral, and also supports the
placement of the Gates facing the Cathedral.

246

Mary Bergstein, Marian Politics in Quattrocento Florence: The Renewed Dedication of Santa Maria del
Fiore in 1412, Renaissance Quarterly 44, no. 4 (Winter, 1991): 679.
247

In addition, significant dates in the history of the building were related to the Virgin Mary. The
cornerstone was placed September 8th (1296) on the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, for which Tacconi
equates the birth of the Virgin and the birth of the new Cathedral (Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 211). The
Cathedral was consecrated (by Pope Eugene IV 1436) on March 25 th, the feast of the Annunciation.
Originally the dedication feast of the Cathedral was to be celebrated on the same day, but was changed to
February 2nd, the feast of the Purification (both important for symbolic connections to the lily for a church
dedicated to St. Mary of the Flower; see Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 211-213).
248

One could also propose that the pyramidal form of the Ark relates to the pyramidal form of the
Baptisterys roof-line, its most characteristic feature.

83
The last three panels, Joshua, David, and Solomon, all include processions. The
clarity of composition in the panels placed high on the door becomes much more
crowded in the lower panels at the level of viewers. The last four scenes, Moses through
Solomon, contain what Bloch calls supplementary figures that are not pertinent to the
biblical narrative. 249 She goes on to observe that these extra figures, who often spill out
of the panel, were included to appear similar to the actual public who would engage with
the Gates, and in this way create an immediacy with the biblical narrative by
incorporating the actual crowds with the represented crowds.250
The formal processions relating to the sacrament of baptism would have been
even more significant. The passage from the Baptistery, through the Gates, was
metaphorically related to a passage into Paradise and heavenly Jerusalem. Re-entry into
Paradise began especially with the sacrament of baptism.251 On Holy Saturday, newly
baptized Christians possibly would have processed from the Baptistery across the
paradisus to the Cathedral to receive for the first time the sacrament of the Eucharist.

249

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 168.

250

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 171. Bloch discusses further the
connection between Ghibertis treatment of space on the Gates of Paradise and the audience (174-176).
During processions, crowds would have filed past the doors and the similarity between the sculpted
crowds and the actual crowds that often moved past the door would have been unmistakable, and would
have reinforced the link between the sculpted images and the actual people (177).
251

The octagonal baptistery and octagonal font surround referred symbolically to the octava dies or eighth
day, the day of the Risen Christ and eternity. This day was linked with baptism because through the
sacrament a believer put to death sin and was born into an eternal life with Christ (Johnson, Art, Faith,
History, 22).

84

CHAPTER 5. BAPTISMAL FUNCTION


The primary ritual function of the Baptistery is to perform the sacrament of
baptism. The church of San Giovanni served the whole city and all Florentines were
baptized there.252 The south portal, which depicts the life of John the Baptist by Andrea
Pisano, faces the old center of the city, and is most likely the portal that served the
baptismal ceremony in Quattrocento Florence.253 Amy Bloch argues that part of the
ceremony would have been carried out in front of the south door before proceeding inside
to the font.254 This allowed those involved in the ceremony to make correlations between
the image and liturgy.
Liturgical Sources
Primary sources for the liturgical rite of baptism as it was carried out in Florence
are difficult to obtain. These rites were among the last to become standardized and the
priests offices, including the ceremonies of baptism, matrimony, and extreme unction,
could be found in a variety of small handbooks, unlike the standardized Roman Missal
(Missale Romanum) or Breviary (Breviarium Romanum). These rites were originally
included in the Sacramentary. When the Sacramentary was replaced by the Missal, the
252

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance, 198. Only recently (1970s) were
parochial churches equipped with fonts (Giusti, Baptistery of San Giovanni, 54). See also Trexler, Public
Life, 13 (Parishes had no baptismal fonts, as they did in other Italian cities) and 48. See the Opera di
Santa Maria del Fiore di Firenze official website, Archive of the Credo of Baptism,
http:www.operaduomo.firenze.it/english/archivio/archivio_fedi.asp (accessed 9/25/07). The Opera del
Duomo now holds most of the baptisterys documents and the baptismal registry.
253

For reference to the south doors as the baptismal portal, see Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:367, doc.
14 and 16, and 2:420, digest 285 and 288; Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance,
201-202; Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 135.
254

Bloch, Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance in Renaissance Florence, 201. She also
notes that two scenes of baptism from Pisanos cycle appear out of chronological sequence which allowed
them to be paired together significantly on the left wing of the doors before the eyes of a baptismal retinue
(201-202).

85
priests offices were placed into books called a Manuale, or Agenda, and eventually the
Rituale.255 Not until 1614 under Pope Paul V was there a uniform book for priests
functions. Even then the Roman Ritual (Rituale Romanum) was not an imposed
standard and many local variances continue to exist. 256 There are no Rituale service
books extant for the Florence Cathedral.257
While Lamberto Crociani suggests that the Ambrosian baptismal rite was
performed early in the Baptisterys history, by the early Trecento the liturgy of Florence
followed the Roman rites.258 In 1310 the bishop of Florence, Antonio degli Orsi,
reformed the Florentine liturgy ordering that it must follow the Office of the Roman
Curia.259 Scholars of the history of the baptismal ceremony turn to three Roman sources
that describe the early Catholic baptismal services: a letter by John the Deacon (6th
century), Gelasian Sacramentary (8th century), and the Ordo Romanus XI (8th century).260

255

Martin R. Dudley, Sacramental Liturgies in the Middle Ages, in Liturgy of the Medieval Church,
edited by Thomas J. Heffernan and E. Ann Matter (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2005),
196.
256

Adrian Fortescue, Ritual. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13 (New York: Robert Appleton Co.,
1912), <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13088b.htm> (accessed on Aug. 6, 2010).
257

See Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, Table 1.1. It is possible that the later Breviary (Manuale)
[1506] Ms. Edili 119 in the BML, inventoried by Tacconi, could contain the rites of baptism. Or perhaps
the Processionals (ca. 1480-1520) in the AOSMF. I have yet to access these manuscripts myself, but no
other scholar has suggested these texts contain reference to the Florentine baptismal ceremony.
258

Crociani, La liturgia battesimale, 56-58. Crociani argues this on the basis of archeological evidence of
a small basin between the central font and the altar, which would have been used in the feet washing
ceremony attached to the Ambrosian rite.
259

Constitutiones episcoporum florentini, Archivio Vescovile of Fiesole, sezione XXVI, reg. 1 (See
Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 70-71).
260

See E.C Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 3rd edition (London: SPCK, 2003). See also
J.D.C. Fisher, Christian Initiation: Baptism in the Medieval West: A Study in the Disintegration of the
Primitive Rite of Initiation (Chicago: Hillenbrand Books, 2004). Fisher uses the three sources above among
others to re-create and discuss the Roman ritual of baptism. In her own reconstruction of the general infant
baptismal ceremony at the Florence Baptistery of San Giovanni, Amy Bloch relies on Fishers study
(Baptism, Movement, and Imagery). John the Deacon was a deacon in the Church of Rome in the sixthcentury; little else is known about him except the surviving epistle written describing the initiation ritual.

86
While there are some variations, the current prescribed ritual of baptism in the Rites of
the Catholic Church is also for this study a pertinent source for the traditional Roman
ceremony.261
Two different types of baptismal ceremonies had developed by the Quattrocento
in Florence: the solemn communal ceremony and the everyday ritual. The traditional
baptismal ceremony was communal, and occurred on Holy Saturday (the Vigil of Easter)
or the Vigil of the Pentecost. This large and grand ceremony stems from an early time
when the baptisms were mostly for adult catechumens. The Florentine communal
ceremony of baptism is recorded in most service books alongside the liturgy for that
holiday. In the medieval Florentine ordinal Ritus in ecclesia servandi the communal
baptismal ceremony is described within the liturgical prescriptions of Holy Saturday to
begin after Terce, a monastic hour of the mid-morning.262 Although by 1200 the
communal baptism ceremony was no longer the prevailing method of conferring the
sacrament,263 the installation of the large central rectangular font in thirteenth century
reveals a continued need for adult immersion. That said, during the late Medieval and
Renaissance period baptisms were primarily for infants. Because of the high infant
mortality rate, the baptism of a newborn was not held off but given within a few days of

261

The Rites of the Catholic Church (New York: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1976); and William Fanning. "Baptism."
The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907),
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm> (accessed Sept. 23, 2010).
262

Ritus, f. 40v -41r (transcribed in Toker, On Holy Ground, 197-199). The ceremony of baptism in the
Gelasian Sacramentary and the Ordo Romanus XI is found with the Holy Saturday liturgical prescriptions.
263

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 131.

87
birth.264 For instance, Gregorio Dati noted in his ricordanze, a diary/account book of the
merchant, that:
On Friday evening, 17 March 1396, towards two oclock in the morning, the Lord
blessed our marriage with a male son whom we named Stagio and whom we had
baptized in the love of God on Sunday morningAt dawn on Tuesday, 1 July
1399, Betta had our fifth child and we baptized him in the love of God the same
day, calling him Mari Piero. The sponsors were Master Lionardo [Dati] and Fra
Zanobi. On Tuesday evening, 22 June 1400, Betta gave birth for the sixth time.
The child was a girl. We called her Filippa Giovanna and she was baptized on
Friday morning in the love of God. Fra Simone Bartoli held her. Our Lord God
was pleased to take to Himself the fruits which He had lent us, and He took first
our most beloved, Stagio, our darling and blessed first-born. He died of the
plagueOn 5 July 1402, before the hour of terce, Betta gave birth to our eighth
child. We had him baptized straight after terce in the love of God. His godparents
were Nardo [di Lippo] and blind Margherita, and we called him Piero Antonio
because of Bettas special devotion to S. Antonio.265
It is evident from Datis record that infants in this period were baptized immediately,
sometimes on their birth day.
The extant sources for both types of ceremonies, the seasonal and the everyday,
omit details regarding the use of the specific portals in the baptismal ceremony. Even in
the descriptive Ritus the exact processional route into the Baptistery is unknown. In
Blochs reconstruction of the ritual at the south door, she hypothetically describes step by
step the movements and liturgy of the everyday baptismal ceremony and how the works
of art encountered at the Baptistery played a part in the ceremony, including Tino di

264

Previous to the trecento, all children born in Florence had their baptisms held off until the following
Holy Saturday, unless they were in danger of dying (Toker, On Holy Ground, 53). See also Bloch,
Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 131-132, who discusses the theological sources demanding the need
to remove original sin from infants before death and the idea of Limbo. In the cases when a baby was not
expected to survive, the sacrament could be conferred immediately in the household either by the parents or
a priest.
265

Gene Brucker, ed., Two Memoirs of Renaissance Florence (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.,
1967), 115-117.

88
Camainos sculpture, Ghibertis door frame, Pisanos door, and the interior.266 I agree
with her conclusion that the south door was probably the portal where the everyday
baptismal ceremony began; the relation between ceremony and imagery seems to support
such a hypothesis.267 However, I am not sure the north portal was always used as the exit
as Bloch suggests, and I do not believe the solemn Holy Saturday ceremony would have
entered through the south door. There is little evidence to support or disprove this notion.
An image recording the baptism of Francesco I de Medici in 1541, the first son of Grand
Duke Cosimo I de Medici, shows an occasion when the east door was used in the ritual
(figure A50). The procession for this infant baptism, coming around the north side of the
Cathedral, enters the Baptistery at the eastern portal. 268 This illustration does little to
show a norm as the event was surely an extraordinary one, yet it does show the south
entrance was not always the baptismal portal in the case of special events.
The Baptismal Ceremony
Baptism is dually linked with both birth and death. The catechumen emulates the
death of Christ through burial in the waters of baptism. Just as Christ triumphs over
death in the resurrection, Christians are reborn from the water, putting their life of sin to
death and entering a new covenant. Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism
into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so

266

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 643-653. In Baptism and the frame, Bloch specifically
discusses the iconography of the frame for the south portal by Vittorio and Lorenzo Ghiberti and its
relations to the baptismal theme. This study as well as that contained in her dissertation are brought
together in her examination in Baptism, Movement, and Imagery.
267
268

This will be discussed in more detail below.

Professor Wallace Tomasini points out that this procession probably began at the Medici palace, north
of the Piazza San Giovanni.

89
we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).269 The link between baptism and
the resurrection was emphasized in the Renaissance through the celebration of the
sacrament during the Easter Vigil, the eve of Christs resurrection. The alignment of
baptism with Christs passion and resurrection made by John above are thus clearly
united in the liturgy.270 Although the norm became infant baptisms, the remnants of the
preparation for adult catechumens still linger in the liturgy for the season.271
Holy Saturday & the Pentecost Vigil (communal baptism)
The communal baptism services described in the ordinal Ritus in ecclesia
servandi might have included a multitude of catechumens awaiting the sacrament,
perhaps some adults and some infants born in the days leading up to Easter. Ritus
prescribes that after Terce, those about to be baptized proceed to the church, meaning
the Cathedral of Santa Reparata.272 The catechumens recite the Apostles Creed and are
lined up by males and females. The priest makes a sign of the cross on the forehead of
each catechumen, then placing his hand on the head of each says: Ne te latet [Be not
deceived, Satan].273 John the Deacon explains that the blessing is so that the catechumen

269

St. John goes on in his epistle to discuss further the connection between baptism and Christs death and
resurrection (Romans 6:4-14). See also Rites of the Catholic Church, 5. This concept is also behind the
tomb-like architecture that is often a feature of individual baptisteries.
270

The water consecrated at the Easter Vigil should, if possible, be kept and used throughout the Easter
season to signify more clearly the relationship between the sacrament of baptism and the paschal mystery.
(Rites of the Catholic Church, 8).
271

One of the major reasons for the increased haste given to infant baptisms in St. Augustines doctrine of
Original Sin. See Fisher, Christian Initiation, especially pages 134-134.
272

Translated by Toker, On Holy Ground, 53-54: Post tertiam procedunt qui baptizandi sunt ad
ecclesiam (Ritus 40v-41r transcribed in Toker, On Holy Ground, 197-199). In the case of an infant, the
parents and godparents would obviously speak for the child.
273

Gelasian Sacramentary (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 229); Ordo Romanus XI
(Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 250); Ritus 40v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 197)

90
knows who he is and who he shall befrom being a servant he becomes a son: so that a
man whose first parentage brought him perdition is restored by the gift of a second
parentage, and becomes the possessor of a fathers inheritance.274 The baptismal
ceremony and the liturgy of instruction leading up to Holy Saturday are replete with the
language of rebirth. Within this concept of rebirth is an emphasis on the initiated
receiving a new lineage, a new inheritance.
Not only is the catechumen reborn under a new Father, but also a new Mother
under the guise of the Church. The Gelasian Sacramentary describes the rebirth as such:
And so now the Church being pregnant by your conception, glories that in the midst of
her festal worship she labours to bring forth new lives subject to the Christian law.275
Both the themes of lineage/inheritance of the elect of the Old Testament (emphasized in
the sibling rivalries) and Ecclesia are strong elements on the Gates of Paradise. For
instance, the blessing given to Jacob and his family as depicted in the Jacob and Esau
panel. In the same panel, Rebekah is a prefiguration of the Church in her protection of
her younger son.
The exorcism is followed by the priest touching both the ears and nostrils with
spittle, then says: Effeta quod et cetera [Effeta, that is, be opened, unto the odour of
sweetness].276 John the Deacon explains the reason the nostrils and ears are touched: the
ears because through them faith enters the mind[and] as long as they draw the breath of

274

Letter to Senarius by John the Deacon (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 209).

275

Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 220-221. See also a similar statement by John the
Deacon, For he was conceived in the womb of Mother Church and now he begins to live (Whitaker,
209).
276

Gelasian Sacramentary (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 229); Ordo Romanus XI
(Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 250); Ritus 40v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 197).

91
life through their nostrils they must abide in the service and the Commandments of
God.277 The priest next touches the shoulder and chest with holy oil asking each:
Abrenuntias Satane [Do you renounce Satan?].278 The priest, in some sources walking
a circle around them, places a hand on each of their heads and loudly says: Credo in
deum [the Apostles Creed].279 The catechumen are then ordered to pray on bended
knee (Orate electi flectite genua)280 after which they are dismissed to wait outside until
the baptismal ceremony. The rest of the service in the Cathedral is performed, the
blessing of the candle and the lessons for Holy Saturday.281
As described in Ritus, the baptismal ceremony follows the service in the
Cathedral. It begins with a procession that slowly moves from the Cathedral, across the
paradisus, and to the font in the Baptistery of San Giovanni, while a litany is sung. The
prescriptions detail the procession to the font, not the path. The solemn line is preceded
by the blessed candle and a cross, with members of the clergy walking in pairs.282 The
parents and adult catechumens recited the Apostles Creed just before leaving the church
277

Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 210.

278

Gelasian (Witaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy , 230); Ritus, 40v (Toker, On Holy Ground ,
197).
279

Gelasian Sacramentary (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 230); Ordo Romanus XI
(Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 250); Ritus 40v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 197).
280

Ritus, 40v (transcribed in Toker, On Holy Ground, 197).

281

I will continue with the baptismal ceremony, leaving the liturgy for Holy Saturday to be discussed in the
following chapter so it may be fully described in it relation to the Lenten season.
282

Ultima lect. finite, sacerdote cum ministris preparatis, facimus processionem ad fontem, cereo
benedicto et cruce precedentibus, postea binis et binis clericis subsequentibus (Ritus, 42r transcribed in
Toker, On Holy Ground, 198). Roughly translated: After the lectures are finished, the priest with his
attendants prepare, then process to the font, blessed candle and cross before them, followed by the clergy
two by two. Also described in Ordo Romanus XI (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 250);
The Ordo Romanus XI lists the litany as Kyrieleison and then a litany that begins O Christ, hear us. Ritus
says that seven litanies should be sung and five around the font (Toker, On Holy Ground, 54). Ritus
prescribes the blessed candle, while Ordo specifies two lighted candles.

92
and encountering the Gates of Paradise. They memorized the Creed to profess their
belief in God, the Creator, illustrated before them on both the Gates and the interior dome
of the Baptistery. They also professed their belief in Jesus, that he was born of the Virgin
Mary, was crucified, died, and was resurrected into Heaven. The elect were surrounded
by imagery of the Virgin Mary and prefigurations of Christs Passion on the Old
Testament door, as well as the Cathedral faade and interior of the Baptistery. Finally
that they believe Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, and catechumens
are reminded of this immediately upon entering the Baptistery with the large image of
Christ the Judge hovering above the baptismal font. Besides the Last Judgment scene in
the dome, the initiates were surrounded by mosaics depicting members of a large
Christian community throughout the building.
As mentioned earlier, lineage was significant in Medieval and Renaissance
thought and key to the sacrament of baptism, which incorporated the baptized into the
long lineage of Christianity. The initiates then were surrounded by fore-fathers and
church fathers inside, after they passed the Gates with its patriarchal references from
Adam to Solomon. But the ritual of baptism did more than introduce the initiate into a
Christian community. As Bloch points out, baptism brought children into the Christian
flock, integrated them into historical and contemporary civic communities, and provided
them and their families with indispensible social connections through links forged with
the godparents who accompanied fathersto the font.283 The initiate became part of the
Florentine Christian and civic community. Additionally, the ceremony solidified the
283

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 132. Bloch also discusses the link between lineage and the
thirteenth-century baptismal font, which was envisioned as signifying the citys antique pasta person was
baptized in the same font as early Christian Florentines creating a meaningful inclusion in the Florentine
community (149).

93
choice of coparents, as Louis Haas calls the Renaissance godparents, and established the
social and spiritual bond of baptismal kinship.284
Finishing the litany and arriving at the font, the bishop or priest, says: Dominus
vobiscum [The Lord be with you].285 The font is blessed before baptism is celebrated
and the liturgy for this is recorded in the Gelasian Sacramentary:
God whose Spirit at the beginning of the world was borne upon the waters [Gen.
1:2], that even the nature of water might conceive the power of sanctification:
God who by the outpouring of the flood signified a type of regeneration, when
you by water washed away the sins of a wicked world, so that by the mystery of
one and the same element there should be both an end of sin and a beginning of
virtue:open the fount of baptism for the renewal of all nations of the
world,let your Holy Spirit by the secret admixture of his light give fruitfulness
to this water prepared for human regeneration, so that, sanctification being
conceived therein, there may come forth from the unspotted womb of the divine
font a heavenly offspring, reborn unto a new creature286
Again, the theme of regeneration and rebirth are evident in the blessing above. The
depiction of the Flood is emblematic of baptism because the waters cleansed the rampant
sin of humans from the world. While the Flood is a popular symbol of baptism, the
image represented on the Gates of Paradise is perhaps even more appropriate than the
popular dramatic depictions of the coming waters.287 On the Gates Noah and his family
come out of the Ark (figure A51). They are reborn from the Ark with the sins of the
world washed away and below their feet (in the guise of a dead human body now part of
284

For a discussion of the tradition and use of baptismal kinship and its importance in the social network of
the Renaissancee, see Louis Haas, Il Mio Buono Compare: Choosing Godparents and the Uses of
Baptismal Kinship in the Renaissance, Journal of Social History 29, no. 2 (Winter, 1995): 341-356.
285

Finitis letaniis, decit pontifex vel sacerdos Dominus vobiscum et benedicit fontem secundum ordinem
qui presignatus est in sacramentario Ritus, 42r transcribed in Toker, On Holy Ground, 199. Also
described in Ordo Romanus XI (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 250).
286
287

Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 233-34.

An example of the depiction of the Flood roughly contemporary with the scene on the Gates is Paolo
Uccellos version in the Chiosto Verde of Santa Maria Novella. Uccellos Ark is also a pyramid.

94
the earth).

The family actually stands outside the door of the Ark and thus symbolizes

the imagery of birth from the womb of the font, as in the above blessing, or from the
womb of the Mother Church laboring to bring forth new lives subject to the Christian
law.288 The focus in the baptismal liturgy is on the rebirth, renewal, and regeneration
possible through the blessed water of the font, and this is well illustrated on the Gates of
Paradise by the post-Flood imagery.
The scene of Noahs family exiting the Ark, through its symbolism with birth and
the Church, offers another instance for allusion to the Virgin Mary as Ecclesia. In the
Speculum the Virgin Mary is paralleled with the Temple of Solomon.289 Craig Wright, in
his study of the imagery of Solomons Temple and the Virgin in a motet written for the
dedication ceremony of Santa Maria del Fiore, notes that Medieval theologians viewed
Mary and her womb as the sanctuary, a maternal temple, in which Christ was
nurtured.290 In this sense, the Virgin Mary and Solomons Temple in Jerusalem
symbolized the Christian Church, even more so the Mother Church. The typological
representations of Eve and the Queen of Sheba as Mary Ecclesia on the Gates of Paradise
refer to this tradition of Mother Church, and in the baptismal context also represent the
birth of new Christian members.

288

As quoted above from the Gelasian Sacramentary (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 23334).
289

The image of Solomons Temple is crowned with the inscription Templum Salomonis significant
beatum Mariam virginem. See Craig Wright, Dufrays Nuper rosarum flores, King Solomons Temple,
and the Veneration of the Virgin, Journal of the American Musicological Society 47, no. 3 (Autumn,
1994): 432.
290

Wright, Dufrays Nuper rosarum flores, 431. The motet composed by Dufray relates the Virgin (to
whom the Cathedral was being dedicated) and the Temple of Solomon, which he proves is not a new
concept in the Renaissance. Wright also notes Dufray describes the harsh winter of the Old Law of the
prophets as a foil to the vernal Virgin who represents the New Law (412).

95
The prayer for the blessing of the font lists water that was considered sacred in
biblical history. The prayer goes on to mention the water separated at the Creation by
God, water of the four rivers, water from the rock, water that changed to wine at Cana,
water that Jesus walked on, water of the Jordan, and water mixed with the blood of Jesus
shed from his side. Ghiberti also seems to have striven to incorporate water in significant
ways. The river of Eden is described in the Bible: A river flows out of Eden to water the
garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches (Genesis 2:10). The river
in the Cain and Abel panel represents another boundary, Cains homeland from which he
is expelled by God to wander. The Abraham panel includes a spring in the foreground
directly beneath the Sacrifice of Isaac. Joseph is pulled from a well, a clear symbol of the
rebirth of baptism. The Moses panel also contains a body of water, either to reference the
miracle of the Red Sea or for the consecration of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. Joshua
crossing the Jordan River is one of the major biblical episodes that symbolizes baptism.
In the lower left of the David panel, just visible is the wadi where David gathered his five
smooth stones.291
When the font and water is blessed, the catechumens are baptized one at a time;
the rite finishes with the anointing of chrism in the sign of the cross on their forehead
(presbyterial unction).292 The Ordo Romanus prescribes the baptized to be wrapped in
white garments after they come out of the font. John the Deacon explains that the white
robing symbolizes the resurgent Church, and a wedding garment for one to approach

291
292

A wadi is a dry river bed.

The Gelasian says each is dipped three times in the water (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal
Liturgy, 235). See Fisher, Christian Initiation, 10-24, for a discussion of the Holy Saturday baptismal
ceremony.

96
the table of the heavenly bridegroom.293 The unction and dressing in white is likened to
a prince or priest that the baptized person may understand that in his person a kingdom
and a priestly mystery have met.294 Each initiate is finally confirmed with an
invocation of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit.295 After the ceremony is over and
confirmed, the group processes back to the church to partake of the Eucharist in Mass,
the first time for the initiates.296
Passing back through the Gates of Paradise on this solemn occasion is highly
symbolic of the initiates progression through the gates of Heaven leading to the Church,
the emblem of salvation, their vision of Paradise on earth. Considering the symbolic
relationships noted above between the baptismal liturgy for the ceremony on Holy
Saturday (and the Pentecost) and the imagery of Ghibertis Gates of Paradise, it is
necessary to revisit briefly baptismal themes on the door. Without knowing the details of
the baptismal liturgy, it might seem unusual that an Old Testament door on a baptistery

293

John the Deacon (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 211). The Rite of the Catholic Church
(197-212) also describes the white garment.
294

John the Deacon (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 211). See Fishers discussion of this
traditional concept (14-15). The hand-laying with the blessing (and earlier in the ceremony) is represented
in the Blessing of Isaac on the Gates of Paradise.
295

Ordo Romanus XI (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 251). See also the Gelasian
Sacramentary (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 235). The prayer includes passages from
John 3:5 and Isa. 11:2.
296

The Ordo Romanus XI says that infants are to receive communion as well, and they must not nurse after
they are baptized and before receiving their first communion (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal
Liturgy, 251). baptism celebrato, regressus fit ad altare cum letaniis ternis eo ordine quo itum est ad
fontem (Ritus, 42r transcribed in Toker, On Holy Ground, 199). Fisher, in his analysis of the Roman rite
of initiation on Holy Saturday, concludes that little changed from the 8 th century to the 12th century (22):
Thus from the eighth to the twelfth centuries the Roman rite of initiation underwent little change; most of
the ceremonies of the Gelasianum and Ordo XI have been preserved, the pattern of the rite is unchanged,
and its integrity unimpaired, baptism, confirmation and first communion still being, as in primitive times,
three parts of one coherent whole. Therefore, if related to the ceremony of baptism, the Gates imagery
should not just emphasize symbols of water as references to baptism, but also confirmation and communion
(confirmation of salvation and remission of sins and recognition of Christs sacrifice).

97
would not contain popular images known to symbolize baptism, like the Parting of the
Red Sea and the Flood. However, it appears the iconographical program chosen for the
Gates strongly relate to the language of the baptismal ceremony. The inclusion of water
in the panels is only a beginning. Almost every panel contains at least an allusion to
water. The incorporation of water is in most cases significant to the narrative as it was
represented.
The baptismal ceremony may explain the iconography of the panels that do not
contain significant water references. These include the Noah, Jacob and Esau, and
Solomon panels. As discussed above, the episode of Noah and his family exiting the Ark
is a more potent symbol of the rebirth of baptism than the watery burial of the Flood,
especially because it also imparts the symbol of the womb of Ecclesia. The Mother
Church, in Florence dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is an emphasis in the baptismal liturgy
as well. The role of the Church and the role of Mary in salvation is accentuated.
Although the Jacob and Esau panel does not contain water, it does contain both a birth
and a blessing, which are two important aspects of the baptismal ceremony described in
the texts. The Moses and Joshua panel are placed at the height of an average viewer.
The Moses panel did not represent the salvation of the Israelites from the Red Sea
because it is adjacent to the Joshua panel, which represents salvation with the more
potent symbol of the Israelites crossing the Jordan and into the Promised Land through
the power of God. As evident in the baptismal ceremony, the initiate is called to hear and
abide by the Commandments of God, as was the point of the Effeta and the reciting of the
Creed and Pater Noster. The baptized are born into a new life under a new covenant and
a New Law. In the Gates of Paradise, the Moses and Joshua panels present two powerful

98
images to the viewer, and to the Holy Saturday initiate: God presenting the Tablets of the
Law and God leading the faithful into the Promised Land.
The Solomon panel could be considered a celebratory reconciliation and a counter
to the severance as a result of original sin in the Creation panel. The Solomon panel, full
of processional and festival atmosphere, is a triumphant celebration of the recognition of
the wisdom and role of the Church in salvation. In its simple single scene it contains the
combined symbols connecting Paradise, the Temple, and Mary Ecclesia (the maternal
temple). The marriage-like imagery is also significant to the baptismal ceremony, when
the candidate is wrapped in a white garment representing his or her marriage with Christ
and celebrating the resurgent Church.297
The logic behind the choice of narratives represented on the Gates of Paradise is
made clear when the context of the communal baptismal ceremony for the Easter Vigil is
taken into account. This ceremony is the culmination of the season of Lent, which
prepares the Church community for Easter and baptismal candidates for baptism.
Although more of the baptisms were infant than adult, elements of the adult ceremony
remain in the traditional liturgy. One reason for this was that the season of Lent and Holy
Week were not only meant for the instruction of initiates, but also for the Christian
members as an annual reminder of the covenant into which they entered.
Baptism at the south door (daily baptism)
Amy Bloch recreates the infant baptismal ceremony beginning at the south portal,
which would have been celebrated within a few days of birth.298 Summarizing briefly the

297

These meaningful connections with the baptismal ceremony on the Vigil of Easter will be placed within
the context of the season in the next chapter.
298

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 134- 153.

99
main steps she reconstructs for the baptismal participant, Bloch points out the ceremony
would have begun in the streets of Florence as the father, child, and godparents processed
to the Baptistery from their home where they would meet the presiding priest. As the
group approached Piazza San Giovanni, the Baptism of Christ sculptural group by Tino
di Camaino would be visible first crowning the baptismal portal. Bloch concludes that
initial ceremonies were performed in front of Pisanos door representing the life of St.
John the Baptist. An initial service before the church door was performed before the
initiate enters the Baptistery, as one source describes: First the priest standing at the
doorway of the church questions the person to be catechized standing outside the
doorway.299 This pause in the ceremony allowed the participants to connect the imagery
with the actions an liturgy.300
The frame of the south portal was commissioned from Vittorio and Lorenzo
Ghiberti. A detailed look at the frame full of flora and fauna actually reveals symbols
that closely relate to the themes of baptism. Bloch identifies the figures of Adam and
Eve, and symbols of fertility, lust, and procreation, and plants that refer to Adams
punishment to toil after the fall.301 The frame thus represents signs of the original sin that
is to be removed by the sacrament of baptism.302

299

Fisher, Christian Initiation, 126. Fisher is looking at several texts here including a Rituale Romanum of
1487, the Sarum Manual, and the Gelasian Sacramentary. After the ceremony the initiate is formally
introduced into the church as the priest says: Enter into the temple of God that thou mayest have eternal
life (Fisher, Christian Initiation, 128).
300

It is unknown whether the south door would already be open at this point.

301

See also Bloch, Baptism and the frame of the south door, 24-37. Bloch also notes that St. Augustine
contended that while original sin of course derived ultimately from the transgression of Adam and Eve,
the sin was passed on through, or as a result of, the sexual act that led to human conception (33).
302

Walking past the frames vivid illustrations of the source of original sin and its effects and toward the
entrance represented the beginning of a rite of passage in which the participants movement allowed them

100
Before the portal the priest asked for the childs name. He then lightly breathed
upon its face, made the sign of the cross on its chest and forehead, and performed
exorcisms.303 Then some blessed salt was placed in the infants mouth.304 Bloch notes
that as these actions were performed and participants prepared to move inside to the font,
the two representations of baptisms on the door are prominently displayed (at the height
of the viewer).305 The Baptism of the Multitude and the Baptism of Christ are displayed
in relief next to each other on the left valve of the double door. That these scenes were
considered in the baptismal ceremony is made more secure by the fact that, as Bloch
points out, the Baptism of the Multitude is out of chronological sequence so that the two
baptismal scenes would be paired.306
Passing through the south portal and stepping into the Baptistery, the participants
went to a porphyry circle that is part of the pavement of the floor. Bloch believes that as
required by the Roman rite, participants stopped at the porphyry disk, leaned down, and
placed the child on the floor, directly atop the disk, and the priest then said aloud the
Apostles Creed and Lords Prayer.307 Before the smaller font was installed in 1370, for

to leave behind that sinfulness and the accompanying anxiety and move toward joy and relief (Bloch,
Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 142).
303

Fisher, Christian Initiation, 127.

304

The blessed salt is a symbol of wisdom and preserves from corruption.

305

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 143. She also notes that just above these two panels is a
representation of the Naming of the Baptist.
306

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 143. Bloch even suggests the participants may have been
facing to the left and then, following the chronology of the door, turning towards the right and entering
where the font would be located to the right wall.
307

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 144. See also Fisher, Christian Initiation, 127. Fisher
notes that in the Sarum Manual the Creed and Lords Prayer are recited by the parents and godparents
(Christian Initiation, 127).

101
daily baptisms, the inlaid pavement might have created a path to the central font.308 But
during the Renaissance, the participants would have walked to the southwest wall where
the smaller hexagonal font stood. The priest anointed the childs ears and nostrils as in
the Effeta described above.309 The remaining elements of the ritual are similar to that on
Holy Saturday with the blessing of the font, anointing the child with holy oil, and
performing the sacrament of baptism. After a candidates baptism, the bishop confirms
their salvation into Paradise (as he signs them on the forehead with chrism he says, The
sign of Christ unto life eternal).310 Documents lack details for the actions at the end of
the ceremony. It is unclear out of which door the newly baptized Christian exited. Bloch
suggests that they left through the north door, and returned home to celebrate.311
However, given the prescriptions for the baptized of the Holy Saturday service to return
to the Cathedral for Mass, and their first communion, perhaps the next step is to attend
services, whether immediate or later in the day.312 Even though this would mean the
Gates of Paradise would be the direct route to the Cathedral, the Gates were probably not
used as an exit for these frequent baptisms, as the door would not have been opened so
308

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 147.

309

Fisher, Christian Initiation, 127.

310

Gelasian (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 235). Candidates were meant to re-entered
paradise nude as they were before original sin, like Adam and Eve on the Creation panel before the
Expulsion. John the Deacon was the only source I looked at that mentions the candidate should go forward
nude (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 210).
311

Bloch, Baptism, Movement, and Imagery, 151. Bloch suggests this because of the print by Giuseppe
Zocchi depicting the Corpus Domini procession (Figure A45) that shows the procession exiting through the
north door. She interprets thus that the north door was usually the exit. At the end of her analysis of the
baptismal ceremony and the imagery encountered at the Baptistery, she notes images of the gates of
Paradise that would have been seen by baptismal participants, especially if crossing under the vault of the
building to exit the north door.
312

Fisher states that first communion was actually usually deferred until the years of discretion (Christian
Initiation, 130).

102
often. It does seem more likely that the baptismal participants of the small daily
ceremony exited back out the south portal which was already opened, or the north portal.
The language of the Catholic Church, as presented in the above documents and
the modern service book for the baptismal rite, relates the sacrament of baptism to
enlightenment, being freed from darkness, initiated into the sacrament of the New
Law.313 The Old Testament images on the Gates of Paradise also relate to these themes.
They represent the Old Law which has been illuminated through the New, particularly
with the framing of these scenes with the prophets. The many younger siblings that are
blessed in the scenes represented on the door symbolize the New over the Old.314 Abel,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David are all younger sons. The inclusion of prophets in the
frame also touch on the theme of enlightenment as the mystery of the Old Testament, and
their prophecies are revealed through the New Testament in the life of Christ. The Old
Testament fathers were living under the Old Law of the covenant (the covenant is
emphasized in the stories presented). As the chronology of the narratives move closer to
the Promised Land of the Old Covenant (symbolizing the return to Paradise), the panels
become more celebratory and triumphant in nature. The actions before baptism, the
touching of the ears and nostrils are to prepare the candidate to live by the New Law:
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17) and for as

313
314

Rites of the Catholic Church, New York: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1976, 3-4.

As mentioned above, the Virgin could also symbolize the New Law in her representation of Mother
Church who gave birth to Christ.

103
long as they draw the breath of life through their nostrils they must abide in the service
and the Commandments of God.315

315

John the Deacon (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 210). In addition John the Deacon
explains that the anointing of the breast, as the dwelling place of the heart, is so that they may understand
that they promise with a firm mind and pure heart eagerly to follow after the Commandments of Christ.

104
CHAPTER 6. LITURGICAL FUNCTION:
HOLIDAYS OF THE PROPRIUM DE TEMPORE
The Baptistery of San Giovanni and the Gates of Paradise occupied an important
place in the liturgical life of Florences Cathedral complex. San Giovanni was utilized
for far more than for the baptismal ceremony (see Table B1). 316 Both the Cathedral (first
Santa Reparata and later Santa Maria del Fiore) and the Baptistery were settings for
major religious events. In his study of the liturgical ceremonies described in early
Florentine ordinals, Toker notes the relationship between the two churches: Since Santa
Reparata was liturgically twinned with the Baptistery, its most notable ceremonies
included processions not only within the Cathedral but also crossing over to San
Giovanni.317 On numerous occasions a celebration at the Baptistery continued in the
form of a procession that linked the two edifices. For instance, on several major holidays
the clergy and worshippers proceeded from the Baptistery to the Cathedral, or vice versa,
with a Mass celebrated in both places. According to a thirteenth-century Florentine
ordinal, every Sunday Mass was split (Missa maior and Missa populi) between Santa
Reparata and San Giovanni.318 For Palm Sunday ceremonies, a short procession moved
from the Cathedral into the shared piazza (the paradisus), then into San Giovanni for
Terce, and returning to the Cathedral singing antiphons in procession through the piazza.
Consequently, each of the prescribed ceremonies offered opportunities for the visual

316

Table B1 lists major liturgical events that involved San Giovanni and lists numerous ceremonies that
engaged both churches in the ritual spectacle and liturgical services.
317

Toker, On Holy Ground, 48. Toker goes on to discuss examples of ceremonies which incorporated both
churches.
318

Mores et consuetudines cannonice florentine, 1v (See Table B1). On other major holidays the sources
specifically describe a procession between the two churches for the celebration of the two Masses. See also,
Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 197.

105
imagery of the Baptistery to connect thematically with the liturgical rite. Tacconi
mentions that in her study of two medieval Florentine ordinals she was struck by the
constant attempt to involve the populace in the religious life of the ecclesia maior.319
All three doors and their frames, the marble floor, and interior mosaics were related to the
various liturgical rituals of the Baptistery. San Giovanni is rich in narrative decoration;
however, the scope of this project focuses on those narratives depicted on the Gates of
Paradise.
Theis chapter focuses on seasonal liturgical celebrations, events that tend to be
more strictly in the religious sphere, rather than the more civic-natured, and more locally
unique, feast day celebrations. The liturgy under consideration for this chapter is found
in the proprium de tempore section of a Missal or Breviary. The proprium de tempore,
Proper of Time or Temporale, includes liturgy for the services commemorating Jesus
Christ, including the three principal feasts of the year: Christmas (preceded by the season
of Advent and including the Epiphany), Easter (preceded by the season of Lent), and
Pentecost. The other large section of a Missal is the proprium sanctorum, Proper of the
Season or Sanctorale, which includes the liturgy for saints festivals.320 This portion of
the liturgical calendar varies the most from region to region and city to city, and the
rituals tend to include more civic elements. The liturgy of the Sanctorale is analyzed in
chapter seven.

319

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 98. Tacconi notes, along these lines, that the most effective way to
involve the populace was through procession, which were commonly performed both within and outside
the ecclesia maiorin late twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Florence (100).
320

There are a few feast days that were assigned to the proprium de tempore, like that of St. Stephen.

106
An Introduction to Liturgy
The service of Mass is made up of several parts consisting commonly of an
Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gospel, Gradual, Offertory, Secret, Communion, PostCommunion and prayers. Each part is prescribed specifically for the day or feast. The
liturgy of the Mass is found in the Missal, which is divided into three sections. The
proprium de tempore devoted to Masses from Advent through Lent. In the middle is the
Ordo Missae, a small section for liturgy performed in every Mass. Finally, the proprium
sanctorum contains the Masses of the saints. The principal Mass of the day was typically
said after the monastic hour of Terce.321 Often in Florence there were two Masses
celebrated, a Missa maior and Missa populi, literally a major Mass and a Mass for the
people.322 The Divine Office consists of eight services throughout the day and night at
the monastic hours: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline.323
Services for the Office are found in the Breviary, which is organized into the proprium de
tempore and proprium sanctorum sections as well. There were public celebrations of

321

Especially on Sundays and feast days. See Andrew Hughes, Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office:
A Guide to Their Organization and Terminology (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995), 18.
322

The Missa maior and Missa populi are described in Mores et consuetudines cannonice florentine, 1v.
These two types of Mass seem to have been celebrated one right after the other. See Tacconi, Cathedral
and Civic Ritual, 98-99. The public was invited to attend Missa maior even though this Mass was
primarily celebrated for the canons and chapter (Frank A. DAccone, The Civic Muse: Music and
Musicians in Siena during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance [Chicago: Chicago University Press,
1997], 74. The Mass of the people was usually celebrated before Terce, with Terce sung in the choir and
then Major Mass immediately after. Both Missa maior and Missa populi were celebrated with the same
prescriptions (83).
323

Laymen were often present at the worship services. Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 195. The
texts were always the same, and their meaning could easily be explained even to people not knowing
Latin (Joseph Jungmann, Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, trans. by Francis A
Brunner [London: Burns & Oates, 1961], 95).

107
Mass every Sunday and on feast days (including days in preparation and immediately
after important festivals).324
This research focuses on the primary service books, like the Missal and Breviary,
which record the prescribed readings (Epistle and Gospel) for each Mass and, primarily,
the Matins service. The readings are lessons (lectio) usually extracted from Scripture, but
also sermons or homilies by Church Fathers. The principal Mass includes two assigned
readings, one Epistle (letters from the Apostles) and one Gospel. Only during certain
holidays is an Old Testament reading substituted for the Epistle, or more than two lessons
prescribed. Lessons are assigned to specific days throughout the ecclesiastical year.325
These readings recite specific biblical stories, reveal their significances, and also
elucidate the highlighted themes for the period of a principal celebration. The Old
Testament was chiefly prescribed in lectio throughout the season of Lent.
The liturgical services and its various parts were not always organized so clearly
and concisely into the Missal and Breviary as they are today. Liturgical texts were still
under development during the late Middle Ages to Renaissance.326 By the thirteenthcentury the Missal had replaced the old Sacramentary. The liturgy of the Mass, even
after the development of the Missal, is spread into a multitude of different service books
each containing separate parts of the service, like the Missal, Lectionary, and chant books
(Gradual or Antiphonary). Often the medieval Missal lists only the first line for a lectio
that was to be discovered in full within the pages of a Lectionary, a manuscript that lists
324

During Lent daily attendance at divine service was considered of obligation for many centuries from
Carolingian times on (Jungmann, Mass of the Roman Rite, 176).
325
See Table B2 for a list of the prescribed readings for three Medieval and Renaissance Missals.
326

For an introduction to the many types of services books see Hughes, Medieval Manuscripts for Mass
and Office, 119. See also Toker (On Holy Ground, 37) for a description of medieval liturgical books and
their use.

108
only the prescribed readings for Mass and the Office for the ecclesiastical year.327 This is
the case, for instance, in the two surviving medieval Florentine ordinals Mores et
consuetudines cannonice florentine and Ritus in ecclesia servandi. These two ordinals,
which have already been discussed, describe not just the readings or antiphons328 for a
ceremony, as a book like the Missal is limited to, but also liturgy for the Office and some
of the prescribed actions and movements for each ceremony. They are not as structured
as the Missal and therefore do not contain a consistent set of information for each
holiday, indeed not every holiday is included. Missal Ms. Edili 107 (1331), produced for
the Florentine Cathedral, contains full text of all the readings and other parts of the Mass
for the year.329 The Missal, however, does not describe the ritualistic movements or
processional routes that were to accompany certain services. Because of the development
of liturgical texts and the variety of information that can be gleaned from separate
sources, it has been necessary to consult a number of these liturgical sources to identify
the specific religious services and events that could connect with the Gates of Paradise.
Liturgical Sources
For the proceeding analysis, several primary sources are consulted for details of
Florences liturgy, which offer both a range of dates that coincide with the period for the
design of the Gates of Paradise, and specific liturgy used in Florence.330 The earliestdating sources referenced are well-known to scholars of Florentine liturgy: the Ritus in

327

There are no chapter references or verse numbers. For the presiding priest, all that was necessary was
the first line for the passage.
328
An antiphon is a verse from psalms or scripture that is sung responsively during the liturgical service. It
is often the significant idea from the psalm or scripture included in full in the service.
329

Ms. Edili 107 is in the collection of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana.

330

The earliest surviving Duomo inventory dates to 1418.

109
ecclesia servandi331 and the Mores et consuetudines canonice florentine.332 Dating well
before the design of the Gates of Paradise, these two ordinals are important in their
descriptive instructions for how liturgical ceremonies were to be performed in the
Cathedral of Santa Reparata and the surrounding streets.333 As the only surviving
Florentine ordinals, they are the only service books to include such descriptions as the
specified order of processions, the ringing of bells, and the props to be used. Despite
their chronological distance from the liturgical ceremonies of the fifteenth-century, the
Ritus and Mores are utilized here as documents preserving Florentine traditions in the
form and function of ceremony, traditions which were often upheld into the Renaissance.
However, changes in the liturgy and ritual did happen. There are changes in processional
routes that occurred even between the production dates of the ordinals.334 For this reason
these descriptive, but early medieval sources can offer only limited evidence of the
liturgical life of Florence.
Both Tacconi and Toker note important events that necessitated new liturgical
manuscripts and rendered the Ritus and Mores obsolete.335 The construction of a new

331

Written circa 1190 for the cathedral clergy. Now in the Biblioteca Riccardiana.

332

Dating circa 1230. Now in the Opera del Duomo archives. Franklin Toker, in On Holy Ground: Liturgy,
Architecture, and Urbanism in the Cathedral and the Streets of Medieval Florence (London: Harvey Miller
Publishers, 2009), examines the history of both service books and the evidence they offer for the interaction
between liturgy, architecture and urbanism. He also gives full Latin transcriptions for each service book.
Tacconi also examines the ordinals (Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 94-128).
333

Toker, On Holy Ground, 29.

334

Specifically, the route for Palm Sunday processions changed between the creation of the Ritus and the
Mores. Also the festival for Corpus Christi was not instituted until after both texts were produced.
335

These events include: a rearrangement of altars in the Cathedral, liturgical reform by Bishop dOrso in
1310, a move toward universal liturgy, the establishment of the Opera del Duomo in 1296, higher aesthetic
standards for a new Cathedral and further changes to the administrative structure of the Duomo. See
Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 23, 25, 144; and Toker, On Holy Ground, 30.

110
Cathedral as well as reforms toward less liturgical diversity and more universal (Roman)
conformity were the primary motivators.336 In her excellent study of Florentine service
books, Marica Tacconi identified different phases of production. The first phase occurred
in the fourteenth-century, of which only six manuscripts survive, and the second phase in
the fifteenth-century after the casting of the Gates of Paradise panels.337 From the first
phase, presumably those service books used during the creation of the Gates of Paradise,
Missal Ms. Edili 107 (in the BML) is exemplary as the earliest surviving text produced
for the Florence Cathedral. Missal E107 (circa 1331) was created after the reforms
instituted by Bishop Antonio degli Orsi for Romanization and liturgical unity.
Therefore, Missal E107 contains full text of all the masses (rather than abbreviated
references) for the entire ecclesiastical year. 338 Tacconi describes the importance of
E107 because beyond its record of a new liturgical norm the adornment of the Missal
reveals a further shift, one that is part of a new and important trend in the manuscript
production of the cathedral: the book as a vehicle for the expression of Florentine civic
identity and for the preservation of ecclesiastical history.339 The text is adorned with
illuminations specifically celebrating Florence and Santa Maria del Fiore. Illustrations
include scenes set before the new Cathedral and impressive initials mark the Mass liturgy

336

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 70-71.

337

Tacconi discusses the production for Santa Maria del Fiore in Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 14-15; phase
one (138-139) and phase two (143-144).
338

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 139. Many liturgical texts carry incipits (the beginning of a text as
reference) rather than full text. This means the lectures and prayers are written out in their complete form
in order to present the new liturgical norm.
339

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 139-140. As an example, Tacconi remarks on the record of the
location the body of St. Zenobius in the Cathedral, which was exhumed around the time E107 was created,
included in the rubrics for the feast of the saint (see Tacconis plate 4, page 317)

111
specifically for Florentine patron saints: St. Zenobius, St. John the Baptist, and St.
Reparata.340
In the research for this dissertation, two other Missals have been included: the
Missale romanum Mediolani of 1474, which was the first printed standard Roman Missal,
and Missal Ms. Edili 106 (in the BML).341 A complete analysis and comparison between
Missal E107 and the Missale romanum Mediolani,1474 reveals the Romanization of
the Florentine liturgical manuscript, as the prescribed text for the Masses varies little
between the two Missals. Table B2 records comparatively the readings listed in the
Mediolani, E107 and E106 for holidays of the proprium de tempore. From Tacconis
second phase of manuscripts, Missal E106 was produced sometime after 1427 for the
Florentine Cathedral. Its liturgy, particularly the prescribed readings, also shows a
uniformity with its earlier predecessor (E107) and the later standard (Mediolani).
Liturgical handbooks, although under development during this period, display a
remarkable amount of concordance, particularly in the assignment of the scriptural
lessons to specified days of the ecclesiastical year.
A set of lectionaries dating from 1445-49 (Lectionary Ms. Edili 144, 145 in the
BML) offers liturgical information on the Office in Florence.342 The lectionaries contain
assigned Scripture readings for the Divine Office. This study utilizes these, the Ritus and
Mores, and a standard Roman Breviary for comparative information on the Office
340

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 140-141. The illuminations were done by Maestro Daddesco, an
important miniaturist of the period in Florence. There are forty inhabited initials and illuminated pages.
341

The first printed edition of the Missale Romanum (Milan 1474). Robert Lippe, ed., Missale romanum
Mediolani, 1474 (London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1899),
http://www.archive.org/details/missaleromanuumm01churgoog (accessed December 10, 2010).
342

For a history and description of the set of lectionaries (Edili144-147) see Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 167-170.

112
liturgy.343 From these sources, details of the liturgical spectacle are analyzed for clues
that suggest the Gates were directly part of a liturgical ceremony, as well as for general
themes shared by liturgical holidays (from the several different parts of the liturgy), and
notations of the use of specific Old Testament stories in the liturgy. The last is to be
found mostly in the prescribed readings for the Mass or Divine Office.
Liturgical Holidays
The Baptistery of San Giovanni was an active component of the ritual practice on
many holidays. Table B1 lists the significant holidays that incorporated the Baptistery
into the liturgical ritual. Besides a location for regular Masses, the church of San
Giovanni was often an integral part of an event either as the starting or terminal point in a
procession.344 Processions included the Baptistery on major holidays and feast days for a
saint whose relics were housed in the Baptistery. For instance, the festival for saints
Philip and James on May 1st centered around the San Giovanni because the Baptistery
housed the arm of St. Philip, which was displayed to the public on that day.
While documents give details on the processions which moved from and to the
Baptistery, rarely are these details specific on the entrance or exit used. The only major
records, dating before or contemporary with the Gates of Paradise, with details of
processional routes to and from the Baptistery, are the Mores and the Ritus. As the
343

There is no extant Breviary created for the Florence Cathedral during the fifteenth-century. Breviary Ms.
Edili 118 in the BML survives; however, this manuscript was not produced for the Florence Cathedral and
only received in 1465. BML Ms. Edili 119 is a Breviary/Manuale created for Florence in 1506. Either of
these may prove to offer more insight into the liturgical prescription, but I have yet to analyze the service
books myself. In continuing a study of Florentine liturgy and the Gates of Paradise I would expand my
analysis to include Edili 119.
344

For the processional information found in Ritus and Mores, I began with Table 3.2 from Tacconi,
(Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101) in which she records the processions described in the ordinals. Where
processional details seemed significant for my conclusions, I analyzed passages from Tokers transcriptions
of both manuscripts (in On Holy Ground).

113
eastern portal provided the most direct and prestigious route, one can presume the Gates
of Paradise were used for processions between the Cathedral and the Baptistery. An
exception would be in regards to the daily baptismal ceremonies. As the print depicting a
procession for Corpus Domini displays, the north door may have been used as an exit at
least in the case of a large and continuous procession.345 However, this may not have
always been the case. Many processions stopped in the Baptistery for a celebration of
Mass and then returned directly to the Cathedral, presumably back through the esteemed
eastern door.
There is evidence that the eastern portal was the main route used for important
processions entering the Baptistery, evidence of the interaction between architecture and
spectacle, decoration, and celebration. First, the Gates of Paradise in all its gilded
splendor, was placed at the eastern entrance and this portal was further enhanced by the
placement of the porphyry columns flanking the portal. The Gates represent, particularly
in its more visible lower panels, a multitude of people and activity that I believe was
meant to imitate and interact with the ritual activity of the space. In addition three of the
lower four panels include processions (the Moses panel is more of a gathering) and the
specific representations are oriented both east and west. In other words the worshippers
entering or exiting could connect with processional figures of the narrative images in
either direction. For instance, entering the Baptistery through the Gates of Paradise the
worshipper is connected with the Israelite witnesses standing on the shores of the Jordan
as the memorial stones are carrying across the river; and the worshipper moves in the
same direction as the procession circumambulating the walls of Jericho. Exiting the

345

Figure A45:Guiseppe Zocchi, Procession of the Corpus Domini, 1754.

114
Baptistery, the faithful are identified with the group of Israelites crossing the Jordan into
the Promised Land. The decorative frames for the Baptistery doors may mimic the
actual wreaths hung there during celebrations. Upon entering the Gates of Paradise, the
inlaid marble floors create a path to the center of the Baptistery.346 With the prominence
of this entrance and its decoration in mind, an analysis of the relevant liturgy for major
holiday in the proprium de tempore follows.
First Sunday of Advent (Dominica prima de Adventu)
According to the Mores, the major Sunday Mass (Missa maior) was recited after
Terce on a regular basis in San Giovanni with a Mass for the people (Missa populi)
recited in Santa Reparata.347 On the first Sunday of Advent, Septuagesima Sunday, and
the first Sunday of Lent these services are reversed so the Missa populi is given in San
Giovanni.348 The Mores rubric is the only reference to Advent liturgy performed at San
Giovanni. No other details are given regarding a procession or the entrance used for the
Missa populi.
The prescribed readings for the first Sunday of Advent are from the New
Testament: an epistle from the book of Romans and the Gospel of Luke. The epistle
offers an example of some of the themes and imagery found in the liturgy for the season:
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake
from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the
346

Giusti, Il pavimento del Battistero, 379-381.

347

Mores et consuetudines cannonice florentine (c. 1231), f. 1v; Tacconi, 2005, 98. De Missis Item, in
dominicalibus diebus per totum annum, dicimus missam popularem et maiorem diversimode tamen. Cum
enim dicimus missam populi in ecclesia sancte Reparate, missam maiorem dicimus postea in tertia in
ecclesia sancti Johannis Baptiste. (Toker, On Holy Ground, 268 lines 26-29 transcription of Mores).
348

Ab hac generalitate excipimus primam Dominicam de Adventu, Dominicam Septuagesime et primam


Dominica Quadragesime, in quibus Missam populi dicimus simper in ecclesia sancti Iohannis, maiorem
vero in ecclesia sancte Reparate (Mores, f. 1v, quoted in Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 99 note 48).
See also Tokers transcription in On Holy Ground, 268, lines 30-32.

115
night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and
put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and
drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to
gratify its desires.(Romans 13:11-14)
This passage includes interesting links to some of the imagery of the Gates. The citation
to wake from sleep parallels with the beginning central scene of Adam reclining in sleep
on the Creation panel as well as the similar reclining figures of the border. The Gates
imagery also narrates several scenes of jealously, quarreling, and drunkenness. Specific
examples of this are Cains jealousy, the jealously of Josephs brothers, an encounter in
the foreground of the Moses panel, the fight between the Israelites and Philistines, and
Noahs drunkenness.349 The references of light being brought to the darkness is a parallel
of the Old Testament, the true meaning of which can only be bought to light by the New
Testament.
The season of Advent celebrates the coming of the Lord both incarnate (looking
toward the Christmas season) and in judgment. In the Gospel reading for this first
Sunday of Advent, Luke records Jesus saying, redemption is drawing near (Luke
21:28). The Last Judgment represented on the western side of the dome is a direct
illustration of the coming of the Lord. The iconic vision includes persuasive imagery
about why preparation and behavior is so very important as figures being doomed to Hell
writhe in their punishment. The fearful gestures of the people at the base of Mt. Sinai on
the Moses panel echoes the description of the Coming of the Son of Man in the reading
from Luke: People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the
world, for the power of the heavens will be shaken (Luke 21:26).

349

The language of the epistle could also be related to the stories illustrated in the dome mosaics, which
also depict Cain and Abel, and a more complete story of Joseph.

116
Because the major theme for Advent is the coming of Christ, it is a season of
preparation. Repeated motifs are light (that exposes what is hidden in darkness),
awakening (renewal), and judgment. The liturgy therefore includes both prophecy, in
this season specifically through Isaiah, but also examples for preparation, especially
behavioral examples in the figures of St. John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary. Images
of St. John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary surrounded worshippers on all three doors,
the dome mosaics, and the Cathedral.350 St. John the Baptist as prophet is also
emphasized in the liturgy for Advent. The readings from Matthew, John, and Luke for
the second Sunday, third Sunday, Ember Friday, and Ember Saturday in Advent all refer
to the Baptist.351 Several of these passages quote the prophecy of Isaiah that:
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a brand shall grow out of his
roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the
fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11: 1-3).
The passage from Isaiah containing this prophecy is read on Ember Friday in Advent.
Reference to the tree of Jesse is also made in the liturgy throughout the weeks of Advent.
The above listing of the sevenfold Spirit by Isaiah, is also read and confirmed upon the
baptized after coming from the font on Holy Saturday.352 The epistle of John, citing the
prophecy of Isaiah, for the second Sunday of Advent, is as follows:The root of Jesse

350

The reading from Matthew on the second Sunday in Advent and from John on the third Sunday in
Advent are about John the Baptist. St John the Baptist figures on both the south door and a narrative tier in
the dome mosaics. The life of Christ is represented both on the north door and a narrative tier in the dome
mosaic, and in both Mary is a prominent figure. Mary and St. John the Baptist are also enthroned in the
dome of the Baptisterys apse.
351

In these readings: John the Baptist is identified by Jesus as the one who will prepare the way as
prophesized by Isaiah; the testimony of John the Baptist; Mary visits Elizabeth and John leaps in her
womb; John gives baptism of repentance to the multitude.
352

Gelasian Sacramentary (Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, 235).

117
shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles (Romans 15: 12). The references to
awakening and Jesse in the liturgy could be associated with the reclining figures on the
Gates, the beginning of humanitys genealogy, Adam, Eve, Noah, and Puaphara. The
position of the figures in a reclining pose is itself reminiscent of the tree of Jesse imagery,
where Jesse is typically represented reclining with a family tree sprouting from his side.
All of these minor references are enough to warrant analysis, yet do not show
consistently firm links to the Gates iconographical program. Perhaps the Advent liturgy
could be associated with the imagery of the Baptistery as a whole, working together,
much more than the Gates of Paradise separately.
Feast of the Nativity (Nativitas Domini)
After the Office of Terce was recited in San Giovanni on the feast of the Nativity
(December 25) there was a procession to S. Reparata/S. Maria del Fiore for Mass.353
Terce included a hymn, Enixa est puerpera cum Gloria tibi domine; ant[iphon]. Genuit
puerperal; lect[io]: Multifariam [Hebrews 1:1]; R[esponsory] Verbum caro, V[erse] Ipse
invocavit me; or[ation]: Concede quesumus omnipotens deus.354 The liturgy for this
Office of the Nativity relates little to the scenes found on the Gates of Paradise.355 It
celebrates the birth of Christ and reiterates what the epistle reading prescribes for the
major Mass of the day. Three Masses are performed each with an epistle and gospel

353

Ritus, 10r; Mores, 7r.; Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 198.

354

Toker, On Holy Ground, 169 lines 356-357 (bracketing mine).

355

Puerpera is latin for mother or child-bearer. The liturgy for the Office of Matins (not celebrated in the
Baptistery) mentions David and the covenant, and references the Lord as bridegroom.

118
reading.356 The readings focus on the birth of Christ, as would be expected. The epistles
from Titus advise good behavior through the imitation of Christ and because God,
saved usaccording to his mercy through the water of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7)
There is a recurrence of baptismal language throughout the readings for these significant
holidays; however, there is not enough alone in the liturgy for Christmas to have any
convincing connections to the doors program.357
Feast of the Epiphany (Epiphanie domini)
The season of Epiphany begins on the Octave of the Nativity (January 1) with a
procession from the Cathedral into San Giovanni.358 This day celebrates the feast of the
Circumcision of Christ. As circumcision is linked thematically with baptism as a rite of
passage (on the eighth day), it is logical that the Baptistery was the destination for a
procession.359 According to Ritus (16r), the procession begins after Terce, after which
the service for Mass is said in the Baptistery:
Terce sung, make procession from the church of Santa Reparata to the church of
San Giovanni, in which is sung the antiphon Hodie Christus natus and repeated if

356

See Table B2, Nativitas Domini prima (Titus 2:11-15 / Luke 2:1-14), secunda (Titus 3:4-7 / Luke 2:1520), and Missa maiorem (Hebrews 1:1-12 / John 1:1-14).
357

The Baptistery is included in the ritual practices for the feasts of St. Stephen and the Holy Innocents
after Christmas; however, after initial analysis of these liturgical ceremonies I did not think theywarranted
discussion here.
358

Mores, 7r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 275 lines 274-276. The Medici were very involved in the
confraternity of the Magi.
359

Conversely, however, the Octave of the Epiphany is also the commemoration day for the Baptism of
Christ but itdoes not include a procession or any special event involving the Baptistery.

119
the need exists. When the procession is finished, the cantor begins the trope of
the Nativity Hodie360
The antiphon sung during the procession, assigned by the first line Hodie Christus natus
[Today Christ is born], celebrates the birth of Christ. The readings from the Missal
repeat the Titus passage (2:11-15) as required in the Nativity Mass, and provide Lukes
description of the circumcision (2:21). The liturgy praises the coming of Christ, the grace
of God, and the intercession of the Virgin; however, there are no references to Old
Testament figures.
No specific Old Testament stories are found either in the liturgical ceremonies for
the feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the visitation of the Magi.361 However, the
Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was typologically linked with the Magi and
the feast day was very popular in Florence. For the feast of the Epiphany there is a
procession after Terce from the Cathedral to San Giovanni, where Mass is celebrated:362
Terce celebrated, make procession from the church of Santa Reparata to the
church of San Giovanni with the antiphon Hodie celesti sponso, which is repeated
if necessary. Then celebrate solemn Mass363
360

Dicta tertia, facimus processionem de ecclesia sancte Reparate in ecclesiam sancti Johannis, in qua
cantamus ant. Hodie Christus natus et repetitur si opus fuerit. Finita processione, cantor incipiat trophum
de Nativitate Hodie (Ritus, 16r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 174).
361

Early in the history of the holiday, the Epiphany feast also celebrated Christs baptism, Nativity, the
miracle at Cana (turning water into wine). The commemoration of the Baptism of Christ was for a time in
the Roman Church celebrated on Epiphany. Martindale, Cyril Charles, Epiphany, The Catholic
Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909),
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05504c.htm> (accessed on May 24, 2011). See also Lewine, Sistine
Chapel Walls, 22. The liturgy for both Missale romanum Mediolani and E107 separate the celebrations
with readings for the baptism on the octave and readings for the miracle of Cana on the second Sunday
after Epiphany.
362

Ritus, 18r; Mores, 7v. A medieval addition to Ritus has Vespers said in San Giovanni as well: In
Epyphania incipimus pulsare vesperas parum post nonam, ita quod pulsemus quattuor vicibus antequam
incipiat abbatial. Hoc etiam facimus in matutinis et dicimus utrasque vesperas in ecclesia sancti Johannis
(Ritus, 18r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 176 lines 623-625.
363

Dicta tertia, processionem facimus per ecclesiam sancte Reparate in ecclesiam sancti Johannis cum ant.
Hodie celesti sponso, que repetatur si necesse est. Inde missa celebretur sollemniter(Ritus, 18r in
Toker, On Holy Ground, 177 lines 660-663.

120

The story of the Magi is revealed in the Gospel reading of Matthew (2:1-12). The Epistle
is from Isaiah (60:1-6) on the Glory of Zion. This passage refers often to light, radiance,
and brightness to which kings and nations are drawn and all from Sheba will come. The
reading from Isaiah makes the link in the liturgy between the journey of the Magi and the
journey of the Queen with her retinue from Sheba, and does so in the Baptistery
immediately after the faithful made their own journey past Solomon and the Queen on the
Gates. There is also a typological reference to marriage in the choice of the antiphon
Hodie celesti sponso that was sung during the procession.364 The liturgical service
directly related to the Baptistery and the Gates presents both typological interpretations
for the Queen of Shebas journey to Solomon.
Parts of the Office of Matins for the Epiphany produce themes that are
noteworthy on the Gates program. The Matins lessons come from Isaiah: I will renew
with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David. (Isaiah 55: 1-4). The
responsory recalls Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River.365 In a prescribed sermon on
the Epiphany by St. Leo for the Office of Matins: From this day we begin to enter upon
an eternal inheritance; from this day lies open to us the hidden meaning of those
Scriptures referring to Christ. The truth which the Jews in their blindness rejected, sheds
its light upon all nations366 Leos sermon communicates the belief that the meaning
of the Old Testament was hidden until revealed through the life of Christ. The elements

364

See the above quoted passage. I have not found the specific lyrics of this antiphon, but the given incipit
refers to a heavenly (celesti) bridegroom or marriage (sponso). The third lesson from Isaiah for the Matins
service also mentions the bridegroom and bride (61:10-11).
365

Roman Breviary, 1964.

366

Roman Breviary, 1964, 125.

121
of the Office highlight the themes of covenant and inheritance that are found throughout
the panels of the Gates of Paradise (and the liturgy of baptism), as well as baptism in the
Jordan. While the service for Matins was not apparently celebrated in direct proximity to
the Gates of Paradise, the liturgy does set a certain mood for the feasts celebration
throughout the day and week.367
The very popular feast of the Magi procession was performed by the Company of
the Magi, a lay confraternity.368 During the 1390 procession, the Magi, along with a
large entourage, first stopped at Jerusalem, which was located at San Giovanni where a
stage of Herods Palace was created.369 In 1417, the confraternity began to receive public
funding from the Signoria to produce the feast day celebration: First for the honor and
glory of God and his most holy Trinity, and then for the fame of the city and the
consolation and joy of all citizens.370 This gave the event a truly secular and civic
character, as the grandness of the spectacle became a sign of Florences glory and power.
The procession of 1429, which placed Herods Palace in Piazza de Signori (in front of
the government palace), included seven hundred costumed men on horseback and a float

367

Throughout the rest of the season the liturgy references the Law, miracles performed by Jesus and his
commandment of love.
368

They staged a public celebration for the feast every three years, later every five years. The first record
of the procession dates to 1390. See Rab Hatfield, The Compagnia de Magi, Journal of the Warburg
and Courtauld Institutes 33 (1970): 108 and 144, Doc 1.
369

Hatfield, The Compagnia de Magi, 109. See also Trexler, Public Life, 424. The secular authority of
Herod was acknowledged there, at San Giovanni. For this procession Bethlehem was staged at San Marco,
the home of the confraternity and location of some preserved simulacra of the manger. The procession
returned to San Giovanni to finally dramatize the Massacre of the Innocents. The locations and staged
drama changed over the years. For a discussion of the confraternity and the known details of the feast
celebration see Hatfield.
370

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 145, Doc 3.

122
with David, a civic symbol for Florence.371 The pomp and imagery of these processions,
which included the Baptistery as either stage or in route, recall the images on the last
panel of the Gates that are linked typologically with the event. The Solomon panels
multitude of figures and equestrian convoy could be correlated to the feast of the Magi
literally as well as typologically.
Septuagesima Sunday (Dominica in Septuagesima) and Pre-Lent
Septuagesima Sunday begins a pre-Lent period that is liturgically related to the
Lenten season through its integration of Old Testament readings. In fact, the use of Old
Testament lessons (besides the books of the prophets) in the liturgy is found only during
the Septuagesima to Easter period. Lewine notes in her study of Lenten liturgy that the
entire Pentateuch was read in the Daily Office between Septuagesima Sunday and
Passion Sunday.372 In his prologue to The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints,
Jacobus de Voragine also notes that during the period from Septuagesima to Easter the
Book of Genesis is read, since that book tells of the fall of our first parents.373
While there is no spectacle or procession on Septuagesima Sunday, it is set apart
in Mores with only two other Sunday Masses (the first Sunday Mass of Advent and the
first Sunday Mass of Lent) as special. On these occasions the Missa populi is said in San

371

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 112 and 146, Doc 5b. Hatfield notes the change of Herods location
lengthened the procession and with no Massacre reenactment the hight point was now the procession rather
than the drama.
372
373

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy, 12.

Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, transl. by William Granger Ryan
(Princeton: Princeton University Press), 1:3. This popular manuscript organized according to the liturgical
calendar dates to about 1260. Voragine in his prologue distinguishes four periods: a time of deviation,
renewal, reconciliation, and pilgrimage. These four periods are represented in the liturgy of the year (3).

123
Giovanni and Missa maior in Santa Reparata.374 The lessons for Mass were from First
Corinthians 9:24-10:4 and Matthew 20:1-16 (parable of the workers in the vineyard).375
The Corinthians epistle reading ends with the following passage: our ancestors were all
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea (1 Cor. 10: 1-3). The passage from Paul, as Lewine notes, equates
baptism with Moses and the Red Sea, and commences a theme on baptism which will
continue throughout the season.376
The Lenten season is considered a period of preparation for baptismal candidates
who would be initiated into the Church on Holy Saturday.377 Both the Gospel readings
and the Epistles assigned in the Roman Missal from Septuagesima to Easter reflect
concern for the instruction of early baptismal candidates.378 This period of preparation
and initiation for adult baptism stems back to the early Church. Remnants of the
initiation liturgy were retained even though they would not have quite the same potency
in Medieval and Renaissance Florence. The sacrament of baptism was more often given
to infants and was no longer postponed until Holy Saturday. Infant baptisms were
usually performed within five days of birth, primarily due to the high mortality rate.
374

Mores, 1v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 268 lines 30-32. See Table B1. Tacconi defines Missa populi as
literally of the people which would include a larger congregation (Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 99).
375

See Table B2 for the prescribed Mass readings of the proprium de tempore in E107, E106, and the
Missale romanum Mediolani (MRM).
376

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy, 13. Traditional exegesis pairs the Crossing of the
Red Sea with Christs baptism; however, this is not true of the paintings in the Sistine Chapel and not for
the Gates of Paradise. On the Sistine walls the Baptism of Christ is opposite the Circumcision of Moses
and on the Gates the Crossing of the Red Sea is not the scene from Moses life depicted.
377

By the Council of Nicea (325) the Lenten season was defined as a period of preparation for baptism
(Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy, 12).
378

Jungmann, Mass of the Roman Rite, 2:402 (Quoted in Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman
Liturgy, 12).

124
However, the large octagonal font inside the Baptistery of San Giovanni suggests there
were adult immersion baptisms as well, and most likely these would have taken place on
Holy Saturday after catechumens received instruction during Lent.379 The Lenten season
is not by any means just for instructing catechumens, but for instructing the whole
Christian community in doctrine and church ritual.380 Perhaps it is for this reason that
much of the language directed toward adult catechumens remains in the liturgy for the
Lenten season.
The pre-Lent holiday begins with Matins lessons from Genesis. From the time
of the early church, Genesis 1:1-16 is the first Old Testament passage assigned to the
Office on Septuagesima Sunday, the first official pre-Lenten Sunday.381 In Ritus the
prescribed Genesis lessons, in six lectures, appear to have continued to Genesis 2:4, to
include all of the initial description of Creation.382 The Office lessons throughout the
week continue the Genesis story from Creation to the birth of Noah.383 These lessons
cover Genesis 1:27-5:31 including the stories: the Creation of Man and the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Creation of Eve, the Temptation, the Punishment of
Adam and Eve, the birth and labor of Cain and Abel, Cains murder of Abel, Cain sent
wandering, lists of descendants of Cain through Lamech, the birth of Adams son Seth,
379

The liturgy for the Vigil of Pentecost also includes baptisms for those who did not receive the sacrament
on Holy Saturday. See Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy, 12.
380

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy, xvii.

381

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Wall and the Roman Liturgy , 12. This passage finishes after God separates
light and dark.
382

Ritus, 25v in Toker, On Holy Ground , 184 lines 928-932): Ad matutinumSex lect. leguntur de
Genesi a principio libri usque ibi Iste generations celi et terre quando create sunt
383

Roman Breviary, 1964. Ritus, 25v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 184 lines 928-932) and BML Lectionary
Ms. Edili 145 (3v- 8v) also list readings from Genesis, Matthew, and St Gregory that seem to correspond
with that prescribed in the modern Roman Breviary.

125
and descendants listed to the birth of Noah. The first two panels of the Gates are
illustrated in the liturgical readings for the first week of the pre-Lenten season. The
inclusion of lineage in the liturgical readings is a key component that links with this
significant theme on the Gates of Paradise. The Old Testament readings for the season
often incorporate into the readings the lists of descendents (for Adam, Cain, Noah,
Abraham).
The Matins Office repeats the gospel reading assigned to Sundays Mass from
Matthew 20:1-16 (and repeats it throughout the weeks services), and a homily on the
passage from St Gregory.384 The chanted verses and responsories often found after
Office readings repeatedly emphasize the creation of Eve, the Garden of Eden, and
Cains curse.385 The Matins office was not apparently celebrated in San Giovanni, yet
does begin a foundation of Old Testament stories that are an important part of the preLent and Lenten liturgy. And the exemplified stories are illustrated on the door directly
before the entrance of the Cathedral. While the Gates of Paradise were not directly
involved in the accompanying ceremony, the imagery of the Gates can have an indirect
relationship with the liturgy of an Office celebrated in the Cathedral because of its
prominent location. After attending the Matins service in the Cathedral, worshippers exit
the main portals and are immediately confronted with the Gates of Paradise that present
them with Ghibertis gleaming reliefs of the Genesis story.

384

Homily 19 by St Gregory on the Gospel reveals the meaning of Matthews parable of the workers in the
vineyard. He equates the landowner with God the Father, the vineyard with the Church, and the vine brings
forth the saints, mentioning Abel in particular. This passage reiterates the theme on the Gates that the
Church is central. Throughout the liturgy for Septuagesima and Sexagesima is required the antiphon Dixit
paterfamilias which is based on the parable of the workers in the vineyard from Matthew.
385

Roman Breviary, 1964.

126
The pre-Lent season beginning with Septuagesima Sunday is followed by
Sexagesima Sunday and Quinquagesima Sunday, then Quadragesima is the season of
Lent. Neither Ritus nor Mores mention the church of San Giovanni as part of the ritual
prescriptions for Sexagesima or Quinquagesima. However, Ritus does not specifically
list the church of San Giovanni in either prescriptions for Mass although Missa maior
was presumably said in the Baptistery as usual on Sundays.386 The main readings for
Sexagesima Sunday are Second Corinthians 11:9-12:9 and Luke 8:4-15.387 The gospel
lesson continues a theme of sowing parables, in this case the seed is the Word of God
that must be sown in good soil with patience and endurance.388 The imagery of the vine
as well as farming are reflected in the reclining figures at the top and bottom of the Gates
of Paradise through the attributes of Adam and Noah. Adam holds a hoe in reference to
his toil with the land. And Noah, who was a man of the soilthe first to plant a
vineyard (Genesis 9:20), is nude in his drunkenness from the vine (wine).389
Ritus lists six lectures to be read on Noah from Genesis 5:32 to 9:29 on
Sexagesima Sunday.390 These lectures begin by naming Noahs sons (After Noah was
five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth). Lectures

386

Mores only lists prescriptions for Septuagesima Sunday and no other pre-Lenten days.

387

The Corinthians passage is Paul lecturing on his sufferings and weaknesses: but he said to me, My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. So, I will boast all the more gladly of
my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2 Cor. 12:9).
388

The gospel from Matthew for Septuagesima Sunday is the parable of the workers in the Vineyard.

389

In addition, the vine could be related to genealogy because often the lineage of Christ is illustrated
within a tree with vine scroll branches.
390

Ritus, 26r-26v (See Toker, On Holy Ground , 185 lines 963-965): In crastinum [following prescriptions
for Saturday Vespers] invitatorium Adoremus dominum, sex lect. de Noe ab eo loco ubi dicit Noe vero cum
quingentorum esset annorum usque ibi Impleti sunt omnes dies eius nongentorum quinquaginta
annorum Mores does not give directions for Sexagesima or Quinquagesima Sunday.

127
continue the whole story of Noah through the Flood, Gods covenant with Noah, and
finally the Drunkenness of Noah. The Roman Breviary continues the Genesis story with
Noah in Genesis 5:32- 6:14 prescribed in Sexagesima Sundays Matins lessons.391 The
gospel reading from Luke is again repeated following Homily fifteen on Luke by St.
Gregory.392 The story of Noah is told throughout the weeks Office lessons including the
story of the Ark, the Flood, Noah and his family exiting the Ark, Gods covenant with
Noah, and the Drunkenness of Noah.393 The lessons on Friday also include the story of
the Tower of Babel; however, the focus for Friday and Saturday are passages of the
descendants of Noahs sons through the birth of Abraham. The biblical passages of
descendants are always included in the liturgy as links (genealogical and transitional)
between the stories of the fore-fathers. Throughout the week, the Office readings of
Noah are followed with responsories emphasizing the covenant by repeating in chant the
passage from Genesis 9:12-14: This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me
and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set
my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.394
This episode, set apart in the liturgy to be repeated and emphasized, is one depicted in the
foreground of the Noah panel. Noah and his family offer a sacrifice and God is so
pleased he makes the covenant with Noah to never again destroy the earth with a flood.
391

Gen. 6:14: Make yourself an Ark of cypress wood

392

Lectionary E145 also lists readings from Luke, Gregory, and the story of Noah for Sexagesima Sunday
and the week (8v-11v). Gregory need not identify the symbolism of the parable, as it is already explained
in Luke and Gregory says that here the Lord himselfhas deigned to explain his meaning, in order that
you may learn how to find the significance in thosehe has not explained.
393

E145 also lists Noah, the Ark, the generations of Canaan, and Abraham in the topics for the weeks
readings (11v).
394

Roman Breviary, 1964.

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The short week of Quinquagesima centers around the story of Abraham, as
Septuagesima focuses on the stories of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, and Sexagesima
focuses on Noah. The Mass readings for Quinquagesima Sunday are First Corinthians
13:1-13 (the well-known Love is patient passage) and Luke 18:31-43 (in which Jesus
tells his disciples he must go to Jerusalem and fulfill the prophecy). These two readings
both discuss future events. Jesus foretells his death and resurrection and the epistle
claims: For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I
know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Cor.
13:12). As the two previous weeks readings offer words of advice for the Christian to
endure, this week offers supportive words of future promises. This is akin to the opening
reading for the story of Abraham, when God promises the fore-father multiple blessings.
In the Roman Breviary, the story of Abraham is a continuous story from the Call
of Abram (Genesis 12) just through the strife between Abram and Lot (Genesis 14:20).
Genesis 12 tells of God calling to Abram and promising him a great nation and blessings.
These Office readings, early episodes in the life of Abraham, do not include the story of
the Sacrifice of Isaac. The account of this test of Abrahams faith is conveyed in the
liturgy through the responsories. However, Ritus prescribes six lectures taken from
Genesis on Abraham that also begin with Genesis 12, but are specifically to include
Genesis 26:4 (I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of Heaven), Genesis
17:5 (No longer shall your name be Abram), Genesis 18 (The Lord appeared to Abraham
by the oaks of Mamre in the form of three angels), Genesis 21 (the nativity of Isaac), and
Genesis 22 (God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac).395 The first two readings deal

395

Ritus, 26v-27r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 185 lines 978-981): prima ibi ubi iubet ei Deus Egredi de
terra sua, secunda ubi loquitur ei Deus Multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas celi, tertia ubi dicit ei Deus

129
with Gods promise of blessing to Abraham and his family. He specifically promises
Isaac the blessings and inheritance of Abraham in Genesis 26. The reading from Genesis
17 relates the story of God presenting Abram with his new name as a sign of the covenant
established between God, Abraham, and his offspring. The giving of a new name at the
entrance to a covenant is parallel to the name given as part of the baptismal ceremony
(also a covenant). The final two readings tell the stories that are represented on the Gates
of Paradise, the annunciation to Abraham that Sarah will have a son and the Sacrifice of
Isaac.
The liturgy for the three weeks of pre-Lent emphasizes the same themes and
episodes represented on the first four panels of the Gates of Paradise. Both
lineage/inheritance and covenant appear to be themes brought out in the specific readings
and supporting liturgy. Adam, Eve, and Cain almost appear as foils to the faith shown by
Noah and Abraham. Two panels that represent expulsion or separation from God
(because of their jealousy?) followed by two panels that represent new covenants or
blessings from God (because of their faith).
The beginning of the Churchs instructional period, for both the faithful and
catechumens, liturgically begins with the Old Testament creation story. The gospel
readings for Mass introduce parables: the parable of the workers and the parable of the
sower. The epistle passages offer behavioral lectures of self-control and endurance even
through suffering and weakness, like that of Paul, and the reminder that the greatest of
faith, hope, and love is love. The readings warn of envy and boastfulness, that

Non vocaberis Abram sed Abraham, quarta ubi apparuit ei Deus in conualle Manbre sub trium angelorum
specie, quinta de nativitate Isaac, sexta ubi temptavit deus Abraham in immolatione Isaac. Lectionary
E145 also lists Abraham as the subject of lectures for the week (17v-19v).

130
knowledge will come to an end, and insist on patience and endurance, like that shown by
Noah and Abraham. These are important words for the Christian or catechumen entering
the fasting season of Lent.
Lent (Quadragesima)
The six weeks of Lent officially begin on the Wednesday after Quinquagesima
Sunday, Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten fast, which
ends weeks later on Holy Thursday. Ritus gives a description of the important event on
this day which took place in the Baptistery.396 The Mass bells are rung to call people to
San Giovanni. While the Office of Nones is being sung, the priest prepares and blesses
the ashes which are incensed and sprinkled with holy water. 397 After the cantor sings the
antiphon Exaudi nos domine, the priest places the ashes on the heads of the congregation
one by one saying Recordare frater, vel soror, quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris
[Remember brother, or sister, that you are dust and into dust you shall return].398 The
ashes marked on the forehead are a symbol of repentance. When finished, a procession
returns to Santa Reparata during which the antiphon Immutemur is sung.399 The words to
396

Ritus, 27v-28r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 186 lines 1009-1021). Toker translates this passage (49).
Missale romanum Mediolani lists the same liturgical parts in slightly different order and includes several
more orations, although, since it is a Missal and not Florentine, it does not mention the location of San
Giovanni (Missale romanum Mediolani, 46-48). E107 reflects the Roman liturgy (matching Missale
romanum Mediolani almost exactly) with no local specifics added (48r-50r).
397

Ante nonam quipped competent spatio pulsetur ad missam ut populous conveniat. Hac die, pulsate ad
missam, convenimus in ecclesia sancti Johannis baptiste, ibique, dum canitur nona, preparetur
sacerdosCineres autem, si fiery potest, fiant de benedictis ramis olivarum qui reservati sunt a preterita
dominica Palmarum. Quibus benedictis secundum ordinem sacramentarii et incensatis et aqua benedicta
asperses (Ritus, 27v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 186 lines 1010-1015).
398

Ritus, 28r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 186 lines 1016-1018): sacerdos imponat cineres capiti
singulorum, dicens Recordare frater, vel soror, quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris. During this
ceremony brothers sing the antiphons Immutetur and Juxta vestibulum.
399

Ritus, 28r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 186 lines 1018-1020): Impositis cineribus, revertimur cum
processione in ecclesiam sancte Reparate, precedentibus cruce et cereis. In processione cantantur predicte
ant. Immutemur et alia. Finita processione, dicimus letanias ad populum. Ritus states the litanies are said

131
this antiphon sum up some of the liturgical themes for Ash Wednesday and the first week
of Lent: Let us change the appearance of our garments with ashes and sackcloth; let us
come before the Lord with fasting and tears. The themes of fasting and penitence are
important throughout Lent but especially emphasized in the liturgy for the initial part of
the season.
It is unfortunate to have no details regarding the entrance and exit used for the
congregation and the procession on Ash Wednesday. One would expect that the Gates of
Paradise were used as both the entrance and exit, as they are in the solemn procession on
Easter Sunday.400 This can be presumed because the eastern portal is the most direct
route for a procession to the Cathedral. Furthermore, as the most important entrance,
which is highlighted by the porphyry columns, fully gilded panels, and the unique inlaid
flooring, this is the portal one would expect to be used on highly solemn occasions,
particularly when the Bishop attended the ceremony. The link with the Baptistery and
the liturgy lies in the reminder the priest offers to each person of their birth and death:
You are dust (or ash) and into dust you shall return. The Baptistery contains strong
symbolic ties to both birth and death, as does the sacrament of baptism. In addition, both
the Gates of Paradise and the interior dome represent the image of the creation of Man
from dust.
Because Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten fast, Mass liturgy for
the remaining days of this week focus on the theme of purification and fasting,

to the people, and should be said every second, fourth, and fifth feria in the morning and at Nones until
Passion Sunday.
400

On Easter Sunday when the Bishop returns to the Duomo, he leaves through the Gates of Paradise which
he had entered from the Duomo (Professor Wallace Tomasini).

132
particularly instruction on proper fasting. For instance the gospel reading for Ash
Wednesday comes from Matthew 6: 6-21, which advises the faithful not to fast for
attention on earth, to fast only for God. 401 The Mass readings also continue to instruct
on faith through examples, like the faith of the centurion (Matt. 8:5-13), and backed up
by miracles of God, like Jesus walking on water (Mark 6:47-56). The Roman Breviary
shows a continuation of the story of Abraham incorporated through the responsories.402
Every responsory for the Office of Matins the rest of the week derives from the life of
Abraham, particularly the protection and land given to Abraham and his descendents, the
Sacrifice of Isaac, the Three Angels, and finding Rebekah at the Well. The story from
Genesis 24:12 (the servant of Abraham praying to God to find the wife meant for Isaac at
the well) in the responsories is an interesting inclusion in the liturgy. It brings both
water, the symbol of baptism, and Rebekah into the forefront. Rebekah, a strong woman,
serves as a defining character in the sibling rivalry depicted on the Gates of Paradise.
Ritus also requires at terce a chant of Abraham (Dum staret Abraham) to be sung the
Saturday before the first Sunday of Lent.403

401

Lessons for the week from Joel (2:12-19), Isaiah (38:1-6; 58: 1-9; 58: 9-14), Matthew (6:16-21; 8:5-13;
5:43-6:4), Mark (6:47-56) and homilies by St. Augustine (Bk 2 on Sermon of the Mount, v.4, ch. 12; and
Bk 2 on Harmony of the Gospels, v. 4, ch. 20), St. Jerome (Bk 1 on Matthew, ch. 5-6), and St. Bede (Bk 2,
ch. 28 on Mark 6, v. 4) discuss: proper fasting and the importance of not seeking external rewards; the faith
of the centurion; love your enemies; and the struggling ship of disciples, like the Church, waiting the
miraculous intervention of Jesus walking to them across the water. (See Missale romanum Mediolani,
E107, and E106 for these Mass readings; see E145 and the Roman Breviary for the repeated Mass lessons
and homilies). E145 seems to list the same homilies on the gospels, except a homily of Origen is used
instead of Jerome.
402
403

The Office lessons typically repeat the Sunday Mass readings throughout the week.

Sabbato ante primam dominicam Quadragesime R[equire] tertium Dum staret Abraham sollemniter
canimus et in omni sabbato Quadragesime, excepto Sabbato sancto (Ritus, 29r in Toker, On Holy Ground,
187 lines 1056-1057).

133
There are also few Old Testament lessons prescribed for the first week of Lent
(Quadragesima), and those that are required break from the chronological line of Old
Testament stories previously communicated. On Quadragesima Sunday, Mores required
that Missa maior be said in Santa Reparata and Missa populi in San Giovanni.404 Only
three holidays, according to Mores, reverse the location of the masses and two of them
are related to Lent. The large congregation of people attend Mass in the Baptistery on
Septuagesima Sunday and on this first Sunday of Lent. The desire to launch the season
of pre-Lent and Lent in the Baptistery seems significant; conceivably a desire to spatially
connect the liturgy and ritual of the season with the church of San Giovanni. It is
difficult to say through which door the large gathering of worshippers would have
entered for Mass, although on such an important holiday, beginning the season of Lent, it
is likely the congregation entered through the eastern portal.405 The Old Testament
passages read during Lent illuminate the discipline of Lent: the forty days of penance
and prayer; the call to repentance; baptism and its effects; the law of God406
The gospel reading for Sundays Mass is Matthew 4:1-11 (Temptation of Jesus).
The Temptation of Jesus here also reinforces the theme of fasting, as Jesus fasted in the
desert for forty days and forty nights before being tempted by the devil. The time period
of forty days and nights is repeated in the liturgy for this week, because the season of
Lent itself is a fast of forty days until Easter. For instance, Ember Wednesdays reading

404

Ritus does not name San Giovanni as the setting for Mass or processions for the first three Lenten
Sundays it describes.
405

It is also possible a large congregation entered through the south door awaiting the formal procession of
the clergy from the Cathedral who would enter the Gates of Paradise.
406

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 12.

134
from Exodus relates that Moses was on Mt. Sinai for forty days and forty nights; and for
the same Mass, 1 Kings 19:3-8 tells that Elijah takes forty day to journey to Mt. Horeb.
The Mass readings reinforce the Lenten themes of fasting and penitence, conduct
and Commandments, and purification and baptism. The Mass epistle for Quadragesima
Sunday from II Corinthians 6:2, Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the
day of salvation, Lewine interprets as referring to the saving effect of baptism.407 This
passage was read in the Baptistery on the first Sunday of Lent.408 On Monday the first
week of Lent the gospel of Matthew 25:31-46 is read, which describes a separation of
sheep from goats.409 This separation Lewine says is a separation of those choosing to be
baptized and enter the Christian community (a choice that needed to be made at the
beginning of Lent).410 The accompanying epistle from Ezekiel refers to the Lord as a
shepherd (Ezek. 34: 11-16). As Lent is considered a period of preparation for baptismal
initiates, the liturgy and the location of the Mass in the Baptistery are appropriate and
reveal the architectural function in the choreography of the liturgy.
The Commandments are a recurring topic for the readings in this first week of
Lent. Ember Wednesdays Mass includes three readings from Exodus 24: 12-18, 1 Kings
19:3-8, and Matthew 12: 38-50. The Exodus passage narrates Moses climbing the
mountain with Joshua to receive the tablets of stone with the Law and Commandments.
407

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 22. E145 (24v) prescribes a sermon on Sunday
by St. Augustine which mentions the Jordan river (I have not been able to transcribe and translate the whole
passage, but it appears to also relate to baptismal waters). The homily assigned with the gospel for the
Office is by Pope Gregory: Homily 16 on the Gospels (see E145, 27r; Roman Breviary).
408

The fasting, penitence, and behavioral advice all point to disciplining the Christian spirit in preparation
for the celebration of baptism and the celebration of Easter.
409

Missale romanum Mediolani, 57.

410

Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 27.

135
The selected scripture from Matthew contains a multitude of topics terminating with
Jesus exclaiming that For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother,
and sister and mother (Matthew 12: 50). Thursdays reading from Ezekiel relates that
following the Law will result in a life with God: Know that all lives are mine; the life of
the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall
die. If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and righthe shall surely live (18: 45, 9).411 This sentiment is repeated by a later passage from the same chapter of Ezekiel
read on Ember Friday: But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have
committed and keep all my statues and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live;
they shall not die (18: 21).412 The two reading on Ember Saturday from Deuteronomy
also order the faithful to diligently observe the Commandments.413 Interestingly the
choice of each of these readings also includes several references to parents, children, and,
becoming family of God. This type of concept is also found in the ceremony of baptism.
Besides the prescribed readings on living by the Law and Commandments, the
masses for Ember Wednesday and Ember Saturday occurring during this week introduce
in Old Testament stories and characters, including Solomon and the Queen of Sheba,
Jonah, and Moses and Elijah.414 The figures of Moses and Elijah have been discussed

411

The full reading is Ezek. 18: 1-9.

412

The full reading is Ezek. 18: 20-28.

413

Deut. 26:15-19 and Deut. 11:22-25.

414

E107 & Missale romanum Mediolani. The commentaries by St Ambrose on Matthew relates all to
penance (Roman Breviary). Throughout the week Moses is highlighted along with the Law and
Commandments. Elijah is referred to in his relation to the forty days and forty nights journey discussed
above. On Ember Saturday Mass, of the several readings, Matthew 17:1-9 describes the Transfiguration
with the appearance of Moses and Elijah. The Matthew passage on Jonah is repeated on Ember
Wednesday in the antiphon Sicut fuit Jonas according to Ritus, 30v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 189 line
1111): Feria quarta ant. ad Benedictus Generatio hec, ad Magnificat Sicut fuit Jonas.

136
above, and the characters of Jonah and the Queen are brought up in the Ember
Wednesday reading from Matthew. The Pharisees ask for a sign from Jesus, to which he
replies by discoursing on two signs already sent and ignored:
For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea
monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of
the earthsomething greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the South will rise
up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from
the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something
greater than Solomon is here! (Matthew 12: 40-42).
All of these Old Testament figures appear on Ember Wednesday creating a liturgical
message that aligns Jesus with each figure. The reading of Moses receiving the tablets of
the Law with Joshua is represented on the Gates of Paradise, as is the Queen of Sheba
meeting Solomon.415 The other two figures may also be depicted on the Gates. Jonah is
included as one of the niche figures framing the Noah panel.416 It is quite possible that
Elijah, a figure repeated in the liturgy for Lent, is also one of the figures of the frame.417
While largely the readings for this first week shift away from the Old Testament,
Lewine notes themes of baptism continue in the liturgy.418 Readings throughout the week
also emphasize the themes of penitence and conduct. Disciplining behavior or conduct is
joined in the liturgy of the week to the Law and Commandments. In addition, important
Old Testament figures are placed in parallel to the episodes of Christs life. There is no
415

Because of this passage, and others, the Queen of the south is believed to be present as a witness to the
Last Judgment.
416

Jonah has been identified by Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 160. He can be clearly identified by the
attribute of a fish.
417

Elijah may be depicted to the right of the Joseph panel. This figure, who is bald with a long beard, is
similar in appearance to the representation of Elijah on the Transfiguration panel of the north Baptistery
door also by Ghiberti.
418

Lewine also discusses themes of purification and penitence as related with the first Sunday and Monday
of Lent (Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 22, 116).

137
evidence in Ritus or Mores that document any of the services the first week of Lent were
directly related to the Baptistery of San Giovanni; however, the liturgy sets up important
themes and figures for a season focused on instruction, focused on death and resurrection
at the close of Lent (Holy Saturday and Easter). Because the season of Lent is so tied to
instruction of catechumen and preparing for baptism, the liturgy does not need to be
performed in the Baptistery to make an explicit connection. The visibility of the Gates
facing the portals of the Cathedral allows for the liturgical readings within Santa Maria
del Fiore to be associated with the Gates, especially considering there are no other Old
Testament representations inside the Cathedral. Perhaps more telling is the dominant role
given to the Baptistery of San Giovanni on the initial holidays of Septuagesima and the
first Sunday of Lent. The Missa populi in the Baptistery on Septuagesima Sunday and
Quadragesima Sunday commences the start of a season dedicated to instruction and
baptism.419
Before closing this discussion of the first week of Lent, the Office liturgy for
Ember Saturday introduces readings for the next week. Ritus incorporates the story of
Jacob and Esau into the Vespers liturgy.420 The prescribed responsory, Ecce odor filii,
refers to Genesis 27:27 (Behold the smell of my son) which tells the story of the Isaac
blessing Jacob.

419

The season of Lent ties together both churches in their role of initiating catechumen and bolstering the
faithful. This is reflected in the ritual relationship between the Cathedral and the Baptistery, the regular
shared celebration of Mass on Sundays, and the inclusive rituals performed on the important Lenten
holidays of Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday.
420

In vesperis lect. Rogamus vos, R[esponsory] Ecce odor filii, ad Magnificat ant. Domine bonum est nos
hic, or. Deus qui conspicis (Ritus, 30v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 189 lines 1114-1116). The lecture
Rogamus vos is 1 Thessalonians 14 (And we beseech you). The antiphon Domine bonum est nos hic is
from Matt. 17:4 (Lord, it is good for us to be here). Both passages are part of the earlier Mass liturgy.

138
During the second week of Lent, the Old Testament readings are resumed with the
story of Jacob and Esau. On the second Sunday of Lent the Roman Breviary prescribes
Genesis 27: 1-29 for the Matins service, which tell of Isaac sending Esau out to hunt
(before he gives him his blessing), but instead Jacob receives the blessing dressed as
Esau.

This is the major story illustrated on the Jacob and Esau panel of the Gates of

Paradise. Like on the Gates of Paradise, these lectures focus on the favor shown for
Jacob, the younger brother. In her study of Roman Lenten liturgy, Lewine suggests the
theme for the second week of Lent is this fraternal favoring.421 As discussed in my
formal analysis of the Old Testament panels, the favor shown to a younger brother or son
signifies the New Law over the Old. St. Ambrose identifies Jacob as the church and Esau
as the synagogue. 422 In Ritus, the Genesis stories of Jacob and Esau are read on Sunday
and are a focus of the Matins office.423 This Sundays page is illuminated in Lectionary
E145 with an initial depicting the Isaac giving Jacob his blessing.424 In the Roman
Breviary, the responsories throughout the week bring continued attention to the story of
Jacob and the brothers. The stories of Joseph (Genesis 37:6-22) and Jacob and Esau
(Genesis 27:6-39) are included in the Mass readings prescribed for feria sexta and
421

See Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 28. The story of the Prodigal Son is also a
lesson on Saturday of this week, further emphasizing the subject of sibling rivalry.
422

See also Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 29.

423

Ritus, 31r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 189 line 1117): Sex lect. de Genesi ab eo loco ubi dicit Senuit
autem Isaac et caligaverunt oculi eius Ritus (31r) describes after Lauds, In processione cantatur
R[equired] nonum omni dominica Quadragesime. Ad introitum ecclesie ant. Dixit dominus mulieri
chananee (Toker, On Holy Ground, 189 lines 1121-1122). The official Mass follows. I do not know what
kind of procession Ritus is referring to but it is apparently required at Nones every Sunday of Lent. No
specific locations are given only that it ends at the entrance of the church with an antiphon to be sung
presumably while entering. During Lent Mass is said at Nones, rather than the usual Terce (Ritus, 29r) so it
could be a procession required before every Sunday lenten Mass, either within the Cathedral or perhaps
from Missa Maior in San Giovanni to Missa populi in Santa Reparata.
424

E145 also lists Jacob, Isaac, and Rebecca as the subjects of readings for Sunday (39r).

139
sabbato (Friday and Saturday) respectively in E107, E106, and the Missale romanum
Mediolani. The story of Joseph, specifically his dreams of becoming a lord over this
brothers and their jealous plot to get rid of him, is paired on Friday with Matthews
parable of the Wicked Vine Dressers. The parable was interpreted similarly to the
fraternal preferences as a prediction of the supplantation of Judaism and Christianity.425
The story of Jacob tricking Isaac for his fathers blessing, which is the birth right of Esau
the eldest, is paired with the lesson of the prodigal son, another subject of sibling rivalry.
Because of this emphasis in the liturgy on Joseph and especially Jacob, Lewine notes that
the theme for the second week of Lent is the favor for younger brothers.426
Several of the Lenten themes continue in the liturgy for the third week of Lent.
For the Mass on feria quarta (Wednesday) is another reading of Moses receiving the
Commandments, which has been repeated often to this point and is also read in week four
of Quadragesima.427 The other prominent theme refers specifically to baptism through
the prominence of water. Mondays epistle from the book of 4 Kings 5:1-5 (equivalent
now to Second Kings) tells the story of Elisha advising Namaan to heal his leprosy by
washing in the Jordan River, and repeated in the accompanying Gospel of Luke (4:2230). The power of the Jordan (significant in baptism) to purify and wash away sin (the
disease of leprosy was construed as sin), signifies the importance of baptism to perform

425

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 29.

426

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 28. She also suggests a fraternal reference in
Matthews description of the Transfiguration because it was an occasion when Jesus honored his brother
apostles, James and John by bringing them up the mountain with him (28). Wednesdays reading from
Matthew 20:17-28 Lewine notes James and John are again named (28).
427

Mass readings (E107, E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani) for feria quarta: Exodus 20:12-24
(Commandments) and Matthew 15:1-20 (restates the Commandments: Honor thy father and thy mother).
See also Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 62.

140
the same. Fridays epistle from Numbers 20: 1-13 relates Moses striking water from a
rock, and the Gospel John (4:5-42) tells of Jesus at the well.428 The pairing of these two
scriptures is significant. In the Old Testament readings, God provides water for the
thirsty Israelites in the wilderness and they continue to wander. In the gospel, Jesus tells
the Samaritan woman that anyone drinking water from the well (founded by Jacob) will
be thirsty again but those who drink of the water I give them will never be thirsty. The
water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life
(John 4: 14). These readings both signify the power of baptism to give eternal life in
Heaven, but also connote new over old by setting up oppositions between the water of the
Old Testament and that offered by Jesus. The emphasis on the Law and the allegory of
new over old are strongly witnessed in the Saturday Vespers liturgy prescribed in Ritus:
At Vespers lecture Scriptum est quoniam Abraham, Response Stetit Moyses, antiphon of
the Magnificat Nemo te condemnavit, prayer (oremus) Concede quesumus omnipotens
deus ut qui ex merito.429 The lecture incipit refers to Galations 4:22, a passage that
warrants full quotation here.430 Paul says:
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other
by a free woman. One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the
other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. Now this is an
allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from
Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia
428

And Saturdays reading from Daniel 13 (Bath of Susanna, a figure of baptism), according to Lewine,
Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 55 (she gives no citation for the liturgical source).
According to E107, E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani the reading is from Daniel 8: 1-62.
429

In vesperis lect. Scriptum est quoniam Abraham, R[esponse] Stetit Moyses, ant. ad Magnificat Nemo te
condemnavit, or. Concede quesumus omnipotens deus ut qui ex merito (Ritus, 32r in Toker, On Holy
Ground, 190 lines 1155-1157). Setit Moyses refers to Stetit Moyses coram Pharaone et dixit: Haec dicit
Dominus, a responsory sung during Lent [see the CANTUS database at
http://cantusdatabase.org/id/007708, (accessed 9.28.2011)].
430

The prescribed Mass epistle for the following day, the fourth Sunday in Lent, is the same passage from
Galatians (E107, E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani).

141
and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is
our motherNow you, my friends, are children of the promise, like IsaacBut
what does the scripture say? Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the
slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman. So then,
friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman (Gal. 4:22-31).
In this passage Paul assigns the allegory of preference for the younger brother also onto
the story of Ishmael and Isaac. He clearly explains above that the inheritance is given to
the younger son, Isaac, not only because Isaac allegorically represents the New Law but
also because the mothers, Hagar and Sarah, represents the old and the new covenant as
well. The inclusion of the Galatians passage here, adds further stress on this theme
already expounded in the liturgy and as represented on the Gates of Paradise. Even
further the scriptural reference may offer support to the identification of the two youth in
the foreground of the Abraham panel as Ishmael and Isaac, at least symbolically. If this
is an accepted interpretation, it further strengthens the theme of fraternal preference on
the Gates of Paradise. Certainly, the addition to the panel of the annunciation of the
Three Angels who promise Sarah a child (not original to the Bruni program) also
underscores the concept explained in Pauls epistle.
The third week of Lent also continues the Old Testament chronological narrative
to Joseph. Ritus prescribes six lectures from Genesis again during Matins at the first
nocturn on Sunday: Six lectures read from Genesis, four from Joseph cum sedecim esset
annorum [Genesis 37:2] until Vendiderunt Joseph in Egypto [Genesis 37:36]; the fifth
and also the sixth lecture from Igitur Joseph ductus est in Egyptum emitque eum Putiphar
[Genesis 39:1].431 These readings are the story of Joseph, which is also the subject of

431

Sex lect. leguntur de Genesi, quattuor ab eo loco ubi dicitur Joseph cum sedecim esset annorum usque
ibi Vendiderunt Joseph in Egypto, quinta autem et sexta lect. ab eo loco Igitur Joseph ductus est in
Egyptum emitque eum Putiphar(Ritus, 31v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 189 lines 1134-1136). The

142
readings listed for this day in Lectionary E145.432 The responsories given in the Roman
Breviary all are taken from the story of Joseph, specifically his relationship with his
brothers rather than Potiphar or the Pharaohs dreams (as illustrated on Brunis plan and
the Baptisterys dome mosaics). The focus of Joseph and his brothers is represented in
all the episodes of the Joseph panel on the Gates of Paradise. Although brief, the several
responsories said in the liturgy each day of the week offer repetitive emphasis on the Old
Testament stories in Lent.
Lawgiving is a theme for the fourth week according to Lewine.433 Some of the
liturgy for the week is dedicated to Moses.434 Rather than repeat stories from Exodus, the
Office responsories focus on Law, covenant, and the figures of Joshua. The Breviary
responsories command the faithful to write the Law on their heart; tells of Joshua taking
over after Moses death: As I was with Moses, I will be with you (Joshua 1:5); and the
Deuteronomy passage (27:4-7) ordering an altar of stones to be set up for the Ark of the
covenant after crossing the Jordan. Tuesdays lesson from Exodus 32:7-12 describes
Gods anger at the worship of the golden calf when he breaks the first tablets435 and the
responsories given in Ritus also refer to Joseph and Jacob (31v). Again a segment in Ritus for Sunday in
Lent refers to a procession involving the entrance to the church: Facta processione, ad introitum ecclesie
ant. Extollens quedam mulier, et sciendum quod de quocumque cantatur ad ingressum ecclesie, in
processione <de eo> <V[erse] et or. dicuntur in choro, processione> finite (Ritus, 31v; Toker, On Holy
Ground, 189 lines 1142-1144).
432

Ritus, 31v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 189 line 1133). E145 lists a sermon by John (Ephesians), story
on Joseph, Luke and a homily by St. Jerome (54r). The Roman Breviary prescribes Genesis 37:2-28 about
Joseph and his brothers. The Roman Breviary lists a homily by Bede on Luke rather than Jerome (Bk 4, ch.
48 on Luke 11).
433

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 63.

434

The Gospel of John 8:12-20 is connected to the first transmission of Pater noster; the Pater noster (Lords
Prayer) and Apostles Creed were typically first communicated to baptismal candidates during the 3 rd and
4th Lenten Sundays (see Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 50).
435

The coinciding Gospel from John 7:14-31 asks Did not Moses give you the Law?...

143
Breviary responsories again focus on the Law: Moses fasting in preparation for receiving
the Commandments, and the renewal of the covenant in Moab (Deut 29:5).436 Both on
Wednesday and Friday, the responsories relate Moses radiant face when he descends Mt.
Sinai holding the Law Tablets (Exodus 34:30). On Thursday the Office responsory is
part of Moses song for rejoicing in their salvation from Egypt.437 This scriptural
passage, Exodus 15:1-21, is traditionally read at the baptismal Mass on Holy Saturday
and the Pentecost Vigil.438
The story of Moses is also told on the fourth Sunday in Lent, six lectures from
Exodus from the passage Moyses autem pascebat oves Jethro cognate sui sacerdotis
Madian (Exodus 3:1).439 The readings begin the story of Moses, as the one chosen by
God to save his people.440 The Matins lesson in the Roman Breviary coincides with the
early prescription by calling for Exodus 3:1-15 to be read on Sunday. The early story of
Moses in Egypt is not depicted on the Gates of Paradise, rather the Moses panel reflects
the emphasis of Moses that appears throughout the Lenten season, his reception of the
Commandments and Tablets of the Law.
The fourth week of Lent is also dense with the themes of salvation through water
and resurrection (symbols of baptism). For instance, on Mondays Mass the Old

436

The passage about Moses fasting is also a responsory on Friday.

437

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 56. Moses Song is located in Exodus 15:1-21.

438

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 58.

439

Sex lect. de Exodo ab eo loco Moyses autem pascebat oves Jethro cognate sui sacerdotis Madian
(Ritus, 32r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 190 lines 1164-1165). The incipit for the first nocturn of the Matins
Office is Exodus 3:1. Lectionary E145 also begins the story of Moses on Sunday: Moyses at pascebat
oves Jethro (70v).
440

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 59. The story includes Moses with his flock near
Mt. Horeb sees the burning bush and the Lord sends Moses to the Pharoah to save the Israelites.

144
Testament reading describes the Judgment of Solomon (itself a story related to
application of Law). The Judgment is paired with the Gospel of John that tells the story
of Jesus cleansing the Temple of Jerusalem.441 The pairing signifies the parallel of Jesus
and the Church with the Temple, as Jesus himself makes the connection: The Jews then
said, This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up
in three days? But he [Jesus] was speaking of the temple of this body (John 2: 20-21).
By combining this vision of the Temple with the recognition story of the Queen of Sheba,
the Solomon panel on the Gates of Paradise emphasizes the allegorical Church. The
epistle reading also creates parallels between the resurrection of Jesus, the birth of the
Church (or rebirth of the Temple), and the role of the sacraments. In addition, on
Wednesday the reading from Ezekiel 36:23-28 discusses the renewal of Israel and
cleansing of impurities. The paired gospel reading of John 9:1-38 tells the story of Jesus
healing a man born blind by anointing his eyes with saliva and mud and sending him to
wash in a pool. The homily of Augustine on this gospel passage relates the story to
baptism in Christ, and Augustine expresses his treatise to both faithful and
catechumens.442 This action of anointing with saliva is also part of the baptismal
ceremony. Thursday and Fridays readings convey stories of resurrection by Elisha,
Elijah, and Jesus.443 The episodes of resurrection are meant to signify the death and

441

3 Kings 3:16-28 (Judgment of Solomon) and John 2:13-25 are the readings for the Monday after the
fourth Sunday in Quadragesima in E107, E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani. 3 Kings is today
equivalent to 1 Kings.
442
443

The sermon by Augustine (Treatise 44 on John) is prescribed in the Roman Breviary for Matins.

4 Kings 4:25-38 (Elisha revives a child), Luke 7:11-16 (Jesus revives a son), 3 Kings 17:17-24 (Elijah
revives a son), John 11:1-45 (Jesus raises Lazarus).

145
rebirth of baptism.444 The beginning of these baptismal references, Johns Gospel
reading on Wednesday, is also related to an important step in the instruction of the
baptismal catechumen. The blind beggar, interpreted as blind because of the original sin,
is healed and he pronounces his belief in Jesus. His pronouncement is also part of the
baptismal ceremony and connected to the Apostles Creed. According to Lewine, the
Credo and the Pater Noster (Lords Prayer) are first communicated to candidates at this
time in Lent.445 The Saturday reading from John (8: 12-20), I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life, is
associated with the first transmission of the Pater Noster.446
Passiontide, the last two weeks of Lent beginning Passion Sunday, prepares the
congregation for the celebration of the Passion of Christ. Several Old Testament readings
are prescribed; however, they are all from the books of the prophets, particularly Daniel
and Jeremiah. The week continues the subjects of baptism, Law, and covenant. For
instance, the last verse for Sundays epistle (Hebrews 9:11-15) reads, For this reason he
is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised
eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the

444

Saturdays introit of Mass, Isaiah 55:1-2, opens with Come to the waters (Lewine, Sistine Chapel
Walls and the Roman Liturgy , 55).
445

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 50. The Creed is a statement of faith that was
passed on only orally and had to be memorized. The source for the Lords Prayer is Matthew 6:9-15. See
Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 50.
446

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 55. The other reading for Saturdays Mass is
Isaiah 49: 8-15. (I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to
apportion the desolate heritages;for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will
guide themBut Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget
her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?) The passage mentions, the
covenant, inheritance, and likens God/Church to a mother.

146
transgressions under the first covenant.447 The Mosaic Laws are repeated in
Wednesdays epistle from Leviticus (19:1, 2, 11-19), and the Gospel lesson for the day
(John 10:22-38) is set at the porch of Solomons Temple. Mondays Gospel (John 7:3239) emphasizes the living waters of the Holy Spirit: Let anyone who is thirsty come to
me, and let the one who believes in me drinkOut of the believers heart shall flow
rivers of living water (John 7:37-39).448 The gospel readings for the week after Passion
Sunday tell stories of events leading up to the Passion, episodes of Jesus being questioned
and attacked by the Jews. Saturdays lecture from the Gospel of John (12:10-36)
describes Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This leads into Sundays celebration of
the palms.
These liturgical readings for pre-Lent and Lent extend and promote themes for a
season that specifically overlap the themes represented on the Gates of Paradise. These
readings convey the chronological stories of Genesis and Exodus that are represented on
the Gates from the Creation panel to the Moses panel. The readings for Lent also
emphasize the key figures of Joshua, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Some of these
readings were apparently not read as part of a ceremony that clearly included San
Giovanni, but the Missa maior was celebrated in Baptistery of San Giovanni on
Sundays.449

447

John 8:46-59 is the gospel reading for Sunday. In this passage Jesus is questioned by the Jews. Jesus
says: whoever keeps my word will never see death and although Abraham and the prophets before died,
they rejoiced that he would see my day (John 8: 51-56). In Ritus, as on the previous Sundays of Lent a
procession involving the entrance to the church is prescribed (33r).
448

Tuesdays reading from Daniel 14:28-42, describing Daniels survival in the lions den, is symbolic of
the resurrection. Thursdays reading from Daniel 3:34-45, the song or penitential prayer of the three youth
in the furnace, is also a symbol of the resurrection.
449

Missa populi was said in the Baptistery for Septuagesima Sunday and the first Sunday of Lent. As
Table 1 shows there were not processions or ritual events specifically including San Giovanni in the

147
The fact that the majority of the Old Testament characters found on the Gates of
Paradise are also incorporated in some fashion into the Lenten liturgy makes the season
an intriguing possible inspiration for the program design.450 This is especially the case
when one considers the primary function of Lent to prepare catechumens and the
congregation for baptism, which was celebrated on Holy Saturday. Besides the
correlation between the Lenten liturgy and the imagery of the Gates of Paradise, the
liturgical purpose of Lent is related to the function of the Baptistery and its primary
portal. If this is the inspiration for the door, then it makes even more sense that it be
placed in the eastern faade so that the sacrament literally leads into the Church.
Palm Sunday (Dominica in Palmis)
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week (Hebdomada major), liturgically devoted to the
memory of Christs last week of mortal life. Palm Sunday, the last Sunday of Lent,
celebrates Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his victory over death. The palm is a
symbol of victory, although both palm and olive branches were used in the Florentine
procession. The Mass reading from Saturday introduces the story, as told by John, of the
large crowd that came to meet Jesus at the gate, waving palm branches for him and
shouting Hosanna.
On Palm Sunday the orchestrated ritual moves between the two churches of San
Giovanni and the Cathedral throughout the liturgical day. Before Mass a ceremony for
the blessing of the palms was performed with a procession. The early medieval
primary documents, although the Sunday Missa maior was in the Baptistery. As mentioned earlier, Ritus
prescribes a procession for both the second, third, and fourth Sundays of Lent but does not specify
locations, except that it seemed to involve the church portal. Perhaps the procession left from the bishops
palace after preparing there for Mass? The bishops palace was located directly west of the Baptistery.
450

Davids story is not told or emphasized in the Mass and Office readings as the other Old Testament
characters are.

148
procession of the palms began at San Lorenzo in order to proceed through the city gate to
the Cathedral.451 At that time, San Lorenzo was located outside the old Roman walls
near the San Giovanni gate. The procession symbolically recreated Christs triumphal
entry into Jerusalem, imagining the city of Florence as the holy city. But the route
changed when the old walls were removed and the visual link between urban
environment and spectacle was broken.452 Instead Mores describes:
On Palm Sunday we sing the morning Mass in the neutral part [i.e. between Santa
Reparata and the Baptistery] as is usual. But around the middle of Terce, we
celebrate the blessings of the olives, we distribute the olives to the clerics, and we
celebrate Terce in the church of San Giovanni Battista. After finishing between
the two churches the verses and antiphons proper to that day and after wetting the
flowers, we proceed toward the church of Santa Reparata and here we distribute
the olives to the populace. After this, moreover, we celebrate Mass with the
utmost devotion, ascending to the altar of Santa Reparata.453

451

Ritus, 34v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 192. cum clero et populo ad ecclesiam sancti LaurentiiFinita
tertia et preparatis ministriesepiscopo vel sacerdote in pluvial, dicto a sacerdote Dominus vobiscum et or.
Conserva, subdiaconus in pulpitum ascendens legat lectionem Exoco Venerunt filii Israel in tono
prophetieincensato libro evangelii, astantibus ceroferariis cum luminibus, legat evangelium secundum
Mattheum Cum appropinquasset Jesus Jerosolimam. Quo finite, benedicantur aepiscopo vel sacerdote
palme et olive secundem ordinem sacramentarii. Quibus benedictis et incensatis et aqua sancta asperses,
fiat sermo ad populumEt statim totus clerus et populous exeant in atrium ipsius ecclesie, cruce
precedente, et faciant chorum in ipso atrioCum vero ventum fuerit ad portam civitatis vel ecclesie,
aliquantula mora ibi facta donec aperiatur, in ipso ingress incipiat cantor (Ritus, 34v-35r in Toker, On
Holy Ground, 192-193).
452

Ritus, 34v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 192. The palms were blessed in San Lorenzo and the procession
from there to the Cathedral represented Christs entry into Jerusalem as it passed through the old city walls,
Porta San Giovanni (porta episcope). With the building of new walls (1173-75) and by the time Mores was
produced, the route was changed to the Baptistery, a simpler procession. The figurative point of entry
became the main portal of the cathedral(Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual , 114). See also Toker,
On Holy Ground, 49-51 for a translation of the Ritus passage and discussion of the atrium and route for
this procession.
453

Translation of Mores, 1v from Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 115. The Palm Sunday ritual is
significant in its description of activities which took place in the space in front of the Gates of Paradise.
While this particular liturgy has only small references (Noahs Ark and water references) to the Old
Testament imagery, it displays how that space was used in certain ceremonies.

149
A passage from Exodus, relating the story of the Mana given to the people of Israel in the
desert, is read for the Benediction of the Palms ceremony. 454 During the five prayers that
are said to bless the branches, reference is made to the dove that brought back an olive
branch to Noahs Ark.455 Palm Sunday Mass readings, and those of the rest of Holy
Week, center around the Passion and the story of the Passion up to the burial of Christ is
told from Matthew for the days Mass.456
Holy Saturday (Sabbato Sancto)
All of the preparations through Lent led up to the Easter vigil services on Holy
Saturday as the congregation celebrated rebirth, the rebirth of catechumens who receive
the sacrament of baptism on this day and of the Resurrection at sunrise the following
morning. A procession took place on Holy Saturday from the Cathedral to the font in
San Giovanni.457 The procession is one part of the ceremonies for the day between the
Blessing of the Paschal Candle and the formal baptism of catechumens. The most
detailed early descriptions of the liturgy and ritual for Holy Saturday is found in Ritus
(40r ff.). Ritus describes that:
454

Exodus 15:27-16:7. The reading from Matthew 21:1-9 describes the triumphal entry of Christ, reinacted
in the procession, that fulfills the prophecy of the King coming on a donkey. The other liturgical lectures
for the day are from Jeremiah, Matthew and St. Ambrose. There are water references throughout. The Old
Testament narratives included on the doors represent those narratives used in liturgy for initiation not those
used in the liturgy of this period for relating to the Passion specifically. A lesson on the Passover is
included from the Old Testament on Good Friday.
455

Francis Mershman, Palm Sunday. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11 (New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911), <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/114326.htm> (accessed March 16, 2011).
456

Marks version of the Passion events up to the burial are read on Tuesday (feria tertia) and Lukes story
is read on Wednesday (feria quarta). Johns version of the Passion story, again up to the burial, is read on
Good Friday. The telling of the Passion ending with the burial of Christ seems significant to the theme of
baptism leading up to Holy Saturday, not just the death of Christ but the burial which is often related to the
act of immersion during the baptismal ceremony. The Exodus reading on Good Friday relates the
Passover, with the Passion of Christ. All the weeks readings focus on the Passion.
457

Ritus, 42r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 198 lines 1492-1498; Mores, 3r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 270
lines 91-94; Toker, On Holy Ground, 48; Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2.

150
After Terce, those about to be baptized proceed to the church, and then they are
questioned, and they recited the Creed, and they are ranged in order, just as it is
written, males on the right, females on the left; and the priest makes the Sign of
the Cross on the foreheads of each of them. Afterwards, having placed a hand on
the heads of each of them, he says the prayer: Ne te latet, et cetera. Having said it,
he touches the nostrils and ears of each with saliva, and says: Effeta quod, et
cetera. Afterward he touches the shoulders and breasts with the holy oil, asking
Abrenuntias Satane [Do you renounce Satan?], et cetera. Having finished these
things, he walks in a circle around them, having placed his hand on each of their
heads, saying in a loud voice: Credo in deum. Afterwards is said to them by the
deacon: Orate electi flectite genua, and, after a little while he says: Levate
complete [Rise, be filled], et cetera.458
This ceremony is similar to the actions performed at the threshold of the Baptistery as
described for the everyday/ infant baptismal ceremony. On Good Friday, the lights in the
church are extinguished (Office of Tenebrae), and on the Vigil of Easter they are re-lit
during the ritual for blessing the paschal candle. The large paschal candle with its newly
blessed fire or light of the church celebrating the resurrection of Christ on the morning of
Easter, was also plunged three times into the baptismal font signifying the Holy Spirit
and the illumination of the catechumen at baptism.459 After the formal Blessing of the
Paschal Candle ritual that took place in the Cathedral, twelve Old Testament lessons

458
459

Ritus, 40v translated by Toker, On Holy Ground, 53.

Herbert Thurston, "Paschal Candle." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11 (New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911), <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11515b.htm> (accessed May 13, 2010). A major
liturgical component of this benediction ceremony is the singing of the Exultet. Lynette Bosch discusses
the language of this hymn recalls imagery of the Creation and the Flood in the context of baptism and
salvation (Lynette M. F. Bosch, Genesis, Holy Saturday, and the Sistine Ceiling, The Sixteenth Century
Journal 30, no. 3 [Autumn, 1999]: 648). However, her transcription and translation is not part of any form
of the Exultet I have found. See for instance the Missale romanum Mediolani, 176-177. Bosch translates
the hymn: Oh, God, whose spirit in the very beginning of the world moved over the waters, that even then
the nature of water might receive the virtue of sanctification; Oh, God, who by water washed away the
crimes of the guilty world, and by the pouring out of the Deluge gave a figure of regeneration, that one and
the same element might in a mystery be the end of vice and the beginning of virtue. The Exultet does
allude to the Passover, the salvation of the Israelites through the Parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of fire
as parallels to baptism and Christs resurrection. In addition, the hymn celebrates the necessary and happy
sin of Adam, without which the redemption could not have occurred.

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(prophetia) were read from the pulpit as specified in Ritus, Edili 107, and Missale
Romanum Mediolani:460
Genesis 1:1 In principio creavit
Genesis 5:32 Noe vero
Genesis 22:1 Temptavit
Exodus 14:24 Factum est in vigilia
Isaiah 54:17 Hec est hereditas
Baruch 3:9 Audi Israel
Ezekiel 37:1 Facta est super me
Isaiah 4:1 Apprehendent
Exodus 12:1 Dixit dominus ad Moysem
Jonah 3:1 Factum est verbum domini ad Jonam
Deuteronomy 31:22 Scripsit Moyses
Daniel 3:1 Nabuchodonosor rex
When these readings are finished, the tractus Sicut cervus is sung before moving to the
baptismal font.461
Although all Old Testament lessons are called prophetia, it is during the liturgy
prior to the communal baptismal ceremony that this term is emphasized. The titles of the
passages are not given to the congregation, but instead read as First Prophecy, Second
Prophecy, and so on.462 This serves to emphasize the interpretation of the Old Testament
lessons as typological shadows of New Testament events and prophecy of the Messiah.
Some of the twelve prophetia read on Holy Saturday are illustrated directly on the Gates
of Paradise.463 The first four passages narrate the story of the Creation; the story of Noah
460

Ritus, 41v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 198 lines 1479-1487. These readings correspond to E107 and
Missale romanum Mediolani (Mores, which was probably meant to compliment Ritus, does not specify the
passages to be read).
461

Sicut cervus is taken from Psalm 42: As the deer longs for flowing waters, so longs my soul for you, O
God. The sung tractus has obvious allusions to baptism.
462

Ritus prescribes the book titles and authors are not read because of the blindness of the catechumens
who have not yet begun to recognize the citizens of heavenly Jerusalem (Ritus, 41v). The rubics of the
Missale romanum Mediolani also direct that the titles not be given.
463

The Old Testament passages, as given in full text for E107 and Missale romanum Mediolani are:
Genesis 1:1-2:2; Genesis 5:32; 6:1-7, 13-22; 7:6, 11-14, 18-24; 8:1-3, 6-12, 15-21; Genesis 22:1-19;

152
and his sons building the Ark, surviving the Flood, and establishing a covenant with God
after Noahs sacrifice; the story of the command to Sacrifice Isaac; and the Parting of the
Red Sea (which is only alluded to in the Moses panel with the inclusion of the body of
water).
The remaining readings relate to baptism (resurrection), the Commandments, and
judgment. The fifth reading from Isaiah makes allusion not only to baptism (everyone
who thirsts, come to the waters), but also to the figure of David (I will make with you
an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David...a leader and commander for
the peoples).464 The sixth reading from Baruch, writing on the Babylonian exile, urges
the Israelites to walk in the way of God to find everlasting peace, and to seek Wisdom
in the Commandments in order to return from exile. The Baruch passage resonates with
themes on the Gates that focus on the Commandments, which is also a focus of the
baptismal liturgy. It also complements scenes like that of the Joshua panel depicting the
Israelites entering the Promised Land with the Ark of the Covenant.
The seventh reading from Ezekiel narrates the story of the dry bones in the desert.
This passage describes the prophecy that the Israelites will be reunited with their land
under one king, meant as a foreshadowing of the Last Judgment: You shall know that I
am the Lord when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I

Exodus 14:24-15:1; Isaiah 54:17-55:11; Baruch 3:9-38; Ezekiel 37:1-14 (Dry bones:), Isaiah 4:1-6 (one
the Lord has washed away the filth of the dauthers of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from
its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning), Exodus 12:1-11 (Passover), Jonah 3:1-10
(Ninevah repents), Deut. 31:22-20 (Moses predicted rebellion of Israelites), Daniel 3:1-24 (three men in the
firey furnace).
464

Isaiah 54:17- 55:11. Lynette Bosch attempts to connect this reading to the scenes of Noah on the Sistine
Ceiling in her argument relating Michelangelos frescoes to the Holy Saturday liturgy. While I also believe
there are connections, the Isaiah passage (54:9) Bosch says was read is not the passage cited in the liturgy
for Florences Ritus (41v), Edili 107 (200v), nor the Missale romanum Mediolani (183).

153
will put my spirit within you, and you shall live (Ezekiel 37:13). The images of bones
being called up by Ezekiel as commanded by God resonates with the figures of the Last
Judgment being called by Christ on the vault of the Baptistery of San Giovanni. The
description of the restoration of a mortal and divided people under a king in one land
recalls the Solomon panel on the Gates, as the people triumphantly gather around the
King in Jerusalem. The passage also contains baptismal symbolism in the description of
the dead being reborn with the spirit of the Lord. The specific description of the rebirth
in the Ezekiel passage also brings to mind the Creation panel, as God brings the bones to
life with his breath in a similar manner to his creation of Adam.
The eighth and tenth readings from Isaiah and Jonah are passages that relate to
baptism and repentance resulting in the joy of salvation. The final reading from Daniel,
which narrates the story of the three faithful surviving the fiery furnace, is also a story of
miraculous salvation. Both the Isaiah and Daniel passage convey the symbolism of
baptism through cleansing through fire. These readings on salvation parallel those
depicted on the Gates of Paradise, like the conquering of Jericho and Goliath on the
Joshua and David panels. Another reading on salvation is the ninth prophetia from
Exodus describing the Passover. The story of the Passover is a parallel to the events of
Christs Passion, the focal celebration of Holy Week.
The eleventh reading from Deuteronomy is chosen to describe Moses writing his
book of the law that he commands should be placed next to the Ark of the Covenant. The
passage also narrates Gods commission of Joshua as successor to Moses. The reading
continues the emphasis on the Commandments existing in the baptismal liturgy and on
the iconographical program of the Gates of Paradise. In the Joshua panel, the new leader

154
of the Israelites is depicted directing his people and the Ark of the Covenant into the
Promised Land. In addition to the repetition of liturgical stories and themes on the Gates,
the prophets read during Holy Saturday also appear in the frame of the panels.465 The
prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Daniel, and possibly Baruch, are likely represented in the
frame niches.
The connections between the Holy Saturday liturgy and the iconography of the
Gates of Paradise presented here suggest that rather than literally depict the liturgical
stories read on Holy Saturday prior to the communal baptismal ceremony, the author of
the Gates program focused on a chronological selection of Old Testament subjects that
conveyed the significant themes for the rituals of the holiday. As important as the
allusion to baptism is the reverberation of the necessity of the Law, the same is
emphasized in the Lenten liturgy and the baptismal ceremony. Each of the Holy
Saturday prophetia readings would have connected with the imagery of the Gates, either
through direct representation, as a complement or parallel representation, or through the
representation of the prophet.
The twelve Old Testament readings are not directly represented on the Gates of
Paradise; however, the same themes are highlighted in both the baptismal liturgy, Holy
Saturday liturgy, and the iconographical program. These lessons were not read directly
in front of the Gates of Paradise, but in the Cathedral from the pulpit immediately before
processing into the Baptistery through the Gates.

465

Sinding Larsen suggests the choice of prophets for the Sistine Ceiling was dictated by the prophetica
readings on Holy Saturday. See Staale Sinding Larsen, Iconography and Ritual: A Study of Analytical
Perspectives (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1984), 111-112 (Quoted in Bosch, Genesis, Holy Saturday, and
the Sistine Ceiling, 643).

155
Seven litanies are sung as the procession moves into the Baptistery, the blessed
candle and cross followed by pairs of clerics, as described in Mores: From the pulpit the
priest reads twelve lectures, the priest with attendants prepare, and then the blessed cross
and candle goes before the procession two by two to the font singing seven litanies.466
Unfortunately in all the details provided for the Holy Saturday liturgy, the entrance and
exit used for procession in the Baptistery is not specified. While the south door of the
Baptistery was probably used as the door for baptisms, I believe it is more likely that the
large baptismal procession for the Holy Saturday ceremonies used the main eastern
entrance. The eastern door is the more prominent, even more so with the placement of
the Gates of Paradise there; the inlaid floor seems to direct such a cavalcade from this
entrance to the large font in the center of the building.467
The connection between Holy Saturday (the vigil of Easter which celebrates
Christs resurrection), and baptism is clear. Baptism is a re-birth or resurrection from the
death of sin. The readings for Holy Saturday emphasize themes of re-birth, such as the
stories of the Flood, Red Sea, and the three men in the furnace. Baptism is also initiation

466

Deinde legantur in pulpit per sacerdotes duodecim lectet sacerdote cum ministries sibi adsistentibus
preparato, cruce et cereo benedicto, precedentibus bini et bini procedimus ad font, dicendo letaniam
septenam (Mores, 2v-3r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 270 lines 89-93). Ritus gives the following
prescription for the ceremony (42r): Ultima lect. finite, sacerdote cum ministries preparatis, facimus
processionem ad fontem, cereo benedicto et cruce precedentibus, postea binis et binis clericis
subsequentibus, ad extremum subsequentibus duobus ceroferariis cum cereis accensis coram sacerdote et
ministries preparatis cum turibulo. In qua processione fiunt prius letanie septene quousque perveniatur ad
fontem. Quo cum ventum fuerti, fiunt letanie quinque circa ipsum fontem. Finitis letaniis, dicit pontifex vel
sacerdos Dominus vobiscum et benedicit fontem secundum ordinem qui presignatus est in sacramentario et,
baptism celebrato, regressus fit ad altare cum letaniis ternis eo ordine quo itum est ad fontem (Toker, On
Holy Ground, 198-199 lines 1493-1498).
467

See Giusti, Il Pavimento del Battistero, 373-395.

156
into the Christian Church, into the new covenant. A lecture from Hebrews was read
during the third nocturn of Matins on Holy Saturday:468
Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining
eternal redemptionFor this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a
death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first
covenantHe abolishes the first in order to establish the secondAnd the Holy
spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, This is the covenant that I will make
with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and I
will write them on their minds, he also adds, I will remember their sins and their
lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer
any offering for sin.469
This passage from Paul displays the emphasis not only on re-birth during this holiday, but
also on covenant, the new inheritance. The Old Testament narratives chosen for the
Gates of Paradise also center around these themes. The program spotlights instances
when God establishes the second inheritance and the covenant. While the program
does not stress typological images of baptism it definitely includes significant allusions to
the instructional liturgy of pre-Lent, Lent and the baptismal celebration.
Easter Sunday (Dominica Resurrectionis Domini)
On Easter Sunday a procession also moves back and forth from the Cathedral and
San Giovanni.470 This still happens once a year on Easter Sunday, when the archbishop
solemnly robes in the Baptistery, after which his attendants fling open Lorenzo Ghibertis
famous gilded doors (replicas today) and the prelate walks across the square to celebrate
468

This passage is repeated from the liturgy of Passion Sunday in longer length. The other readings for
Matins were Jeremiahs Lamentations and St Augustine on the psalms (or as in Ritus sermon by St Leo).
469
470

Roman Breviary.

Ritus, 45r-46v; Mores, 4r. Clero autem congregato in ecclesia sancti Johannis baptiste, dicitur ibidem
tertia cum summa reverentia. Qua finite et pontifice vel archipresbytero cum ministries suis decenter
ornatis et preparatis, facimus inde processionem in ecclesiam sancte Reparate cum illa honestate ac
gravitate que tantam sollemnita<tem> deceat. (Toker, On Holy Ground, 201 lines 1603-1605 from Ritus,
45r.

157
High Mass in S. Maria del Fiore.471 The lessons for Mass are an epistle from First
Corinthians and a brief passage from the Gospel of Mark. On the second, third, and
fourth days following Easter a procession including both canons and people went from
San Giovanni to the Cathedral, and Mass was celebrated in both places.472 The Missa
populi was celebrated the Monday after Easter in San Giovanni, then Missa maior in the
Cathedral after which a procession moved to San Pier Maggiore.473 A procession took
place on the first Sunday after Easter (octave) from the Cathedral to San Giovanni.474
The description of these latter two processions from Ritus and Mores are good examples
of the type of details the ordinals offer, however the liturgy from Easter does not appear
to connect directly with the Old Testament stories on the Gates of Paradise. The account
of the octave procession (Dominica in octava Pasce) from Ritus is of interest in its rare
explanation of activity in front of the church:
After Terce we make a procession from the Church of S. Reparata to the Church
of St John. In this procession, as in every procession we make on Sundays up
until Ascension, we sing the antiphon Stetis angelus, and if it is necessary we add
another antiphon, Christus resurgens. And it should be known that when we
make the procession from one church to another and straight through that church,
we are not to remain in front of the church but proceed without delay into the
471

Toker, On Holy Ground, 120.

472

Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 197 (cites Moreni, Mores, 20-21). The Missal lessons from these
days come from Acts, Luke, and John.
473

Mores, 4r-v; Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 99. On the Monday after Easter we ring at Vespers
and Matins as on Easter Day and after celebrating the Missa populi in the church of San Giovanni Battista
we ring the large bell and celebrate another Mass at the altar of St. Reparata. Then we ring all the bells at
length, one time to convene in the cathedral church all the clergy and populace. Then, after an interval, we
ring all the bells for a second time. In the meantime, the cross and the chest with the vestments ought to be
prepared, and then, after another interval of time, we ring for a third time all the bells at length. After this
and with the clergy and populace together, the cantor intones the antiphon Stetit angelus, at the beginning
of which we begin our walk, heading toward the church of San Pier Maggiore, and here we celebrate Terce,
the High Mass and Sext. In these processions and in all the others we do throughout the year and in the
litanies when we sing throughout the streets, the bells of each church by which we transit must be rung.
(Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual , 99 translation of Mores, 4r-4v)
474

Ritus, 49r.

158
choir of the other. We do not say a prayer in the choir, but the trope is begun or
the office of the introit of the Mass, unless bad weather on a Sunday forces us to
process through the church rather than go out through the cloister.475
The clarification that this procession does not linger in front of the church, i.e. in front of
the faade of the Cathedral or the Gates of Paradise, suggests that there are indeed times
when the space is more incorporated into the liturgy. However, during this procession
the line moves directly from Santa Reparata into San Giovanni.
Pentecost (Pentecostes)
The celebration of Pentecost includes a procession from San Giovanni to the
Cathedral.476 The Missal lessons for this day have no thematic relations to the Gates of
Paradise (Acts 2:1-11 and John 14:23-31); however, the liturgy for the Vigil of Pentecost
is of interest. The holiday is often called Whitsunday because of the white baptismal
robes worn by those baptized on the Vigil. Initiates who were not baptized on Holy
Saturday could receive the sacrament during ceremonies on the Vigil of Pentecost.

For

the Vigil, candles are made from wax saved from Easter candles and taken to the font.
Between the hours of Terce and None, after ringing the bells, clergy, city clerics and
catechumens come and hear readings of six prophetia.477 Both Ritus and Missale
romanum Mediolani specifically list the six lessons to be read. Between the two texts
there are some slight differences in the order (and one different passage), but the tractus

475

Toker, On Holy Ground ,48 translation of Ritus, 49r.

476

Ritus, 56r; Mores, 5r.

477

Ritus seems to place this event at the hour of None; Mores says around the hours of Terce or later the
bells are rung to for people to congregate; Missale romanum Mediolani places the ceremony after Sext is
said in the church. All readings from Holy Saturday, but not in the same order as on that holiday. The
Matins lessons also focused on the theme of baptism and regeneration (readings from Jude 5, a treatise on
the Creed by Augustine, and a homily by Augustine on the Mass passage from John).

159
listed with each prophetia is the same.478 The Ritus includes the Genesis passage on the
Creation instead of the Ezekiel passage used in the Missale romanum Mediolani.
However, all six lessons are extracted from those twelve read on Holy Saturday for the
baptismal ceremonies. Between each prophecy, according to the Missale romanum
Mediolani, a brief oratio or prayer is given. This serves to mark some themes of the
readings as baptism, regeneration, salvation.479 After prophetia secunda (Exodus), the
oration praises God, who completed miracles that the light of the New Testament
exposed, as the Red Sea in the form of a sacred font or fountain to free people from
slavery, the sacrament is rewarded to Christians.480 After prophetia quarta (Isaiah), the
prayer compares again the faithful being saved and transformed through baptism as they
were out of Egypt.481 As on Holy Saturday the tract Sicut cervus is sung in procession to
bless the font for holy baptism.482 After blessings at the font and the baptismal ceremony

478

Ritus readings: Genesis 1-2:2 (Creation to the seventh day of rest); Genesis 22:1-19 (Sacrifice of Isaac);
Exodus 14:24-15:1 (Red Sea); Isaiah 4:1-6 (Branch of the Lord); Deut. 31:22-30 (Moses writes his song);
Baruch 3:9-38 (find wisdom). Missale romanum Mediolani readings: Genesis 22:1-19; Exodus 14:24-15:1;
Deut. 31:22-30; Isaiah 4:1-6; Baruch 3:9-38; Ezekiel 37:1-14 (bones). Missale romanum Mediolani lists an
oration between each reading that the Ritus does not specify. While the order of these vary slightly the
tractus assigned to specific readings is the same.
479

The prayers prescribed after each reading of the Pentecost Vigil are not the same as those attached to
each lesson during Holy Saturday, but they are similar.
480

Deus qui primis temporibus impleta miracula noui testament luci reserasti: ut et mare rubrum forma
sacri fontis existeret. et liberate plebs ab egiptiaca seruitute. cristiani populi sacramenta proferret. da ut
omnes gentes israelitis priuilegium merito fidei consecute. spiritus tui participation regenerentur. (Missale
romanum Mediolani, 236 lines 25-30).
481

fidelibus tuis quos uelut uineam ex egypto per fontem baptismi transtulisti (Missale romanum
Mediolani, 237 lines 9-10).
482

After the lessons are read, the clergy descend to the font singing the tractus Sicut cervus (Sicut cervus
desiderate ad fonts aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te DeusAs a deer longs for springs of water, so
my soul longs for you, O God.) This tractus, taken from Psalm 42, is sung in this context for Holy
Saturday and the Vigil of Pentecost, but also used during the funeral Mass.

160
are all complete, a procession returns to Santa Reparata where the Vigil Mass is said.483
The epistle for Mass relates a story of Paul baptizing disciples who had only received
Johns baptism of repentance and knew not the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-8). The Gospel
reminds the congregation of the love of Jesus, explaining that Christians can show love to
Jesus by keeping his Commandments. In the passage Jesus is preparing his disciples,
telling them that although he will leave the world, because I live [resurrected], you [all
baptized Christians] also will liveThey who have my Commandments and keep them
are those who love me (John 14: 19-21).
Corpus Domini
Also called Corpus Christi, the festival honors the Eucharist.484 The Host is taken
through the city in a solemn procession. In the Renaissance, the path of this theophoric
procession, in which the consecrated Host is carried through the city, left the Cathedral
passing through the Baptistery as depicted in 1754 by Giuseppe Zocchi.485 As the
procession exited the Baptistery of San Giovanni from the north portal, the column
continued around the north side of the Cathedral to Piazza della Signoria, and then on to
Santa Maria Novella for Mass. 486 The procession was meant to connect the major points
of the city and to display the Eucharist to the faithful, thus the inclusion of the Baptistery
483

Postmodum vero imus ad fonts benedicendos, ibique facimus omnia quemadmodum et in Sabbato
Sancto ante Resurrectionem peractum <est> ad fonts. Post benedictionem vero fontium, cruce et cereo
benedicto precedentibus, revertimur in ecclesiam sancte Reparate, dicendo letaniam ternam, et dicimus
vigilie. Mores 5r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 273. See also Missale romanum Mediolani, 237-8, which
gives similar instruction without specifically mentioning the separate churches.
484

Instituted in 1263 by a bull of Pope Urban IV.

485

See Figure A45.

486

For the those taken part in the procession, nearness to the Host was a mark of prestige for a family
(Trexler, Church and Community, 20; Cohen, Daily Life in Renaissance Italy, 79). The procession
originally began at Santa Maria Novella but was moved to the Cathedral, after a papal bull in 1458 [see
Corpus Domini http://www.duomofirenze.it.feste/corpusdomini_eng.htm (accessed 16 Sept 2009)].

161
seems to have been included more for its significance as a church than the symbolic
connections between the Eucharist and baptism. Although there are allusions made
between the New and Old, darkness and light in stanza four of the processional hymn
sequence (Lauda Syon Salvatorem), there is little further to significantly relate the liturgy
for the Corpus Domini and the Gates of Paradise.487
Conclusions
While some ritual practices were held at the Baptistery of San Giovanni
seemingly strictly due to its own prestige and importance, other liturgical ceremonies
centered around or incorporated San Giovanni and its eastern portal because of the
relation found between liturgy and the Baptistery. The above analysis includes liturgical
ceremonies for holidays that both include the Baptistery in the ritual and have what I
consider the most possibilities for thematic connection. None of the liturgical holidays
can be precisely connected to the Old Testament scenes of the Gates of Paradise. No
prescribed readings for any holiday includes all ten subjects represented by Ghiberti.
Instead the Gates of Paradise illustrate several important themes, which perhaps allow the
images to be utilized more effectively throughout the liturgical year as desired.
Despite the fact that the themes presented in the Old Testament program connect
only with a few of the major church holidays, the most striking connection is with the
season leading up to Easter and culminating in Holy Saturday, the season of Lent and
pre-Lent. Carol Lewine has presented a strong argument for the influence of the Lenten

487

The sequence hymn was written by St. Thomas Aquinas for the Corpus Domini liturgy and expounds
the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation, Stanza 4: In hac mensa novi Regis, novum pascha novae legis,
phase vetus terminat. Vetustatem novitas, umbram fugat veritas, noctem lux eliminat (Missale romanum
Mediolani, 257).

162
liturgy on the fresco cycle on the Sistine Chapel walls.488 The liturgy of the Lenten
season, designed to instruct Christians and catechumens in doctrine and ritual, was a
major theme.489 In addition, the Lenten liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church included
many Old Testament passages, as noted in the liturgical analysis above.490 Neither the
Sistine walls nor the Gates of Paradise are direct representations of the Lenten liturgy,
rather the painted scenes reflect key themes. For instance, Lewine admits that neither
Christs baptism nor the circumcision of Moses son, which are scenes in the Sistine
Chapel, can be found in the Lenten liturgical readings; however, these can be linked with
specific liturgical motifs and general Lenten themes.491 As the Lenten liturgy relates so
closely to baptism and is the one holiday that prescribes many Old Testament readings, it
is a holiday most likely to have theological links to the iconography of the Gates.492 The
themes that continue throughout the liturgy of pre-Lent and Lent up to Holy Saturday are
baptism or purification (often through water imagery but also light imagery or
resurrection stories), penitence and Christian conduct, and covenant or Law (emphasized
not only through direct reference to covenant and the Commandments but also
typologically through stories of preference for the younger son).
488

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy.

489

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, xv-xvii, 10, 63. Lent was not only a season for
the preparation of baptism of catechumens, but also a preparation of the congregation.
490

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 12.

491

Lewine, Sistine Chaptel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, 21. But this also points to the fact that Lent is
not solely about baptism, but also instruction. Perhaps the Gates of Paradise are an even clearer application
of the liturgy than the Sistine Chapel imagery.
492

Outside Paschaltide the pre-Gospel reading at the ferial Masses is, as a rule, from the Old Testament,
but for feast days, especially for the feasts of saints, no definite rule can be set down...it is plain that
wherever the Old Testament appears in the readings of the fore-Mass, it is not for its own sake...but it is
chosen for its prophetic worth and its value as an illustration of the New Testament (Jungmann, Mass of
the Roman Rite, 261).

163
CHAPTER 7. LITURGICAL FUNCTION:
HOLIDAYS OF THE PROPRIUM SANCTORUM
The scope of this chapter covers the more civic-natured feast day celebrations and
related public spectacles. The formal liturgy for the feasts of saints is found in the
proprium sanctorum of a Missal or Breviary.493 There were many opportunities to
engage in such rituals due to the many feast days on the liturgical calendar.494
Besides the clergy other groups were responsible for these public religious
spectacles. Confraternities, lay spiritual groups, were influential and important in the
Renaissance world, particularly in Florence. From around 1390 Florentine confraternities
increasingly took part in the festival celebrations until their presence finally [became]
one of the most characteristic elements of the feast of St. John the Baptist and other civic
celebrations.495 The involvement of secular leaders in Florentine processions was not
unusual, for nothing in medieval culture was entirely religious or entirely secular: the
two were always mixed.496 The groups were often sponsored by a monastery or convent
where meetings could be held and an adviser helped lay out devotional activities.497 One

493

Holidays from both the proprium de tempore and the proprium sanctorum contained some civic or
secular qualities especially with the rise of the lay confraternities, like the Company of the Magi, however
because the Sanctorale contains liturgy primarily for saints feast days that tends to be more locally
designed I discuss these here under the umbrella of civic liturgy.
494

For a good discussion and analysis of the Florentine liturgical calendar see Tacconi, Cathedral and
Civic Ritual, 54-78. Her analysis of festivals celebrated continuously in Florence concludes both a very
local Florentine pattern and an Ambrosian pattern (60-61). Despite the radical changes made to the
calendar after the Constitutiones of Antonio degli Orsi, Tacconi notes that a consistent set of observances
from the calendar of Santa Reparata and the calendar of Santa Maria del Fiore help to form a general
calendar of Florence. The changes reflect the Romanization of the 1310 liturgical reform.
495

Trexler, Public Life, 254. For studies of Florentine ritual see in particular: Trexler, Public Life, 215-418;

496

Toker, On Holy Ground, 146.

497

Verdon, Christianity, the Renaissance, and the Study of History, 23.

164
of the largest of these groups was the Confraternity of the Magi, in which the Medici
were involved.
The public spectacles would frequently include visual elements, like extravagant
floats and sacred representations, weaving through the city streets. These processional
floats (edifizi) were devices created by writers and artisans and largely evolved in the
fifteenth century.498 Processions, sometimes passing through or terminating at San
Giovanni, integrate the Gates of Paradise into the meaning of the processions.499 The
door becomes an interactive part of the visual experience of the spectacle.
Liturgical Sources
The celebration of many feasts days involve much more than the prescribed
liturgy found in the service books, however, discussion here of each holiday begins with
the religious texts. The calendar of feasts did fluctuate over time in Florence; however,
the festivals I have analyzed were consistently celebrated in Florence and appear in the
calendar throughout the range of service books, especially during the years pertinent to
the Gates of Paradise.500 The same liturgical sources will be used for this analysis as for
498

Trexler, Public Life, 252-3. The classical edifizi of St. Johns would be prepared and presented by the
lay confraternities of Florence (253). The introduction of the lay confraternities in the religious ritual is
important, as earlier in the 14th c. lay groups were excluded from public demonstration (253). One of the
first recorded lay processions was in 1390 for the feast of the Epiphany where a group staged the Journey
with a stop at the Baptistery where the interaction with Herod was staged (254).
499

See Table B1 for major procession involving the Baptistery. As Trexler pointed out, these events were
no mere spectacles, but part of the significant ceremonial life of Florence. As documented over and over
the feast celebrations were clearly a major preoccupation of Florentine governments, corporations, and
individuals. The amount of money spent by families, confraternities, religious bodies, and governments is
nothing sort of astounding. The time that merchants and bureaucrats, common workers, and rulers
expended in almost endless rounds of processions staggers the imagination. (Trexler, Public Life , 213)
Indeed, Rab Hatfield cited documents in which the commune paid for the Epiphany spectacle when the
confraternity couldnt afford to, because the major event glorified the city to such an extent (Rab Hatfield,
The Compagnia de Magi, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 33 (1970): 107-161.
500

Tacconis, Appendix C records the calendar of feasts derived from a selection of Florentine service
books including Ritus, Mores, E107, and E106.

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the previous chapter: Ritus, Mores, Missal E107, Missale E106, and the Missale
romanum Mediolani, as well as a modern Roman Breviary. There are one hundred
twenty-nine entries in the proprium sanctorum of Missal Edili 107, slightly less in the
Missale romanum Mediolani, including vigils, octaves, and commemorations.501
Generally, the celebration of a saints feast day includes a reading from a major segment
of the saints life and a procession to the relic (if in possession of the church). For
example, on the feast day of St. Philip and St. James (May 1) the Vigil Vespers, Matins,
and Missa populi are all celebrated in San Giovanni.502 Afterward the clergy process to
Santa Reparata to the altar of Saint Mark where the important relic of Philips arm was
kept, then they process back to San Giovanni to celebrate Missa Maior.503 The lesson
from the Missal is from John 14:1-13, a passage in which Philip is prominent. After Mass
the relic is displayed to the public. Another example is the feast of Saint Zenobius, a
bishop of Florence and an important local patron saint for the city. For this feast the
clergy and public are called to San Giovanni to sing Terce after which a procession with
the bishop enters the Cathedral where the body of the St. Zenobius rests.504 The reading
501

See Table B3 for a comparative list of prescribed readings from E107, E106, and the Missale romanum
Mediolani.
502

In festo sanctorum Phylippi et Jacobi, pulsamus in vesperis vigilia et mattutino iiij vicibus, sicut in
summis festis, et dicimus vesperas vigiliam et mattutinum in ecclesia sancti Iohannis Baptiste. In mane
vero post dictam missam populi in sancti Iohanne Baptiste, statim et immediate dicimus aliam missam ad
altare sancti Marci, ibi enim habentur reliquie ipsorum apostolorum (Mores, 9r in Toker, On Holy Ground,
277 lines 349-352). Refer to this holiday on Table B1 for a list of the sources.
503

Quibus preparatis et dicta tertia, cruce precedente et clero ordinate subsequente, et ad ultimum
episcopo cum diacono et subdiacono inter utrumque posito, et in ulnis suis pretiosum illud brachium
deferente, adstantibus cereis, procedimus de ecclesie sancte Reparate in ecclesiam sancti Johannis, ibique
maiorem missam dicimus. Ad finem vero misse iterum ostenditur populo brachium sanctum (Mores, 9v
in Toker, On Holy Ground, 277 lines 361-367).
504

Facta predicatione, convenimus omnes in ecclesia sancti Johannis, ibique dicimus tertiam. Interim
preparatur episcopus cum suis ministries. Quibus preparatis, cruce precedente et cereis, ad ultimum coram
episcopo ordinatis, procedimus de ecclesia sancti Johannis in ecclesiam sancte Reparate, ubi requiescat
corpus beatissimi patris nostril Zenobii. Ibique missam dicimus, cantantes in processione R Iam non dicam

166
is from John and the gospel is the source for the processional song, in which Jesus gives
his disciples the commandment to love one another (John 15: 15). These holidays
include the Baptistery of San Giovanni because of its significance as a church, its
relationship with the Cathedral where many of the relics are contained, and to create an
appropriate space for procession. Images in the Baptistery (and in St. Zenobius case on
the Cathedral faade) include the figures of numerous apostles, prophets, and saints
whose lives were celebrated in Florence. A service book, like Mores, only describes the
festival ceremonies related to the Mass or the celebration of the hours not paraliturgical
traditions related to the feast day.
In addition to the liturgical texts, I refer to some contemporary sources for the
important festival processions not part of the Mass or Office. Gregorio Dati, a Florentine
merchant, wrote on the history of Florence that contains one of the earliest extant
descriptions of the Festa di San Giovanni.505 Other contemporary accounts of the Festa
di San Giovanni were collected and published by Cesare Guasti.506 I utilize these
accounts for the processions traditional to the feast of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of
Florence. These processions were consistently performed throughout the Renaissance
unlike celebrations for other feast days. For instance, the procession put on by the
Company of the Magi was not performed every year and it was often different each

de Apostolis, s[c]ilicet quia ipse fuit noster apostolus (Mores, 10r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 278 lines
384-388, brackets mine). Refer to Table 1 for sources for this feast day.
505

Gregorio Dati, Istoria di Firenze 1380-1405 (Florence, 1735). Book Six of this document contains the
description of the festival.
506

Cesare Guasti, Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista in Firenze: Descritte in prosa e in rima da


contemporanei (Florence, 1884).

167
time.507 In 1390 the actors playing the three Magi first journeyed to King Herod whose
stage was set at the Baptistery.508 In 1429 the tableaux of Jerusalem was in Piazza de
Signori instead of San Giovanni.509 The processions for the feast of San Giovanni,
however, follows more stable routes all terminating at the Baptistery.
Liturgical Holidays
There are numerous feast days that are well beyond the scope and purpose of this
analysis, even though the accompanying ritual included the Baptistery of San Giovanni.
The feast day of St. Andrew, for example, consists of a Missa populi in San Giovanni
followed by a procession, but this festival and its associated rituals have little to no
connection to the Gates of Paradise. A select few significant feast days are analyzed for
this study. 510 These feast days were chosen strictly for their possible links with the
iconography of the Gates of Paradise. As the Cathedral and the Baptistery are dedicated
to the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist, and the cults of these saints grew rapidly
throughout the late Medieval and Renaissance period, the focus of the analysis is on the
feasts days related to Mary and John the Baptist. As Florence ascended to regional
supremacy, it promoted to the center of its religious life a higher category of saintSaint
John and the Virgin Mary, in particulara development that represented an elevated

507

A document published by Rab Hatfield says the procession was put on every three years (Compagnia
de Magi, 109, see document 3 page 145).
508

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 108.

509

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 112.

510

The following feast days were analyzed and found to have little to no relation to the iconographical
program for the Gates of Paradise: the feast of All Saints (Omnium Sanctorum), St. Mark, SS Philipp and
Jacob, the Invention of the Cross, St. Zenobius, the beheading of St. John the Baptist, the Exaltation of the
Cross, and St. Reparata. After compiling the list of lectures prescribed by Missal E107, E106, and Missale
romanum Mediolani for the proprium sanctorum, I concluded there is little evidence to suggest that the
feast days for other saints could relate to the imagery of the Gates of Paradise.

168
profile for the city in Gods plan on earth.511 It is worth repeating the Marian
iconography on the Cathedrals faade during the mid-fifteenth century: the Nativity and
Dormition in sculpture above the north and south portals, the Madonna and Child
enthroned above the main portal, Ghibertis rose window depicted the Assumption of the
Virgin (best seen inside on the counter faade), and also inside the faade was Gaddis
mosaic of the Coronation. The altar of the Virgin Mary in Santa Reparata was on the
west end and this area continued to be a focus for Marian imagery in the new
Cathedral.512
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
The feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) was not instituted until
1473 yet was celebrated as early as 1330 in Florence, as evident in its appearance in the
calendar of Missal E107.513 Both E107 and E106 include the feast in the calendar but a
liturgical entry is not found in the Proprium Sanctorum.514 The imagery provided in the
liturgical readings for this feast are similar to other Marian feasts.515 Mary is described
as: the stem of Jesses root (in lineage of the house of David), as a fragrant flower, as a
queen, maid, or bride, and mother of God. The allegory of the closed garden is presented
in the liturgy for this holiday to emphasize her purity, which is compared to snow. The

511

Dameron, Florence and Its Church, 201.

512

For a discussion of the Marian imagery of the Florence Cathedral see Verdon, Intercession of Christ
and the Virgin, 131-146; Bergstein, Marian Politics in Quattrocento Florence, 673-719. See also
Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual for a discussion of the appropriation of Marion imagery through
connecting Marian feast days with the new Cathedral.
513

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 75.

514

Tacconi suggests this is because the feast was not official and material was probably taken from the
commune sanctorum (Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 75).
515

The readings from the Roman Breviary include: Proverbs 8:22-24, Genesis 3:1-15 (Matins), a sermon
by St. Jerome on the Assumption, Luke 1:26-28, a homily of St. Germanus, and Ezechiel 44:2-3.

169
sermon prescribed by St. Jerome brings out much of the symbolic language used for
Mary. He discusses Marys ability above all women to wipe out Eves curse. Jerome
quotes the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and cites generously of Solomon from the
Canticle of Canticles, which uses imagery of the bride, the enclosed garden, the sealed
fountain, Paradise, and Lebanon (meaning radiant white). Also typical of Marian liturgy
is the reading from Genesis to associate Mary with Eve. The lecture is on the serpents
temptation of Eve and Gods curse of Adam, Eve, and the serpent, pairing woman and
snake in future battle.
Feast of the Purification of the Virgin
The Purification of the Virgin, also called Candlemas, is celebrated on February
2nd with a procession from the Cathedral into San Giovanni where Missa maior was
sung.516 The procession is done with blessed candles after a benediction ceremony and
represents Christs entry into the Temple of Jerusalem.517 The candles carried in
procession represent Christ, who is the light.518 The feast day commemoration not only
Marys purification after giving birth but also the Presentation of Christ in the Temple,
516

According to E107 and Missale romanum Mediolani, the Benediction of the Candles was performed just
after Terce. These candles are distributed to the clergy and public, then a procession occurs while singing
antiphons (Adorna thalamum tuum, Sion). Then the Mass liturgy is recorded, presumably celebrated in San
Giovanni after the procession. E107 and Missale romanum Mediolani do not specify the location of the
procession, this is given in the early ordinals. Ritus specifies the blessing of the candles to be done after
Prime, then the candles are distributed and Missa populi is said (matutinalis missa populo). After Terce
is celebrated they process to San Giovanni singing Ave Maria and the antiphon Adorna. Cum autem
ventum fuerit ad fores [to the gates] ecclesie sancti Johannis, (Ritus, 74r). Circa vero mediam tertiam
pulsamus omnes campanas ad maiorem missam, et facimus processionem in sanctum Iohannem
(Mores, 8r). This holiday was eventually the Dedication day for Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del
Fiore).
517

Frederick Holweck, Frederick. "Candlemas." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3 (New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1908), <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03245b.htm> (accessed Mar. 2, 2011).
518

See note 517. During the lighting and distribution of the candles the psalm Nunc dimittis is sung. This
is called the Canticle of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32) which alludes to Simeon seeing salvation and the light for
revelationreferences to the symbolism of the candles.

170
both according to Mosaic Law. The readings for Mass were Malachi 3:1-4, describing
preparation for the day of Judgment by washing away all impurities, and Luke 2:22-32,
which describes Marys purification according to the Law of Moses and Simeons
recognition of Jesus as Messiah when his parents presented him in the Temple.519 The
readings for Matins are from the Old Testament (Exodus and Leviticus) concerning the
dedication first-borns and the Law of purification. The antiphons focus on the virginity
of Mary typologically related to the burning bush. The liturgy in general emphasizes,
along with Simeon, John the Baptists recognition of the Messiah, even in the womb.520
The references to cleansing, John the Baptist, light, and Law could be related to the
imagery of the Gates. A repeated liturgical theme for the Purification feast is the Temple
of Jerusalem, significant as the feast day also became the day for celebrating the
dedication of the Cathedral.521 The correlation between the Cathedral and the Temple of
Jerusalem is made, as it is made in the Solomon panel.522 The idea of the Temple as a
paradigm for the Church was common throughout the Middle Ages. But in Florence,
once again, the concept was extended and the themes were appropriated to acquire
special local resonance.523
Feast of the Annunciation
519

The passage from Luke is also the source for the great Canticle of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis).

520

The repeated excerpts from Malachi: I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and
suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom
you desire
521

Originally the annual feast of the Cathedral was celebrated with the feast of the Annunciation on March
25th, but this was changed out of respect for the church of Santissima Annunziata. See Tacconi, Cathedral
and Civic Ritual, 211-213.
522

The use of the Cathedral visually as the Temple was also made for a Purification scene in a Missal
illumination (BML Edili 150).
523

Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual , 213.

171
For the Renaissance new year holiday of the Annunciation (March 25) there was
no procession to the Baptistery. The Office liturgy focuses on the story of the
Annunciation given in the gospel of Luke and the prophecy given by Isaiah 7:10-15 and
11:1-5 (But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall
blossom).524 The focus of the liturgical ritual for this holiday is in the Cathedral and the
altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary.525 While the liturgy celebrating the Annunciation does
not directly include the Baptistery, the prescriptions reveal the repetitive weight given to
Marys fulfillment of the prophecy as an ancestor of Jesse and David.526 The feast of the
Annunciation in 1436 was the date of the consecration celebration of Santa Maria del
Fiore.527 The consecration was performed by Pope Eugene IV.528 The choice of the
Annunciation for the consecration ceremony is significant. The lily of the Annunciation
was made parallel to the lily of Florence (the giglio, symbol of the state), resulting in the

524

Roman Breviary. The Mass readings in E107, E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani are Isaiah 2:2-5
and Luke 2:22-32. Ritus also prescribes liturgy that makes reference to the tree of Jesse (76v in Toker, On
Holy Ground, 230 line 2708). Mores (8v) says a sermon to the people is given on the occasion.
525

See Ritus, 76v and Mores, 8v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 230. The popular plays put on in honor of the
Annunciation in San Felice occurred after Easter (see Nerida Newbigin, The Word Made Flesh: The
Rappresentazioni of Mysteries and Miracles in Fifteenth-Century Florence, in Christianity and the
Renaissance, eds. Timothy Verdon and John Henderson [Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1990], 368.
526

Perhaps sermons for the festival included other references. Tacconi says from a strictly liturgical
standpoint, the feast of the Annunciation, as well as the other main Marian festivals, were celebrated at
Santa Maria del Fiore as in any other center following the rite of the Roman Curia. There is no
evidencethat special texts or chants were in use on these occasions. But, on a more subtle level, the cult
of Mary received in Florence a distinctly local flavor (Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 219-220).
527

If the feast of the Annunciation wasnt already so important to the church of Santissima Annunziata, this
day would have been the Dedication day for the Cathedral as intended, instead the Dedication of the
Church was celebrated on the feast of the Purification (Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 211-213). See
below my discussion of this feast day and its associations with Florence and its Cathedral. Both feast days
for the Virgin were appropriate for Santa Maria del Fiore because of their association with the symbol of
the lily.
528

An image of the consecration can be found illuminated in BML Ms Edili 151, 7v (reproduced in
Tacconi, Cathedral and Civc Ritual, 324). And Giovanni Villani describes the event in his Nuova Cronica,
Libro IX, cap. ix, 26 (quoted in Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 211).

172
association of Mary as Florences patron and in the resulting equation between the
Madonna del giglio and the city of Florence herself.529
The famous motet composed for the consecration by Guillaume Dufray discloses
other significant associations that were made between the Cathedral, Mary, and Florence
that reinforce interpretations for the Solomon panel. Craig Wright argues the theme of
Dufrays Nuper rosarum flores is the divine unity of the Temple and the Virgin
Mary.530 The parallels made between Mary, the Church, and the Temple were extensive
and very familiar during the Medieval and Renaissance period.531 Wright contests that
Dufray expressed the traditional numerical symbols of the Temple (6:4:2:3, 4 and 7) and
that of the Virgin (7) throughout the structure of his motet and thereby effected a musical
union of these two spiritual forces.532 I believe the Solomon panel represents the
Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba in front of the Temple in Jerusalem because
of this scenes typological references to Mary and the Church. This liturgical component
for the dedication of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore on the feast of the
Annunciation shows that these types of associations were being made during the
Renaissance, in Florence, and for the Cathedral.533 So while the regular liturgy for the

529

Bergstein, Marian Politics in Quattrocento Florence, 678.

530

Wright, Dufrays Nuper rosarum flores, 406.

531

Wright point out several cases in his article. He notes several different media that express the parallel as
well as exegesis by Augustine, Bede, Isidore of Seville and depiction in the Speculum (408, 411, and 432).
For St. Augustine and St. Bede the theme of the Temple is part of the liturgy and sermons for the
Dedication feast of a church and both their writings are the basis for the Matins liturgy for the common
feast (411).
532
533

Wright, Dufrays Nuper rosarum flores, 441.

Wright notes many points of connection not only between the Virgin and the Temple but between
Dufrays motet and this symbolism. For instance, the first fourteen notes of the motet are apparently
derived from the introit of Mass for the Dedication of a churchTerribilis est locus estdrawn from

173
feast of the Annunciation seems to have little to relate to the function of the Gates or its
imagery, several important mystical themes related to ceremonies of the feast and the
Cathedral serve as examples of the familiarity and fluency of such interpretations already
suggested for the Gates.534 Not only were the associations between Temple, Church, and
Mary being made by Church fathers like St. Ambrose, and being dispersed through the
liturgy and liturgical texts like the Speculum, but also reflected in the music and visual
imagery.535
Festival of San Giovanni
The principal feast day for Florence, the nativity of the citys patron saint, John
the Baptist, is celebrated on the 24th of June. The festival of San Giovanni which centers
around the Baptistery, was at its true traditional and republican height in the
Quattrocento. As Dati describes, it is a special celebration to Florence when as soon a
spring appears every Florentine starts thinking about the festival.536 During this festival
the city was transformed with rich cloth covered processional paths, buildings, benches,
and a large blue canopy with white lilies (ggli) covered the Piazza of San Giovanni.537
Jacobs dream of the celestial temple in Genesis 28 (413). And the language for the motet itself
specifically uses temple, not church or cathedral or ecclesia (403).
534

Marica Tacconi also notes the liturgical highlights of the Virgin and the Temple of Jerusalem for the
feast of the Dedication of the church (which in Florence is on the Purification): The idea of the Temple as
a paradigm for the Church was common throughout the Middle Ages. But in Florence, once again, the
concept extended and the themes were appropriated to acquire special local resonance (Cathedral and
Civic Ritual, 213).
535

As well as popular vernacular texts like Jacobus Voragines Golden Legend.

536

Quando ne viene il tempo della Primavera, che tutto il Mondo rallegra, ogni Fiorentino comincia a
pensare di fare bella Festa di San Giovanni (Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 84).
537

Trexler, Public Life, 257. See also Dati Tutta la gran piazza di San Giovanni, e parte della via
coperta di tende azure con gigli gialli, la Chiesa una cosa di maravigliosa figura and Le strade, dove
passano, sono tutte adorne alle mura, e al sedere di capoletti, spalliere, e pancali, i quail sono coperti di
zandadi (Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 89 and 86; see also Guasti, Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 5); Dun
velluto di grana bello e fino, Con ermellini e vai in tal lavoro, Con fregi e giglio doro, Un per lo mezzo e

174
The celebration involved several processions and events of both a religious and civic
character.
The festival begins on the Vigil for which the Mass readings are Jeremiah 1:4-10
and Luke 1:5-17.538 The gospel of Luke tells the story of the annunciation to Zechariah:
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will
have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in
the sight of the LordWith the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him,
to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:13-15, 17)
The Breviary prescribes a reading from St. Ambroses homily on Luke emphasizing
ancestry and the parents of those honored: For it was fitting that the forerunner of Christ
should have such ancestors; that it might be evident that the preaching of faith in the
coming of the Lord was not a gift suddenly received, but one inherited from his
ancestors,539 Ritus lists a lecture from Jeremiah for Vespers and readings from Luke
during Matins, repeating the liturgy prescribed for Mass. 540 The readings include all of

laltro in su la cima, (Cesare Guasti, Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 14 from an anonymous poet of
1409); and Primieramente adunque la Piazza di S. Giovanni si copriva tutta di tele azure, piene di gigli
grandi fatti di tela gialla, e cucitivi sopra (Giuseppe Richa, Notizie Istoriche delle Chiese Fiorentine, Bk
4 [Florence, 1757], LVIII, quoting Vasaris Life of Cecca).
538

The Call of Jeremiah is chosen for its similarity to St. John the Baptist: Before I formed you in the
womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
(Jeremiah 1:5).
539
540

Roman Breviary: Homily of St. Ambrose Book 1 on Luke.

In vesperis Lect. Priusquam te formarem, R[esponse] Precursor, V[erse] Fuit homo, ynnus Ut queant
laxis, ant. ad Magnificat Ingresso,In primo nocturno V[erse] Fuit homo, in secundo Tu puer propheta, in
tertio Ipse preibit. Sex lect. de sermonibus diei competentibus, tres ultime de homelia evang. Elisabeth
impletum est (Ritus, 84v-85r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 238 lines 2993-2998). Priusquam te
formaremJeremiah 1:4; Precursor (domini venit, de quo ipse testator: Nullus major inter natos mulierum
Joanne Baptista) The precursor of the Lord has come about whom the Lord testifies. Among those born of
women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; Fuit homo (repeated often in the liturgy for
Johns nativity)John 1:6 (There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness
to testify to the light); hymn Ut queant laxis (Resonare fibris, Mira gestorum, Famuli tuorum, Solve
pollute, Labii reatum, Sancte Johannes); Ingresso (Zacharia templum Domini, apparuit ei Gabriel); Tu
puer prophetaLuke 1:76 (And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High); Ipse preibit
(Ipse precedet) Luke 1:17 (With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of

175
the first chapter of Luke and the story of the Baptist, specifying the Song of Zachariah
and the birth of John. The focus of this vigil liturgy is threefold: the annunciation, the
birth, and the character of John as the prophet and precursor sent by God.
The processional events outside the realm of the Mass are not described in the
Missals of E106, E107, or the Missale romanum Mediolani. Goro Dati described several
events that took place throughout the feast of the vigil. The day began with the mostra,
when all the shops displayed outside all their most precious items, tutte le ricche cose,
and this wealth equaled the communal wealth and honored the patron.541 The early event
of the day was a procession of the clergy that left from Santa Maria del Fiore weaving its
way through the city before returning to the Cathedral.542 This solemn procession
included all the clerks, priests, monks and friars, and members of the confraternities each
displaying their relics, gifts, and spectacular floats.543 One of the Greek visitors for the
Council of Florence (1439) was so impressed that he recorded the scene: On the twentythird of June they do a great procession and celebration, at which the entire populace is

parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord); Elisabeth impletum estLuke 1:57 (Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth,
and she bore a son). Much of this is repeated in the Mass for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. For
instance Tu puer propheta is repeated in Verse after the epistle lecture and at communion (see Missale
romanum Mediolani).
541

Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 85: Giunti al di della vigilia di San Giovanni, la mattina di buonora tutte lArti
fanno la mostra, fuori alle pareti delle loro botteghe, di tutte le ricche cose, ornamenti, e gioie; quanti
drappi d oro, e di seta si mostranoquante gioie doro, e dariento, e capoletti, e tavole dipinte, e intagli
mirabili, See Trexler, Public Life, 247-8 for a discussion of the mostra and its function.
542

Partonsi da Santa Maria del Fiore, e vanno per la Terra; e quivi ritornano (Guasti, Le Feste di S.
Giovanni Batista, 5 from Dati). According to Giuseppe Richa this procession began around Terce: dopoi
circa allora di terza si faceva maravigliosa processione di tutto il Clero, Frati, Monaci con molte Reliquie
di Santi, dove si vede maravigliosa ricchezza di adornamenti, di paramenti, di vesti doro, o di seta, dove
sono pi di 50 Companie di Secolari, ciascheduna innanzi Regole; Dove si ragunano, queste fanno molte
rappresentazioni, e carri trionfali con vari strumenti cosi processionalmente di Angioli, e di Santi (Notizie
Istoriche delle Chiese Fiorentine, Book 4, LV)
543

For Datis description see Istoria di Firenze, 85-86, or Guasti, Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 5.

176
present; and in it they do prodigious things and almost miraclesor representations of
miracles544 As Trexler pointed out the procession was a presentation of wealth
combined with the sacred, a mostra of the wealth offered to God.545 The splendor is all
in honor to Florence and St. John the Baptist, whose Baptistery as well displays the
wealth of the city protected by the Baptist with its gilded bronze doors. The procession
of the clergy did not enter the Baptistery but moved through the shared space between the
two edifices.
On the eve of the nativity of San Giovanni, an important civic procession took
place. A parallel of the mornings solemn procession of the religious community, now in
the evening the citizens of the commune come out in honor of the patron saint. The
procession of the gonfalone (or neighborhood districts) is depicted in the Palazzo
Vecchio by Giovanni Stradano (figure A52). This procession ends inside the Baptistery
to which flag bearers led male citizens from each district/wards (sixteen total) to give
wax torches as offerings.546 The Procession in Piazza del Duomo by Stradano shows the
line of men, each ward separated by flag bearers (figure A53). Men representing their

544

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 113 (translated from Alessandro dAncona, Origini del teatro italiano
[Torino: E. Loescher, 1891], 1: 230). All the confraternities took part in the festival, the Company of the
Magi, being one of the largest and best-supported groups, was a focus of this description for the same
procession in 1428: And among the other handsome and marvelous things, the Compagnia deMagi of San
Marco did many rich and imposing presentations in [St. Johns] honourdecked out eight horses, covered
with silkAnd behind this king [Balthasar], in the middle float, there was a boy of about three, swaddled
and with his hands undone, and in one of them there was a live goldfinch. The goldfinch was a symbol of
baptism. This document is quoted in Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 111 (see 146, document 5a).
545
546

Trexler, Public Life, 251.

Poi dopo mezzo giorno, e alquanto passato il caldo, circa allora del Vespro, tutti i Cittadini sono
ragunati ciascuno sotto il suo Gonfalone, che sono sedici, e per ordine primo, e second, e cos succedendo
vanno luno Gonfalone drieto allaltro, e in ciascuno Gonfalone tutti i suoi Cittadini a due a due andando
innanzi i pi degni e i pi antichi; e cos seguendo insino a garzoni riccamenti vestiti, a offerere all Chiesa
di San Giovanni un torchietto di cera di libbre una per uno (Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 86) See also Guasti,
Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 5; Trexler, Public Life, 251-252.

177
city district, carry torches into the Baptistery through the Gates of Paradise just as in
contemporary descriptions.547 An anonymous poet describes more than twenty thousand
wax torches were brought into the Baptistery.548 A law required two males from each
household to participate in this procession and to make an offering to the patron saint.549
Therefore on this civic procession on the eve of St. Johns Day the represented lineage of
Florence entered the Baptistery and paid homage to their patron saint. Almost every man
or boy entering San Giovanni on this day had become the part of the community, part of
the lineage, of the Church and the City in this very building at their baptism.
One of the prominent themes of the Gates of Paradise program is lineage or
patriarchal inheritance. This lineage is presented in an historical manner to highlight the
generations of Christ, as well as to emphasize the genealogy and history of the chosen
peoplejoined through baptism. Florentines baptized in San Giovanni became a part of
the civic community as well.550 The purpose and importance of lineage, for Christ, the
Catholic Church, and contemporary Florentines, was to demonstrate legitimacy. Because
the images of genealogy represent a fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah, they
legitimize Christ and the Church. On a more civic tone, the edifice of San Giovanni and
its legendary history legitimized Florences heritage to Rome. The feast of San Giovanni

547

The exit door is not represented or described specifically.

548

La grande Offerta, che fu pola sera. Ad ogni Gonfalon dirieto giensi, A dua a dua dirieto a sua
viciendaChe giammai tanta ciera, In torchietti non viddon gli occhi miei: Non quattro, cinque e sei; Ma
pi di ventimila, a non mentire, Conveniva sequire; Cheran sedici, ognun con sua brigata (Guasti, Le
Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 12).
549

Trexler, Public Life, 252. The two laws on this requirement are cited by Trexler and passed in the early
fifteenth century.
550

Heidi L. Chrtien, The Festival of San Giovanni: Imagery and Political Power in Renaissance Florence
(New York: Peter Lang, 1994), 20.

178
is as much a celebration of the saint as a celebration of Florence, and honor paid to the
Baptist is also paid to the commune.551
The concern with bloodlines and lineage on the eastern door was related to the
society of Renaissance Florence, especially during this period in which rival families
fought over control in the city. From 1433-34 the rivalry between the Albizzi and the
Medici hit its high point ending in the triumphant return of Cosimo de Medici and the
banishment of the Albizzi (1434). The procession of the gonfalone on the eve of San
Giovannis feast is a procession of Florentine lineage (a lineage obviously traced
paternally, reflecting past and future with the inclusion of both old and young household
members). The liturgy for the vigil reinforces the celebration of inheritance and lineage
by highlighting Johns ancestors, as commented on by St. Ambrose. Family was
extremely important in Renaissance Florence, as were alliances. Alliances were most
often made through marriage, thus it is interesting to consider that the Gates of Paradise
terminate in a scene often associated with marriage, but also through the expansion of the
family unit through the choice of godparents.
The popular typological reading of the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba on the Solomon panel as linked with the Adoration of the Magi may be due to the
typical representation of the Queen bowing or kneeling before Solomon. Because the
two figures on the Paradise Door panel are standing next to each other and clasping
hands, another popular interpretation is evokedthat of a correlation to the Marriage of

551

Trexler, Public Life, 240. Stradanos fresco is one of several views of Florence in the palace of the
government (the Ducal palace at the time of Stradanos work). As such, the representation is a display of
the greatness of Florence by means of its great celebrations.

179
Christ and his Church (Mary Ecclesia).552 Some scholars have in fact misidentified the
scene as the marriage of King and Queen. As noted in chapter two this scene is very
much like a marriage scene in which man and woman take each others hands, except that
the priest is missing. For instance, the compositional format is analogous to
Ghirlandaios later depiction of the Marriage of the Virgin in the Tornabuoni chapel of
Santa Maria Novella (figure A54). The allusion to the sacred union of marriage is also
connected with the festival of San Giovanni. Marriages were often postponed until the
patrons festival to give honor to the feast.553 This could be the subject illustrated on the
Adimari cassone panel representing a marriage celebration with the Baptistery prominent
in the background (figure A55).
The mass of people surrounding Solomon and the Queen of Sheba on the Gates
panel do not seem to be mere witnesses. The scene is a celebration like one that would
take place in honor of San Giovanni. Horses, seen in the foreground of the panel, were
part of several of the festival processions as well as in the extremely popular palio (or
horse race) that was part of the San Giovanni festivities. The edifizi of the Magi included
two hundred horses for the San Giovanni festival in 1454 as recorded by Matteo
Palmieri.554 On the left a procession appears to be taking place as a group of people

552

Bishop Isidore of Seville: Solomon prefigures the image of Christ who raised the house of God in the
heavenly Jerusalem, not with stone and wood, but with all the saints. The Queen from the south who came
to hear the Wisdom of Solomon is to be understood as the Church, which assembles from the utmost limits
of the world to hear the voice of God (Isidore of Seville, Allegoriae quaedam Scripturae sanctae, quoted
in Watson, The Queen of Sheba, 116).
553

Marriages were put off so that they would coincide with important feast days. Trexler, Public Life, 73
(Dati cited in Guasti, Le Feste di San Giovanni Batista, Florence, 1884, 4f.) Chrtien suggests that St.
Johns connection with marriage is associated with the connection with Mars and the Roman festival of for
Fortuna (June 24th) celebrating renewal, regrowth and purification (21-22). The matrimonial theme of the
Meeting episode was reinforced by its repeated use on later cassoni, large chests given at weddings.
554

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 113. The description by Palmieri is also published by Guasti, Le
Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 20-23. By Palmieris time, 1454, the number of floats had increased and the

180
move toward the front of the temple (figure A56). Women appear to be watching the
festivities from a raised canopy-like booth, gesturing toward the procession and a man
with a hawk.555 Groups of people congregate to watch and discuss the event (figure
A57).556 The festival-like atmosphere is enhanced also by the depiction on the right of
musicians playing drums and horns, and children excitedly lean over the railing to see
one of the horses.
On the feast day of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Mass readings come
from Isaiah 49:1-3, 5-7 and Luke 1:57-68. The passage from Isaiah refers to the Lord
calling his servant: And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his
servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him (Isaiah
49:5).557 The Gospel of Luke recounts the birth and naming of St. John the Baptist. In
the Matins homily by St. Augustine, the Doctor calls John a figure of the Old Testament,
and typified the Law in himself; and therefore John foretold the Savior, just as the Law
preceded grace.558 There is also much emphasis placed on the story of St. John the

procession was moved to the 22nd of June, expanding the festivities for the holiday (Guasti, Le Feste di S.
Giovanni Batista, 27). Twenty-two floats are described by Palmieri representing a range of ideas
including the creation of Adam and Eve, Moses receiving the Law, prophets and sybils predicting the birth
of Christ, the Nativity, Herod in his temple, the Magi, Limbo, Eden, Assumption, and the Last Judgment.
555

One contemporary account of the festival ceremonies describes hunting dogs and hawks given as
homage to the commune and San Giovanni (see Villanis account below). Two hawks are represented in
the scene, one in the left foreground by the man with a dog.
556

Much like those depicted in Stradanos fresco discussed below.

557

Similar to the wording used for John the Baptist as a servant of light called in his mothers womb.

558

Roman Breviary, Matins second nocturn, Sermon of St. Augustine (Sermon 20 on the Saints). John the
Baptist is often described as the forerunner, witness, testimony to the light, lamp, preparer of the way. John
the Baptist is one of the few actually named by God and the only other saint whose birth day is celebrated
rather than his martyr day (as pointed out in the prescribed sermon by St. Augustine). When not yet born,
he prophesied from the hiding-place of his mothers womb, and already bore witness to the truth though
destitute of light himself. This event must be understood in the sense that, hidden under the veil and flesh
of the letter, by the spirit he preached the Redeemer to the world, and proclaimed our Lord to us as from the

181
Baptist recognizing Jesus while still in the womb; a story which St. Ambrose suggests
has a purpose in remembering Mary on this day as well.559 According to Ritus, Mass
takes place in San Giovanni after procession from Santa Reparata.560 The morning Mass
in the Cathedral takes place very early, at dawn to create a parallel between Johns birth
and the coming light, and to give the same honor to God that John recognized as worthy
from inside his mothers womb.561 The detail from Ritus, and the liturgical readings,
emphasizes Johns recognition of Jesus before birth, his recognition of the light from
within the darkness, the darkness being the ignorance and blindness of the Jews. This
concept further explains the Catholic view of the Old Testament stories and their
typological interpretations. The framing of the Old Testament panels on the Gates of
womb of the Law. Therefore, because the Jews went astray from the womb, that is, from the Law which
was pregnant with Christ, they went astray from the womb, speaking lies (Roman Breviary).
559

Roman Breviary, Matins third nocturn, Homily of Ambrose (Commentary on Luke Bk 2, Ch 1): It is
fitting that there should be mention of the time when the Prophet was in the womb, lest the presence of
Mary should not be remembered. The story of Mary and Elizabeth meeting and Johns leaping in the
womb in recognition of the Messiah is also told and emphasized in Ritus, 85r-85v in Toker, On Holy
Ground, 238-239 lines 3002-3015).
560

Hora competent, omnia signa pulsentur ad maiorem missam. Clero congregato in ecclesiam sancte
Reparate, dicimus ibi tertiam, in qua lect. et or. que in laude, R[esponse] Fuit homo, V[erse] Ipse preibit.
Finita tertia et preparatis ministris post altare beati Zenobii, facimus processionem per ecclesiam sancte
Reparate in ecclesiam sancti Johannis, in qua cantamus R[esponse] Precursor. Quo finite, incipitur trophus
Hodie, officium De ventre matris (Ritus, 85r-85v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 238-239 lines 3007-3012).
The Responsory that is sung during the procession (Precursor) is also included in the Roman Breviary and
translated as The forerunner of the Lord comes, of whom he himself bears witness: Among those who are
born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. Mores prescribes similar events: De
missis vero dicimus sic quod in mane dicimus duas missas immediate, unam post aliam. Ad primam
dicimus officium Justus ut palma; ad secundam, officium De ventre. Post istas duas missas, statim dicimus
aliam missam ad altare sancti Mathei, ubi sunt etiam reliquie ipsius. Postmodum vero pulsamus ad
predicationem. Deinde ad maiorem missam, et preparatis episcopo cum suis ministries, procedimus de
ecclesia sancte Reparate in ecclesiam sancti Johannis Baptiste (Mores, 10r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 278
lines 400-405). Dameron says that after the singing of the two masses and the celebration of another Mass
at the altar of St. Matthew, there is a sermon and another Mass before processing to the Baptistery (198).
But I believe Deinde ad maiorem missam should be taken as Then at/ near major Mass there is a
procession to San Giovanni where the Missa maior is celebrated.
561

Sed queritur: Quare missa in promo mane fiat in hoc festo. Quia beatus Johannes repletus fuit spiritu
sancto ex utero matris sue, ut Lucas narrat in evangelio. Quapropter in exordio lucis, quasi in Nativitate,
sacrificium deo offertur in honore eius ad laudem creatoris qui Johannem dignatus est ex utero matris
honoare (Ritus, 85r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 238 lines 3004-3008).

182
Paradise with figures of prophets (just like those of the Sistine ceiling) present these
stories not as literal representations but as prophecies, shadows of the New Testament.
On the morning of St. Johns Day, people gather in the piazza in front of Palazzo
Vecchio to pay homage to the commune representatives and to prepare for the procession
of the standards. Stradanos Festival of the Homages in Piazza della Signoria (figure
A58) represents the initial homage given by cities that owed tribute to Florence, as
described by Goro Dati. 562 The Piazza fills with gold tower carts and tall banners (palii)
that will be paraded before the Palazzo before processing to the Baptistery. In the center
of the square stands the banner (palio) that the winner of the horse race will win at the
end of the day.563 Atop the staff of the banner is the figure of St. John the Baptist. Gold
towers, which Dati records, could have numbered a hundred, and carried either on carts
or by bearers, line up in the square. The tower-like tributes, called Ceri, were made of
wood, paper, and wax and some contained revolving figures and colors.564 In Stradanos
fresco, men on horseback process before the ringhiera of Palazzo Vecchio, each with

562

La mattina di San Giovanni, chi va a vedere la Piazza dei Signori, gli pare vedere una cosa trionfale e
magnifica e maravigliosa, che appena che lanimo vi basti. Sono intorno alla gran Piazza cento torri, che
paiono doro; portate quali con carrette, e quali con portatori; che si chiamano Ceri, fatti di legname, di
carta e di cera, con oro e con colori e con figure rilevate,Appresso, intorno alla ringhiera del Palagio vi
ha cento Palii, o pi, nelle loro aste, appiccati in anelli de ferro: e i primi sono quelli delle maggiori Citt
che danno tribute al Comune, come quello di Pisa, dArezzo, di Pistoia, di Volterra, di Cortona (Guasti,
Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 6).
563

The horse race in the afternoon marks the end of the festival. The cloth palio is paraded through town
before the feast day (Trexler, Public Life, 240).
564

Trexler interprets the ceri as gaily painted cardboard, wood, and wax candles. They were imposing and
colorful enoughingeniously hollow on the inside so that different parts moved, and each was borne upon
a festive cart (Public Life, 257). He says they did not have narrative themes like the later edifizi.

183
their banner, representing cities like Pisa who, in the time of Dati, paid Florence
homage.565
The procession of the standards (of subject communes) continue from the Piazza
della Signoria to the Baptistery of San Giovanni, offering their palii and tributes before
the altar, recognizing Florences patron saint.566 This is the subject of depiction on a
cassone called the Chest of the Standards (figure A59 and A60). The image clearly
represents the procession of the standards whose bearers enter the Baptistery through the
east door. Those who have reached the Baptistery are lowering the tall banners to enter
through the Gates of Paradise. The south portal faces the viewer and is crowed with Tino
da Camainos sculptural group. Visible through the procession is a stand of seating
covered with white cloth decorated with the red giglio and above the piazza is covered in
the deep blue banners described by contemporaries. The tributes given by conquered
territories in this procession was one of the most traditional aspects of the festival with
the earliest known documentation dating to 724 CE.567

565

According to Dati, the first offering was from the Guelf party, then the tribute cities (La prima offerta,
che si fa la mattina, si sono i Capitani della Parte Guelfa con tutti i CavalieriPoi seguono i detti Palii,
portati a uno a uno da uno uomo a cavallo Guasti, Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 6).
566

Another description is given by Giovanni Villani: On the morning of the feast, besides the usual ceri
from the approximately twenty strongholds of the commune, he received more than twenty-five cloths or
palii gilded in gold, and hunting dogs, and hawks, and goshawks as homage from Arezzo, Pistoia, Volterra,
San GimignanoTogether with the offering of the ceri, this was a noble feast (quoted in Trexler, Public
Life, 257-258). Indeed part of the entourage of nobility was trumpets, pipers, horns, falcons, dogs as
witnessed when European nobility came to visit Florence (Trexler, Public Life, 259). See Dameron
(Florence and Its Church, 203) as one source for the rituals. See also Trexler, Public Life, 256-262.
567

Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 87. Matteo di Marco Palmieri recorded the order of the offerings taken to San
Giovanni in 1454: first the Parte Guelfa, then the palii, ceri, and cerotti of the dominions subjects; the
offering of the Florentine mint; offerings of prisoners freed by the government; offerings of the jockeys
who were to ride in the horse race that afternoon; the offering of the palio of San Giovannithe reward of
the winning jockey; and finally the offering of the Signoria quote from Trexler, Public Life, 260-261.

184
Reasons for the choice to represent the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba can be found specifically in this context.568 The image of Solomon and the Queen
is linked to the Adoration of the Magi.569 The important procession of subject
communes, the main ceremony of the feast day of San Giovanni, is important as another
connection with the theme presented on the Solomon panel. The acquiescence of the
Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, like the recognition paid to Christ by the Magi, is
similar to the ceremony of submission that subject communities paid to Florence in the
name of San Giovanni. The long procession makes it way from paying homage to the
commune at the Palazzo Vecchio into Piazza San Giovanni (along todays Via dei
Calzaiuoli).570 The entire route is covered in silk and cloth, the walls of the street and
benches, and these are covered with the emblems of the city of Florence as well as its
guilds, and marzocco lions.571 The cloth draping expands into the piazza covering the
sky around the Baptistery, and the area from the eastern faade to the faade of the
Cathedral. The procession, as depicted on the Chest of Standards, moves into the shared
space of the Baptistery and Cathedral and turns west toward the Gates of Paradise. The
568

The scene which Bruni had chosen was the Judgment of Solomon, which was the more popular image.
Actually, the scene of the Meeting is most often found in cycles of the Legend of the True Cross.
569

Typologically in the Biblia Pauperum and the Speculum. The Queen, who came from the south,
symbolizes the Magi, and King Solomon seated on his throne symbolizes the eternal Wisdom seated on the
knee of Mary (Mle, Gothic Image, 157). The Queen of Sheba is a form of the Church who came from
the ends of the earth to hear the word of God (Mle, Gothic Image, 157, n. 4).
570
571

Corso degli Adimari in the Renaissance.

E nel mezzo erano in alcuni tondi pur di tela, e grandi braccia dieci lArme del Popolo, e Comune di
Firenze, quella deCapitani di Parte Guelfa, et alter: et intorno negli estremi del detto Cielo, che tutta la
Piazza, come che grandissima sia, ricopriva, pendevano drappelloni pur di tela dipinti di varie imprese,
dArmi, di Magistrati, e dArti, e di molti Leoni, che sono una delle insigne della Citt. Questo Cielo, o
vero coperta cos fatta era alto da terra circa venti bracciache ancor si veggiono intorno al Tempio di San
Giovanni nella Facciata di Santa Maria del Fiore (Richa, Notizie Istoriche delle Chiese Fiorentine, Bk 4,
LVII). Dati describes the transformation as a paradise: E come ho detto, per tutta la citt si fa quell di
nozze e gran conviti, con tanti pifferi, suoni e canti, e balli, feste e letizia e ornament, che pare che quella
terra sia il paradiso (Guasti, Le Feste di S. Giovanni Batista, 7).

185
two porphyry columns flanking the Gates, and included on the Chest of Standards, are
also symbols of civic dominance and tributes to Florence. These were gifts from Pisa to
commemorate a joint victory over the Balearic Islands in 1117.572 The representation of
the Temple of Solomon is a reference of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and the
Solomon panel can be interpreted as honor given to the Church (in this sense specifically
the Florentine Church). In this perspective, as the long line of standards one by one on
horseback makes it way toward the Baptistery and the Gates, the lower tier represents
itself imagery associated with the procession. Firstly, the David and Solomon panels
depict triumphal processions, and that of Solomon includes equestrian attendees.
Secondly, each of these panels alludes to the theme of the procession of homage. The
David panel depicts a war, the very reason many of the cities like Pisa had to pay tribute
to the commune. While the central figure of the composition is David defeating Goliath,
this scene is surrounded and activated by the battle of the Israelites and Philistines.573
The war imagery associates well to the proud conquests of Florence. Representations of
historic battles were popular commissions in the Renaissance.574 The Solomon panel
obviously represents both literally, typologically, and symbolically a homage (homage to
King Solomon, homage to Christ, homage to the Church). Finally, both panels relate
symbolically to Florence. The Temple of Solomon, as already discussed, is an image of
the Cathedral of Florence. In addition, David was an important and popular civic symbol
for Florence, represented multiple times with civic significance (the most well-known
572

Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni, 11.

573

The specific deptiction of Florentine battles was a popular subject in the Renaissance.

574

The commissions of Michelangelo and Leonardo for Palazzo Vecchio or Paolo Uccellos Battle of San
Romano to name a few of the more well-known commissions.

186
being the placement of Michelangelos David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio).575 In this
context, at least the final two panels of the Gates of Paradise clearly can be associated
with one of the most important celebratory rituals in the city of Florence.
Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin
The Assumption festival, celebrated on August 15th, included vigil ceremonies;
however, there are no descriptions of the festival that incorporate the Baptistery in either
Ritus or Mores. Although the feast days for the Virgin Mary were principal holidays and
the Virgin became a civic saint, her liturgical focus remained primarily in the Cathedral.
I will briefly describe some of the key liturgical elements as they may nevertheless have
some relation to the Baptistery and the Gates of Paradise merely given the proximity and
the Marian imagery on the Cathedral facade.
The feast of the Assumption celebrates Marys assumption into Heaven
immediately after her death. The epistle readings for both the vigil and the feast day
Mass are from the libri sapientie Ecclesiasticus (Sirach).576 The passages from Sirach are
full of the imagery of budding vines, sweet smells, tall trees, taking root in an inheritance.
For instance, part of the vigil lecture reads: As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant
odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. I am the mother of fair love, and
of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the
575

Since both panels compositions are centered the representations are easily read when the door is closed
or opened.
576

Vigil readings: Ecclesiasticus 24:23-32 (Sirach 24:17-22) ; Luke 11:27,28. Feast day readings:
Ecclesiasticus 24:11-13, 15-20 (Sirach 24:7-8, 10-15). These are prescribed in E106, E107, and Missale
Romanum Mediolani. Instead of Sirach, Ritus prescribes Isaiah 61:10 Gaudens gaudebo (see Ritus, 91r in
Toker, On Holy Ground, 244 line 3214). Ritus includes the Sirach passage (prescribed for Mass in E107,
E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani) in the Office readings of Prime, Sext, and Nones: In plateis, Quasi
cedrus, and Quasi oliva (Ritus, 91r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 244 lines 3210, 3215-3216). The Isaiah
passage is also repeated at Lauds and Terce (Ritus, 91r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 244 lines 3207 and
3212).

187
truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue (Sirach 24:23-25).577 This mother-earth type
language of fruit, perfumes, and the flowering plant or rooting tree is found throughout
the Marian liturgy.578 The imagery makes allusions to Marys role as a mother, her place
in the heavenly inheritance of the Christian, and allusions to the garden of Paradise to
which she is often aligned through Eve. The Mother of God is also referred to as the
bride. The scripture from Isaiah, prescribed in Ritus throughout the day, combines the
garden and the bride: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,for he has clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. For as the earth
brings forth its shoots and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord
God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations (Isaiah 61:1011). The above liturgical imagery is similar to the budding foliage and vines represented
around the Gates on the jambs. Reference to Marys victory over death is not only
referenced in the garden-like language of the liturgy.
The Roman Breviary prescribes readings that emphasize Marys part in the
eternal life.579 The Matins lesson for first nocturn is from Genesis 3:9-15, in which God

577

This biblical passages is from the New Advent Bible (newadvent.org/bible). And a portion of the
Assumption reading is: Let your dwelling be in Jacob, and your inheritance in Israel, and take root in my
electAnd so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in
Jerusalem. And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my
abode is in the full assembly of saints (Sirach 24:13, 15-16 New Advent).
578

For instance, see Ritus (90v): Vidi speciosam et reliqua, an antiphon for Matins derived from the Song
of Solomon 3:6 and (91r): Benedictus Que est ista, also an antiphon for Lauds derived from the Song of
Solomon (www.convivium.org/programs/winter03-translations-legal.pdf, accessed on 9/15/2011). Vidi
speciosam begins: I saw the fair one like a dove rising above the streams of water, whose incomparable
fragrance was strong in her garments; and on a spring day she was circled about by roses and the lily of the
valley (translation also from convivium.org).
579

The little chapter for Vespers is Judith 13:22-23, another powerful biblical female also depicted on the
frame of the Gates. Matins second nocturn: Sermon of St John Damascene (Damascus) discourse 2 on
Dormition of the Theotokos (This day the Eden of the new Adam receives the living Paradise, wherein the

188
punishes Adam, Eve, and the serpent after the Fall. God curses the serpent, putting
enmity between you and woman (Gen. 3:15). Paired with the Genesis lecture is a
reading from Corinthians (15:20-26, 53-57) in which Paul says, For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ all will be made to live (Cor. 15:22).580 Although these readings are not
included in the Medieval and Renaissance service books, Ritus does call for the verse
Paradisi porte to be sung at Nones: Through thee have the gates of Paradise been
thrown open to us. O thou who this day dost triumph so gloriously among the Angels.581
The liturgy for the Assumption feast reiterates the symbolic language common for the
Virgin Mary. Beyond the celebration of Mary and her triumph, the liturgy highlights the
Christians inheritance of Heaven through Mary and fulfilled by Mary through her
assumption.
Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin
For the feast day celebrating the Nativity of the Virgin (September 8) the morning
Mass (Missa matutinalis) was sung in San Giovanni.582 The gospel reading prescribed is

condemnation was made void, wherein the tree of life was planted, wherein our nakedness was covered.)
Mary is also called the Ark of the living God. Other readings in the Roman Breviary are from postRenaissance sources (Acts of Pope Pius XII and St. Peter Canisius) not applicable to this analysis.
580

These biblical passages are cited by Pope Pius XII in Munificentissiumus Deus supporting the dogma of
Assumption in 1950 (see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_pxii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus_en.html, accessed on Sept. 2, 2011). While at some point the
liturgy changed from Ritus to the modern Roman Breviary, Assumpta est, Venite adoremus, Exaltata est,
responsories from Sirach, Paradisi porte, among other elements remained part of the liturgy for the feast.
Along theme of Eve and the gates, among the many sung antiphons and psalms that make up the vigil
Vespers in Ritus, the hymn Ave maris stella is included. The poetry of the hymn focuses on Marys part in
salvation and reversing the sin of Eve: Heavens portal fairest. Taking that sweet Ave, Erst by Gabriel
spoken, Evas name reversingBreak the sinners fetters, Light to blind restoring.
581
582

Ritus, 91v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 244 line 3217).

In Nativitate sancte Marie <Pulsamus quattuor vicibus. Missa matutinalis erit in sancto Johanne.>
(Ritus, 92r-92v in Toker, On Holy Ground , 245). No procession is described. The cornerstone of the new
Cathedral was laid on the feast of the Nativity.

189
from Matthew (1:1-16), the genealogy of Christ.583 The genealogy of Matthew begins
with Abraham, whereas that of Luke goes back to Adam. So one of the elements
emphasized on the birthday of the Virgin Mary is her place in the lineage of Abraham,
Jesse, and David. Mores prescribes that the feast should be done just as that of the
Assumption, therefore the same language for Mary is also presented for the feast of the
Nativity.584
Several other important feast days could be considered; however, I found little to
relate liturgically to the Old Testament narratives, the Gates of Paradise, or the
Baptistery. The feast days of St. Mark, SS Philipp and James, and St. Zenobius include
significant processions to San Giovanni but do not connect liturgically to the imagery of
the Gates.585 For the commemoration of the beheading of St. John the Baptist a
procession is described in Mores (11r) from Santa Reparata to San Giovanni, but the
liturgy for the holiday focuses on the story of John and Herod, and the liturgy required
for a martyr.586 There are also festivals dedicated to the Holy Cross, like the Exaltation
of the Cross (September 14), that also seem to have little association with the Baptistery.
The feast of the Dedication of San Giovanni reiterates the same themes discussed for the
Dedication of the Cathedral. Ritus prescribes the epistle from Revelation 21:2 (Vidi
civitatem): And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven
583

E107, E106, and Missale romanum Mediolani (the Mediolani also includes Proverbs 8:22-35). Ritus
prescribes the passage from Matthew and an epistle for Mass. I have not been able to identify the epistola
In omnibus requiem. The epistle was also read at Vespers. (Ritus, 92v in Toker, On Holy Ground, 245.)
584

Pro nativitate sancte Marie, facimus sicut in eius Assumptione (Mores, 11r in Toker, On Holy
Ground, 279 lines 434-435).
585

St. Zenobius cult was in a renewal due to the translation of the relics on 27 April 1439 during Council
(see Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 170) His body was exhumed January 1331 around the time Ms.
Edili 107 was being created.
586

Ritus (92r) does not indicate a procession only that Vespers and Matins are to be sung in San Giovanni.

190
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.587 This reading and Terribilis
est locus iste (Genesis 28:17) are part of the Mass ceremony in San Giovanni, after a
procession from the Cathedral. Like the liturgy for the dedication of the Cathedral, the
liturgy for San Giovanni also aligns the Church with the Temple, the church with the
bride. The same imagery that can be interpreted on the Gates of Paradise, particularly the
Solomon panel. The role of the Church in attaining the city of new Jerusalem is
highlighted and Mary Ecclesia as bride is the ultimate intercessor.
The Marian festivals of the Sanctorale seem to have little relation with the
Baptistery and Gates of Paradise, even those that include the church of San Giovanni in
the ceremonies. What the liturgy for the Marian holidays does reveal is a repetition of
language aligning Mary with the Church/Temple, with Eve, and presenting Mary as
maiden, mother, and bride of the Church. The inclusion of these typological themes
reinforces the interpretations of Mary and Mary Ecclesia for the Old Testament narratives
of the Gates of Paradise. Stronger connections lie with the festival spectacles for the
feast of San Giovanni and the type of imagery chosen for the Gates, particularly the final
two panels.

587

Ritus 96r-97r in Toker, On Holy Ground, 249 lines 3410 ff. The gospel reading is Luke 19:1. The feast
occurs on the octave of the Ides of November.

191

CHAPTER 8. CONCLUSIONS
The ritual ceremonies celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist offer a local
context for the Baptistery and the Gates of Paradise. The connections between the
generations of Florence and the generations of the Church are made through the vigil
procession of the gonfalone. The ancestry of the Church is represented throughout the
interior mosaics and within the narratives of the Gates. The fusion of past with the
present Florentine lineage is made through the ceremony of baptism in San Giovanni.
Therefore, the Florentine becomes part of the lineage and community of the city and the
Church upon baptism, and this civic and religious position is renewed every year as two
male citizens from each household bring their torch offerings into the Baptistery. Each
household gathers with others in their quarter of the city, then gathering with the other
quarters to form a unit representative of the strength and honor of Florence. The link
between the historical lineage of Florence and the Church is only made in procession, as
each pair in the long line walks through the open Gates and past narrative scenes
highlighting the blessing of ancient generations before them.
The last two panels of the Gates, David and Solomon, are more visible to festival
participants and lend themselves particularly well to the local context and that of the
festival events of the feast of San Giovanni. David appears in many of the festival
processions because he was such a potent civic symbol for the commune.588 The
recognition of the power of King Solomon is a similar triumphant scene, although instead
of a battle people come from the ends of the earth to pay tribute and honor Solomon.
Both subjects clearly can be associated with the procession of homage on the feast day of
588

Hatfield, Compagnia de Magi, 112.

192
San Giovanni. The porphyry columns placed to flank the eastern door are a year-round
reminder of the tributes offered to Florences patron saint. These two panels also offer
year-round reminders of one of the most important events in the Florentine liturgical
calendar.589
While the link between the Gates imagery and the rituals for the feast day of St.
John the Baptist are certainly compelling and intriguing, so to are the connections that
can be drawn between the eastern portal imagery and the Lenten ceremonies. Perhaps the
program was intended to reference and augment a multitude of Florentine rituals. The
emphasis on procession and crowds in the David and Solomon panels took advantage of
possible associations with the spectacles involving the church of the patron saint of
Florence. The choice to end the cycle with the Meeting of the Queen and Solomon over
the Judgment of Solomon certainly allows for such associations.590
The season leading up to the vigil of Easter, as one designated for the preparation
of baptismal candidates, and the baptismal ceremonies for the vigil of Easter seem to
interact the most with the Gates program. Carol Lewine has produced a study of the
Sistine wall frescoes in relation to the season of Lent. She discusses the subjects
represented, from the Life of Moses and the Life of Christ, as relating to the liturgy for
the period of Lent and the preparation for baptism. Lent is a time of purification,
illumination, penance, and either a commemoration or preparation for baptism. More
than just a period for the catechumens themselves, the Lenten season renews the
589

While the festivities for the feast of St. John the Baptist may not have clearly inspired the choice of Old
Testament narratives for the Gates, perhaps at the very least it helps to explain some of the focal imagery
for the David and Solomon panels. And no doubt the participants of such processions could understand
these triumphant narratives as symbols of Florentine dominance.
590

Particularly since the Judgment of Solomon story is a lecture included in the Lenten liturgy.

193
community of the faithful together with the catechumens.591 This is a period for the
Church family as a whole to remember their promises and professions at the font as they
celebrate both Christs resurrection and their own rebirth at Easter. In her study of
Lenten liturgy and the Sistine chapel, Lewine makes note that Every one of
Michelangelos Genesis scenes [which depict the Creation through the Flood] illustrates a
text assigned in the Missal or Breviary during the pre-Lenten weeks of Septuagesima and
Sexagesima, when the Roman liturgy already resonates with Lenten themes.592
The program for the Gates of Paradise goes further than the Sistine Ceiling
representation of the story of Creation and Noah in accenting symbols of baptism and the
saving Church. The separate episodes frescoed by Michelangelo illustrate the lectures for
pre-Lent, but lost is the prominence of Eve and the more symbolic emerging of baptism
(or the womb of the Church) in the choice to depict the Flood. In the Sistine, the
Creation of Eve is one of the smaller framed scenes flanked by the ignudi and gold
medallions. The small scene of the sacrifice of Noah only hints at the familys salvation
with the open door of the ark in the background on the right side. Michelangelos
dramatic episode of the Deluge does little to highlight the salvation and instead depicts
the last scramble of humanity about to be wiped out. Finally, the Drunkenness of Noah is
depicted. The fact that this rare image shows up in this context suggest validity to the

591
592

Rites of the Catholic Church, 26.

Lewine, Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, xv. In the similarity between the Sistine ceiling
and the Gates of Paradise, one may be tempted to think the niche figures represent prophets and sibyls
however this is not the case. See Krautheimer (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:174) on this point. With the inclusion
of Judith and Miriam as well as Samson, the figures cannot just be prophets but also biblical heroes and
heroines.

194
link with seasonal liturgy.593 It is not accidental that the rare episode appears in two
locales along with other Lenten scenes.594
The liturgy for the three weeks of pre-Lent emphasize the same themes and
episodes represented on the first four panels of the Gates of Paradise. The Old Testament
Genesis episodes illustrated on the third register of the Gates are part of a continuation of
the chronological Old Testament readings from the liturgy of Lent. The Exodus and
Deuteronomy passages of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments are also read
throughout the season. The biblical narratives represented on the Gates are those that are
accented in the supporting liturgy, like the responsories. The architecture of the
Baptistery of San Giovanni in incorporated into the rituals at key points in the season.
The last three panels are not major parts of the Lenten liturgy, but continue the
themes surrounding the sacrament of baptism and the Church. The Joshua panel signifies
baptism, covenant, and the lineage of the Church as the Israelites are able to cross the
Jordan River into the Promised Land. There are several reasons why the David panel is
part of the program despite the storys absence in the Lenten liturgy. David is a very
important character in one of the main themes for both the Gates and baptism: lineage.
David is first and foremost, as prophesied, a direct ancestor of Christ and in this sense
must be present on the Gates. David was an important civic figure in Florence,
represented many times during the Renaissance.

A story of Solomon is included in the

Lenten liturgy, but it is the Judgment of Solomon. This episode was probably changed,
from Brunis plan, to the Meeting for several reasons as well. The scene of the Meeting

593
594

The nudity of the sons detracts however from the nudity of Noah in his shameful stupor.

The vignettes of families in the spandrels both can connect with the lunettes of the ancestors of Christ
below them and with the theme of baptism.

195
is much more triumphant making it a better pairing with Davids triumph over Goliath. It
is triumphant not only in its joyous, festival atmosphere, but in its setting. The Meeting
of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba in front of the Temple of Jerusalem is associated
with a re-attainment of Paradise. In addition, this story with its typological
interpretations parallels the central Creation of Eve (and the initial loss of Paradise) at the
chronological beginning of the door and solidifies allusion to Mary Ecclesia.595 The men
represented in the last two tiers of the Gates are all important Old Testament types of
Christ, and part of the genealogical line.596
Lavin observes a compositional unity for the first two registers of the Gates of
Paradise. The four panels represent two expulsions, two unfaithful acts and two
covenants or blessings, resulting from two extremely faithful acts. The liturgical themes
for pre-Lent, lineage or inheritance and covenant are also the prominent themes for these
first two registers. The middle Jacob and Esau and Joseph panels both concentrate
completely on fraternal rivalry. While there are hints of this theme in the chronologically
earlier scenes, it is the focus of these middle panels just as it is a focus of the middle
weeks of Lent (primarily the second and third weeks in Lent when the stories of Jacob,
Esau, and Joseph are read). The fourth register, at the height of an average viewer,
displays themes of covenant, the Tablets of Law and the realization of the Promised
Land. These are symbolically two important scenes for the baptismal ceremony. Finally,
595

Furthermore, passages from the Song of Solomon refers to the imagery of the bride and bridegroom and
is often included in liturgy for the Virgin Mary.
596

One figure in each of the ten panels represent a type or prefiguration of Christ: Adam, Abel, Noah,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon. Although Moses is not included in the
genealogies of Christ given by Matthew or Luke, he does appear in a genealogical tree as part of a
precedent for the eastern entrance of the Florence Baptistery. The Parma baptisterys north door, which
like the eastern portal in Florence is in the direct route from the Cathedral, includes two vine-like trees on
the door jambs. One sprouts from Jesse to Mary, and the parallel sprouts from Levi to Moses (Pier Paolo
Mendogni, The Baptistery of Parma: Art, History, Iconography [Parma: Proposte Editrice, 1996], 7.

196
the last register represents scenes of triumph particularly related to the city of Florence.
The victor David, the civic hero, and Solomon honored before the Temple/Cathedral of
Florence. The layout for the program of the Gates seems to move progressively through
liturgical themes for pre-Lent and Lent. This culminates in subjects important to baptism
that also was a culmination of Lent on Holy Saturday, and triumphant imagery of
celebration that presumably would also be the case after a candidate is baptized and
enters the church to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
The Gates of Paradise functioned as the prominent entrance to the Church of San
Giovanni, itself an important edifice for Florentine religious life. The symbolism of
Christ and Mary found in the Old Testament episodes allowed the Gates to expound
liturgical themes for many of the holidays that incorporated the door into its rituals. The
iconographical program for the Gates of Paradise connects predominantly to its major
function as the principal ritual entrance for the Baptistery. The program reiterates the
liturgy for the season leading up to baptism and the baptismal liturgy. While most days
throughout the year the south portal was used for the infant baptismal ceremony, the
Gates reinforce the liturgy of the season which teaches and emphasizes the significance
of the sacrament of baptism and the role of the Church in salvation. The Gates are
incorporated into the ritual at key points in the ecclesiastical calendar, which meant that
on significant days in the initiatory season the Baptistery and the Gates were highlighted
in the ritual.
Problems Identifying the Author or Adviser of the Program
There is one unresolved problem that has bearing on interpretations of the
iconographical program, and it is a problem beyond the scope of this study. A focus of

197
scholarship on the Gates of Paradise has been debated among prominent Ghiberti
scholars regarding the author or adviser for the iconographical program. As will be
discussed, the individuals proposed by past scholars, like Krautheimers support of
Ambrogio Traversari, are not entirely convincing. It is remains unclear who might have
advised Ghiberti on the iconographical program; however, conclusions regarding the
function of the Gates may offer clues to the type of individual responsible for the
theological plan.
A comparison of the narrative program of the Gates of Paradise with that of
Brunis extant plan serves to illuminate some of the key choices made and a clear change
in the concentration of the narratives. Interestingly, of the main Old Testament
characters present on the Gates of Paradise, all are also included in Brunis plan: Adam
and Eve , Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and
Solomon. The largest design change was the shift from twenty-eight small plaques,
presumably meant to be framed in quatrefoils, to only ten square panels.
Iconographically, the program shifts in the focus of content. Three of Brunis four scenes
of Creation are condensed into one panel and given a clear emphasis on the figure of Eve,
not evident in Brunis plan. The episode of Noah changed from the dramatic Flood to a
post-Flood scene, and the events of Noahs Sacrifice and Drunkenness were added. The
episode of Abraham was expanded to include an annunciate scene in which the Three
Angels visit Abraham and Sarah. Josephs dream interpretations are cut to focus on his
interactions with his brethren. Several of the scenes of Moses were cut in favor for the
giving of the Laws, not the popular Red Sea scene which initially seems a logical
representation for a baptistery. The last important change was the shift from the

198
Judgment of Solomon to the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. If, in fact,
Brunis plan was an early proposal for the Gates of Paradise program, significant changes
and choices were made to arrive at the current narrative scheme.
The extant Bruni letter and plan suggests that the Calimala intended a scholar to
design the program. Although, a statement by Ghiberti in his Commentaries suggests he
alone was responsible for the design:
I was commissioned to do the other door, that is, the third door, of S. Giovanni.
The commission gave me permission to execute it in whatever way I believed
would result in the greatest perfection, the most ornamentation, and the greatest
richness.597
While he is implying that he had a free hand on the door, and he is taking full credit for
the doors perfection, he is not stating that he was in charge of the program. Ghibertis
description of the Gates of Paradise has created more problems than answers.
With every proportion observed in them, I strove to imitate nature as closely as I
could, and with all the perspective I could produce (to have) excellent
compositions rich with many figures. In some scenes I placed about a hundred
figures598
His description of the door focuses on the panels size, weight, and the great number of
figures. The concentration is on his skill as an artist in imitating nature and creating
perspective rather than offering a how-to read the references on the door. In addition to
a difference of focus in his discussion of the images on the Gates of Paradise, his
597

Translated by Holt, A Documentary History of Art, 1:160-161. (Fummi allogata laltra porta cio la
terza porta di santo Giovanni, la quale mi fu data licenza che io la conducessi in quell modo chio credessi
tornasse pi ornate e pi ricca. Lorenzo Ghiberti, I Commentari [Napoli: Riccardo Ricciardi Editore,
1947], 45). Ghiberti wrote his Commentari near the end of his life; begun in 1447 it was left unfinished at
his death in 1455.
598

Translated by Holt, Documentary History of Art, 1:161. (le quali istorie molto copiose di figure erano
istorie del testamento vecchio, nelle quali mi ingegnai con ogni misura osservare in esse cercare imitare la
natura quanto a me fosse possible, e con tutti i lineamenti che in essa potessi produrre e con egregi
componimenti e doviziosi con moltissime figure. Misi in alcuna istoria circa di figure cento; in quali istorie
meno e in qual pi. Ghiberti, I Commentari, 45).

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description does not completely correspond to the scenes on the door.599 For instance,
Ghiberti described the story of Joseph as including the Pharaoh and his dream which is
not depicted.600
It has been suggested by various scholars that the square panel format was the
work of Ghiberti, a format with which he experimented in the Siena Baptistery Font a
few years earlier (c. 1427). Whether the artist presented the square panel format or not,
most scholars agree that he must have at least worked under the advice of some scholar or
theologian for the Baptistery door.
Leonardo Bruni was asked to submit a program for the door that is extant in the
Archivio di Stato in Florence.601 It is unusual that this document has survived, for there
has been little else in the form of descriptions of decorative programs from the century to
survive. The program was included with a letter to the head of the Calimala committee
in charge of the Baptistery decoration, Niccolo da Uzzano, and probably dates to the
summer of 1424.602
The twenty scenes for the new door which, as you have deliberated, shall be from
the Old Testament, should have two principal features: for one they should be
resplendent; secondly they should be significant (in content)Whoever will have
them to design must be well informed as to their meaning, so that he can arrange
599

Ghiberti, I Commentari, 45-46. He also states that each panel contains four scenes which is not
correctthey vary from one scene to as many as six in a panel. Krautheimer (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:172)
added that Ghiberti described the niche figurines as simply decorative figure which is another sign of his
fundamental disregard for the thematic subject.
600

Ghiberti, I Commentari, 46. The episode is included in Brunis program.

601

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2: 372, doc. 52 and 2:408, digest 106.

602

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:169, and 2:372, doc. 52. Although there is no date for Brunis letter,
the date of 1424 was logically worked out by Krautheimer from context, since it was directed to Niccolo da
Uzzano (d. 1431) who was on the committee at this time. However, one wonders when the program was
actually drafted. There is no date on the letter or the plan. Could Brunis plan have originally been meant
for that the Baptisterys second door until the subject was changed to the New Testament, and perhaps
resubmitted in 1424 for the third door? I wish to thank Prof. Wallace Tomasini for bringing up this point.

200
both the persons and events that occur. (Also) he should have the gift of
gracefulness, so that he will know how to adorn them well.603
Bruni also added that he would like to advise whoever works on the door.604 It is
unknown whether other submissions for the program were made by other scholars,
although Krautheimer offered a document which he interpreted as suggesting there were
other submissions. This is apparently seen in a letter addressed to Niccolo Niccoli from
Ambrogio Traversari (June 21, 1424).
I understand and approve your feelings concerning the narrative scenes (storie)
which are to be sculpted for that third door, but I fear those in charge of this work
are somewhat rash. I hear they have consulted Leonardo (Bruni) of Arezzo and I
conjecture the rest from this glorious beginning.605
The program for the Gates of Paradise was important, and as shown in this letter,
discussed and debated by Florentine scholars before work began. Krautheimer
interpreted that the glorious beginning is a reference to other earlier program
submissions, perhaps even by Niccoli and Traversari. Reference to additional
submissions of previous scholars and possible arguments over the final choice is also
found in writings by Francesco Antonio Gori. Gori, whose source was the old diaries of
the Calimala, claimed that the development of the narrative episodes went to famous
scholars, and that the guild later commissioned Bruni, since these submissions were not
603

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:169. (Io considero che le 20 historie della nuova porta le quali avete
deliberato che siano del vecchio testamento, vogliono avere due cose principalmente: luna che siano
illustri, laltra che siano significantiBisogner che colui, che lha a disegnare, si a bene instrutto di
ciascuna historia, sic he possa ben mettere e le persone e glatti occorrenti, e che habbia del gentile, si che
le sappia bene ornare. Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 2:372, doc. 52). Note that Bruni does not say the
program is for the third door, just the new door.
604
605

This means that when Brunis letter was written, a commission contract had not yet been signed.

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:159-161. (Quid de historiis tertiae illi portae insculpendis senties
video proboque; sed vereor ne nimium praecipites sint hi quibus ea opera injuncta est. Audio illos
Leonardum Arretinum consuluisse praeclaroque ex hoc initio cetera coniecto. Krautheimer, Lorenzo
Ghiberti, 1:161, note 2). Francesco Antonio Gori, 18th century antiquarian, also mentions submissions
before Brunis.

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satisfactory.606 It appears Niccoli and Traversari were unhappy with Brunis program,
and would have been even more upset if Brunis program was chosen over their own
possible submissions, which explains the sarcastic quality of the letter. Krautheimer
suggested that, if the Gori reference could be accepted, the letter would be interpreted to
mean that Niccoli and Traversari were among the initial group of scholars consulted.607
If we do accept Goris statement, could we not also accept that the commission
was, as Gori maintains, given to Bruni? Just as there are scholars who believe that
Ghiberti himself designed the program, there are a few who are still willing to accept
Bruni. It is true that the extant program written by him is not that found on the door
today, but does this necessarily exclude him from being the author/advisor of the door?608
For instance, Kenneth Clark suggests that the choice of subjects were chosen by a
humanist philosopher of unassailable learning and piety, Leonardo Bruni, but Ghiberti
then cut the number of scenes down to ten.609 If it was, as many scholars assume,
Ghibertis idea to change the format of the door to square panels, and that this idea
presumably would have been voiced upon receiving the commission early in 1425, then
any previously submitted program would need to be revised to fit the new format.
Brunis extant program calls for twenty episodes and eight prophets, which would
have been framed by quatrefoils to match the first two sets of doors. However, it may be
important to note that the chronological reading of the narrative is different. Pisanos

606

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:161.

607

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:161.

608

Nothing has been written supporting Bruni, only indications of the scholar as the author.

609

Kenneth Clark, introduction, The Florence Baptistery Doors, David Finn (New York: Viking Press,
1980), 12.

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door reads from top to bottom, but each valve was read separately. Ghibertis first door
reads from bottom to top and across both valves left to right. Brunis plan was read top
to bottom and across both valves left to right. This is the sequence that was used for the
Gates of Paradise. Krautheimer called Leonardo Brunis plan far from exciting and
plainly patterned which is to be looked at as a counterpart to the already tried scheme
of the first two doors.610 It should not seem strange that Bruni would begin by creating a
plan that reflected the other doors, probably one that could incorporate Ghibertis earlier
competition relief, which was kept for just that purpose. After all, Ghibertis first door
took up that same quatrefoil format almost a century after Andrea Pisano.
The bulk of Krautheimers discussion of the program for the Gates of Paradise
contains his argument that Ambrogio Traversari was the author or advisor of the
program. He insisted that Brunis program was rooted in medieval ideas while the actual
program by Traversari is thoroughly neo-patristic.611 The theory that Krautheimer
presented as sources for the program can be summed up in his following statement:
The closing scene of the Queen of Sheba, a rare subject for a Biblical cycle and
never before used to terminate one, best makes sense as the invention of a
theologian [namely Ambrogio Traversari] deeply concerned with uniting the East
and West. This explanation tallies with other clues: the obvious dependency of
the first six stories on the exegetic writings of Saint Ambrose; the parallelism of
the Biblical narrative; the occasional impact on the door of Origens homilies and
possibly of a Talmudic legend; the mistrust which Traversari and Niccoli
expressed for Brunis program already in 1424 when it was being drawn up;
finally, Traversaris portrait in the panel of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.612

610

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:169.

611

See Krautheimer (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:169) for the discussion of Brunis plan and for this discussion of
Traversari see (1:175).
612

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:187. His argument about the inclusion of Traversaris portrait on the
door is not very solid.

203
Krautheimer suggested that the first six panels of the door may come directly from the six
chapters of St. Ambroses Hexaemeron. The supposed use of St. Ambrose is included as
evidence for the possibility of Traversari as the author, because Traversari was involved
in the study of St. Ambrose. Georgia Clarke points out, however, that St. Ambrose was
one of the most widely read of the Latin patristic writers in the Middle Ages, and the
fact that Traversari was a scholar of the saint does not define him as especially prominent
in this aspect.613 In addition, the biblical patriarchs to whom each of the six chapters of
the Hexaemeron are dedicated are all also included in Brunis program. In fact, every
patriarch that had an episode in Brunis proposed plan is also found on the Gates of
Paradise. The difference in the Brunis plan and the final program is not the personages
but the actual episodes that were portrayed, the content. There are significant changes
from Brunis documented program. However, perhaps the changes are not significant
enough to rule Bruni out as author of the program.
The obvious reliance on Origen for the representation of the Ark is another point
Krautheimer used to support Traversari, a scholar of Origen. Clarke asserts that the
pyramidal Ark need not rely on Origen, but that the biblical account would lead toward
such a representation.614 In fact, Don Cameron Allen stated that all early writers thought
of the Ark as a pyramid.615 As already pointed out, the small markings on Ghibertis
representation maps out the description found in the Bible. Even if the form of the Ark
came from Origen, then Traversari need not have been the scholar to present itOrigen
613

Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari, 164. She goes on to note that some works by St. Ambrose were in the
libraries of the Carmelites and Santa Croce, Petrarch and Boccaccio.
614

Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari, 165.

615

Allen, Legend of Noah, 71.

204
had already been translated into Latin and incorporated in the liturgy of Florentine
lectionaries.616 Traversari was not the only scholar who showed interest in Origen or
Greek writings.617 Clarke, for instance, notes Niccolo Niccolis involvement with Greek
studies.618
Niccolo Niccoli could have easily been involved with the Gates of Paradise since
his library contained works by Origen and St. Ambrose; however, no one, to my
knowledge, has ever investigated Niccoli as the author of the program. Interestingly,
Krautheimer in his preface stated outright that, We still believe that advice on this
program, if not the program itself, originated with Traversari and possibly, Niccolo
Niccoli.619 This possibility has not been fully explored. Georgia Clarke, in her
argument against Traversaris involvement, notes that Niccoli was perhaps a more likely
adviser for the Baptistery doors given his much more evident interest in the arts and his
involvement in the collecting of patristic literature.620
The debate over an advisor or author responsible for the Gates of Paradise is far
from decided, therefore leaving exposed a major piece in the puzzle for deciphering the
iconographical program. The content change from Brunis original plan to the program
of the Gates of Paradise is a large one to overcome if Leonardo Bruni is to be further
616

Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari, 165. See also Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:179.

617

And, as Ive mentioned earlier, the writings of Origen are incorportated into the Florentine liturgy, as he
is prescribed several times in the Lectionary Ms. Edili 144 and 145 in the BML.
618

Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari, 165. Niccolis library included some 50 patristic manuscripts with
works by Origen and St. Ambrose (Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari, 165, note 29). See also Edgar Wind
(The Revival of Origen In Studies in Art and Literature for Belle da Costa Greene, ed. Dorothy Miner
[Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1954]) for a discussion of the revival of Origen during the Renaissance.
619

620

Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:xxii.

Clarke, Ambrogio Traversari,165. See note 29 where she also picks up on Krautheimers statement
of the possible collaboration of Niccoli. Much more needs to be researched regarding Niccoli in order to
legitimize his possible connection with the doors program.

205
considered the adviser for Ghiberti. One more issue may suggest Bruni was not the final
adviser for the design of the Gates: the iconographical program for the Gates of Paradise
seems to be deeply involved with the liturgy of the Florentine Church, especially the
season of Lent.621 The knowledge of the function recommends an individual who was
involved in the religious life of Florence, perhaps a prelate. This advocates figures like
Traversari, a theological humanist, or even St. Antonino, for the position of adviser over
Bruni, who was a civic humanist. The next step in research regarding the iconographical
program for the Gates of Paradise must examine individuals who were engaged in the
religious environment of Florence, and fluent in the theological and liturgical values of
the Church.

621

Although Bruni still could have been the initial author since the chronological design of his plan and the
Gates of Paradise match.

206

APPENDIX A: FIGURES

Figure A1. View of the Baptistery (San Giovanni) with the Cathedral (Santa Maria del
Fiore) and the Campanile, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_10310197129

Figure A2. Baptistery of San Giovanni, eastern facade, c.1059-1150, Florence.


Source: Gary M., Radke, ed., The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance
Masterpiece, Exh. Cat. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007), 10. Franco
Cosimo Panini Editore Spa.

207

Figure A3. Floor plan of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, c. 1150, Florence.
Source: Antonio Paolucci, ed., Il Battistero di San Giovanni a Firenze (Modena: Franco
Cosimo Panini, 1994), 1:88.

Figure A4. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise, eastern portal of the Baptistery of San
Giovanni, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, approx. 15. Museo dellOpera del Duomo,
Florence.
Source: Annamaria Giusti, The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence (Florence:
Mandragora, 2000), 22.

208

Creation:
Creation of Adam
Creation of Eve
Temptation
Expulsion

Cain & Abel:


First parents
Cain as farmer / Abel as shepherd
Sacrifices of Cain and Abel
Cain murders Abel
Cain sent wandering by God

Noah:
Noah, his family, and the animals
exit the Ark
Sacrifice of Noah
Drunkenness of Noah

Abraham:
Visitation of the Three Angels
Sacrifice of Isaac

Jacob & Esau:


Rebecca receives prophecy of twins
Rebecca gives birth
Sale of the Birthright
Rebecca advises Jacob
Esau goes on hunt
Blessing of Jacob
Esau is denied blessing from Isaac

Joseph:
Joseph sold into slavery at the well
Distribution of grain in Egypt
Joseph recognizes his brothers
Silver cup found in Benjamins sack
Joseph reveals himself to his brothers

Moses:
Moses receiving the Tablets of the
Law

Joshua:
Crossing the Jordan River
Walls of Jericho fall

David:
David defeats Goliath
Saul leads Israelites against
Philistines
David enters Jerusalem triumphant

Solomon:
Meeting of Solomon and the Queen
of Sheba

Figure A5. Diagram of the narrative program for the Gates of Paradise. This diagram lists
the separate episodes represented on each panel.
Source: Diagram by author.

209

Figure A6. Diagram of Leonardo Brunis plan for the Gates of Paradise, 1424(?)
Source: Diagram by author transcribed from Richard Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970), 170.

210

Figure A7. Ghiberti, Creation panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281244

Figure A8. Ghiberti, creation of Eve, detail from Creation panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: Gary M Radke, ed., The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance
Masterpiece. Exh. Cat. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007), 46.

211

Figure A9. Ghiberti, Expulsion, detail from Creation panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_10310197955

Figure A10. Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve, 1424-1427. Brancacci Chapel, Santa
Maria del Carmine, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1031314646

212

Figure A11. Ghiberti, Cain and Abel panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del
Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_10310197958

Figure A12. Ghiberti, First parents with Cain and Abel as toddlers, detail from Cain and
Abel panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: Richard Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1970), 2: plate 88a.

213

Figure A13. Ghiberti, Noah panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San


Giovanni,Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo,
Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_10310193038

Figure A14. Ghiberti, Ark, detail from Noah panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_10310193046

214

Figure A15. Ghiberti, Abraham panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281306

Figure A16. Ghiberti, Two youth at the bottom of the mountain, detail from Abraham
panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281317

215

Figure A17. Ghiberti, Jacob and Esau panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San
Giovanni, Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del
Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281334

Figure A18. Ghiberti, Birth of Jacob and Esau, detail from Jacob and Esau panel, Gates
of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281334

216

Figure A19. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Baptist, 1485. Cappella Maggiore, Santa
Maria Novella, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039488620

Figure A20. Ghiberti, Isaac Blessing Jacob, detail from Jacob and Esau panel, Gates of
Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281334

217

Figure A21. Ghiberti, Esau denied blessing from Isaac, detail from Jacob and Esau
panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: Gary M Radke, ed., The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance
Masterpiece. Exh. Cat. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007), 75.

Figure A22. Ghiberti, Joseph panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281368

218

Figure A23. Ghiberti, Silver Cup in Benjamins Bag, detail from Joseph panel, Gates of
Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281368

Figure A24. Ghiberti, Josephs reconciliation with his brothers, detail from Joseph panel,
Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281368

219

Figure A25. Ghiberti, Moses panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281396

Figure A26. Ghiberti, Crowd of Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai, detail from Moses
panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: Richard Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1970), 2: plate 104b.

220

Figure A27. Ghiberti, Joshua panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281553

Figure A28. Ghiberti, Procession around the walls of Jericho, detail from Joshua panel,
Gates of Paradise.
Source: Richard Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1970), 2: plate 111a.

221

Figure A29. Ghiberti, David panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281488

Figure A30. Ghiberti, Davids Triumphal return with the head of Goliath, detail from
David panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: Richard Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1970), 2: plate 114b.

222

Figure A31. Ghiberti, Solomon panel, Gates of Paradise, Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze, 79.5 x 80. Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281516

Figure A32. Ghiberti, Solomon and the Queen, detail from Solomon panel, Gates of
Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281520

223

Figure A33. Ghiberti, Solomons Temple, detail from Solomon panel, Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281516

Figure A34. Nave of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, new plan 1366 (original plan c.
1294 by Arnolfo di Cambio).
Source: ARTstor: HARTILL_12317592

224

b
Figure A35. Ghiberti, Adam (a) and Eve (b) niche figures in the top frame of the Gates of
Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1039574971 and GHIBERTI_DB_1031281008

b
Figure A36. Ghiberti, Noah (a) and Puarphara (b) niche figures in the bottom frame of
the Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281568 and GHIBERTI_DB_1039575098

Figure A37. Ghiberti, Hiding blooms, detail from the left side of the Noah niche in the
bottom frame of the Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281568

225

Eve
1
*Ezekiel?

Creation

5
Elias
(Elijah)?

Noah

9
Isaiah?

Jeremiah?
Isaiah?

prophetess;
Esther?

Jonah

prophetess;
Hannah?;
Samsons
mother?
11

10
Jacob & Esau

13
Miriam

Adam

Moses

17
Judith
David

Noah

Rachel?

Daniel?
Elisha?

14

15

Aaron

Joshua

18

19

Nathan?;
Samuel?;

Daniel?;
Nathan?

4
Cain & Abel

Joab?;
Saul?;
Judas
Maccabeus?
8

Abraham

Samson

12
Joseph

Elijah?;
Elisha?;
Jeremiah?
16

Joshua

Gideon?

20
Solomon

Bileam
(Balaam)?;
Baruch?;
Hosea?;
Joel?

Puarphara

Figure A38. Diagram of the Gates of Paradise with proposed identities of the border
niche figures.
Source: Diagram by author. *Italicized labels are those hypothesized by Richard
Krautheimer (Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1:160).

226

Figure A39. Piazza del Duomo circa 1285, showing the location of the Hospital to the
north, the Bishops palace to the west, the orientation of Santa Reparata (in relation to the
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore begun in 1296).
Source: Marvin Trachtenberg, La Piazza del Duomo come Scenografia: La Piazza di
Arnolfo, in Atti del VII Centenario del Duomo di Firenze, eds., Timothy Verdon and
Annalisa Innocenti (Florence: Edifir, 2001), 1: 41.

Figure A40. Interior vault mosaics, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, c. 1240-1310.
Source: Photograph by author, 2011.

227

Figure A41. Detail of the pavement of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence. (View is
looking toward the eastern portals from where the original font was placed).
Source: Photograph by author, 2011.

Figure A42. Cutaway view of the Baptistery of San Giovanni with reconstruction of 13th
century font and choir screens (demolished in 1577).
Source: Franklin Toker, On Holy Ground: Liturgy, Architecture, and Urbanism in the
Cathedral and the Streets of Medieval Florence (London: Harvey Miller Publishers,
2009), 111.

228

Figure A43. Andrea Pisano, southern portal of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, 13291336. Gilded bronze. Florence.
Source: ARTstor: ARTSTOR_103_41822000539773

Figure A44. Lorenzo Ghiberti, northern portal of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, 14031424. Gilded bronze. Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039779469

229

Figure A45. Guiseppe Zocchi, Procession of the Corpus Domini, 1754. Etching.
Source: Frederick Hartt and David G. Wilkins, History of Italian Renaissance Art, 2nd ed.
(New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003), 40.

230

Figure A46. Interior west end of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence.
Source: Photograph by author, 2011.

231

Figure A47. Bernardino Poccetti, drawing of the Arnolfian faade of Santa Maria del
Fiore, probably on the occasion of its demolition in 1587. Museum of the Opera del
Duomo, Florence.
Source: Domenico Cardini, ed., Il Bel San Giovanni e Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence:
Le Lettere, 1996), 224.

232

Figure A48. Arnolfio di Cambio, Madonna and Child Entroned, St. Reparata (left), and
St. Zenobius (right), early 14th century. Reconstruction of the sculptural group above the
central portal of the 14th century faade of Santa Maria del Fiore (demolished in 1587).
Museum of the Opera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: Photograph by author, 2011.

233

b
Figure A49. Arnolfio di Cambio, Virgin Mary of the Nativity (a) and Virgin Mary of the
Dormition (b), early 14th century. Reconstruction of the Arnolfian faade of Santa Maria
del Fiore. Museum of the Opera del Duomo, Florence.
Source: Photograph by author, 2011.

234

Figure A50. Giovanni Stradano, The Baptism of Francesco I (Aug. 1, 1541), 1556-1559.
Sala di Cosimo I, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: AZERIIG_10312641244

235

Figure A51. Ghiberti, Noahs family exiting the ark, detail from Noah panel, Gates of
Paradise.
Source: Richard Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1970), 2: plate 104a.

236

Figure A52. Giovanni Stradano (Jan van der Straet), Procession in Piazza del Duomo,
1561. Sala di Gualdrada, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039779152

Figure A53. Stradano, detail of procession, from Procession in Piazza del Duomo.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039779152

237

Figure A54. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Marriage of the Virgin, 1485. Cappella Maggiore,
Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039488620

Figure A55. Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, Wedding Procession, c. 1440. Adimari cassone,
Galleria dellAccademia, Florence.
Source: Anna Mazzanti, The Art of Florence in its Great Museums (Florence: Scala,
1997), 113.

238

Figure A56. Ghiberti, procession moving around the Temple, detail of Solomon panel,
Gates of Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281517

Figure A57. Ghiberti, spectators around the Temple, detail of Solomon panel, Gates of
Paradise.
Source: ARTstor: GHIBERTI_DB_1031281513_VIR_gwynneann_1316014754322

239

Figure A58. Giovanni Stradano, Festival of the Homages in Piazza della Signoria, 1562.
Sala di Gualdrada, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Source: ARTstor: SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039779150

240

Figure A59. Giovanni di Francesco Toscani, Chest of Standards, early fifteenth-century.


Bargello, Florence.
Source: Anna Mazzanti, The Art of Florence in its Great Museums (Florence: Scala,
1997), 113.

Figure A60. Toscani, detail from left half of the Chest of Standards.
Source: Gene Brucker, Florence: The Golden Age (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1998), 114.

241

APPENDIX B: TABLES
Table B1: Major liturgical events that included the Baptistery of San Giovanni in
Florence.
Event
Sunday Mass
after Terce

Proprium de
Tempore:
First Sunday
Mass of Advent

Location
San Giovanni
(SG)/ Santa
Reparata (SR)

Liturgical event
description
Missa maior/ Missa
populi

Source:
Mores et consuetudines cannonice florentine
(c. 1231), 1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 268,
lines 26-29); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 98-99, see note 48.

SR/ SG

Missa maior/ Missa


populi

Mores,1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 268,


lines 30-32); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 99 note 48.

Nativity (25 Dec)

from SG to SR

Recited office at
Terce in SG to clergy
and congregation;
procession to SR
celebrate Mass,
signaled by every
bell

Ritus in ecclesia servandi (c.1190), 10r


(Toker, On Holy Ground, 167-169 lines
358ff.); Mores, 6v (Toker, On Holy Ground,
274 lines 241-244); Tacconi, Cathedral and
Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2; Dameron,
Florence and Its Church, 198; Toker, On
Holy Ground, 40.

Octave Nativity
(1 Jan) / Comm.
of Circumcision

from SR to SG

Ritus,16r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 174 lines


570-572); Mores, 7v (Toker, On Holy
Ground, 275 lines 274-276); Tacconi
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2;
Toker, On Holy Ground, 40.

Epiphany (6 Jan)

from SR to SG

Procession then
Missa maior,
signaled by every
bell (Missa populi in
SR at altar of St
Mary before)
procession

Sunday Mass in
Septuagesima
Lent:
Ash Wednesday

SR/ SG

Missa maior/ Missa


populi

Mores, 1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 268,


lines 30-32).

From SG to
SR

Ritus, 27v-28r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 186


lines 1009-21).

Mass 1st Sunday


of Lent
Palm Sunday

SR/ SG

Blessing of ashes and


mark worshippers
with ashes in SG
followed by
procession to SR
Missa maior/ Missa
populi
sing morning Mass
"as is usual"/ Terce/
verses and antiphons/
procession

"neutral part"
between SR
and SG/ in SG/
neutral part/ to
SR

Ritus, 18r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 176


lines 623-670); Mores, 7v (Toker, On Holy
Ground, 275 lines 283-285); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2.

Mores, 1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 268,


lines 30-32).
Mores, 1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 269 line
34ff. and transcribed by Tacconi, Cathedral
and Civic Ritual, 115).

242
Table B1 continued
in SG

Terce in SG (part of
ceremony listed
above)
present olive
branches and
celebrate Mass on
altar of the saint John
the Evangelist (part
of the ceremony
listed above)

Mores, 1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 269 line


35); Dameron, Florence and Its Church,
197.
Ritus, 34v-35r (Toker, On Holy Ground,
192, lines 1253-72); Mores, 1v (Toker, On
Holy Ground, 269 lines 36-38); Dameron,
Florence and Its Church, 197; Toker, On
Holy Ground, 49.

SG

"priori missa"

Holy Saturday

from SR to SG
ad fontem and
back to SR

procession

Mores, 1v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 269 line


54).
Ritus, 42r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 198
lines 1492-1498); Mores, 3r (Toker, On
Holy Ground, 270 lines 91-94); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2.

Easter Sunday

from SR to SG
ad fontem

procession with
Missa populi in SG

Ritus, 46v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 202


lines 1638-1646); Mores, 4r (Toker, On
Holy Ground, 271 lines 131-135); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2;
[see also Toker, 201 lines 1604 Terce in
SG].

Mass Monday
after Easter

SG then again
SR

Missa populi (then


procession to San
Pier Maggiore)

Mores, 4r-v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 271272 lines139-159); Tacconi, Cathedral and
Civic Ritual, 99.

2nd, 3rd, 4th


feria after Easter

from SG to
SR; SG to S
Paul; SG to S
Lorenzo
from SR to SG

procession with mass


celebrated in both
churches (Missa
populi in SG)
procession

Mores,4r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 271 lines


139-142); Dameron, Florence and Its
Church, 197.

from SR to
SG, ad
S.Mariam
Maiorem
(Santa Maria
Maggiore), ad
S. Petrum
Maiorem (San
Pier Maggiore)
from SR to SG

procession: sing
litanies at ea church;
in procession sing
antiphons, verses and
responses appropriate
to titular sts of
church proceeding
toward (no Masses
celebrated during).
procession with mass
celebrated in both
churches (Missa
populi in SR and
Missa maior in SG)
baptisms then
procession to SR

Ritus, 52r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 207 line


1838ff.); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 101 Table 3.2 and transcribed on
page 111.

from SG to SR

Easter:
Holy Thursday

1st Sunday after


Easter (Octave)
Rogation days
(day 1)

Ascension

Vigil of
Pentecost

SG to SR

Ritus, 49r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 204 line


1725ff. and translated on page 48); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2.

Ritus, 53v (Toker, On Holy Ground, 209 line


1892ff.); Mores, 5r (Toker, On Holy
Ground, 272 line 176ff.); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2.
Ritus, 55r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 210 line
1937ff.); Mores, 5r (Toker, On Holy
Ground, 273 line 182ff.).

243
Table B1 continued
Pentecost

from SG to SR

procession after
Terce

Ritus, 56r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 211


lines 1979-1984); Mores, 5r (Toker, On
Holy Ground, 273 line 189ff.); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101 Table 3.2.

Corpus Domini/
Christi

from SMdF
through SG

procession

18th c. print; not in Ritus, Mores, or Missal


E107 proprium de tempore; E106, 166r.

Proprium
Sanctorum:
St. Andrew the
Apostle (Andrea)
(30 Nov)

from SG to
Sant' Andrea
in Foro Veteri

Missa populi in SG,


then procession then
recite Office and
celebrate Mass

Dameron, Florence and Its Church ,198;


Ritus 68v; Mores, 5v (Toker, On Holy
Ground, 273 line 206).

Ritus, 74r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 227


lines 2593 ff. ); Mores, 8r (Toker, On Holy
Ground, 276 lines 307-313); E107, 347v;
MRM, 315; Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 101, Table 3.2; Dameron, Florence
and Its Church ,199.
Mores, 9r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 277 line
348ff); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic Ritual,
101, Table 3.2.

Immaculate
Conception (8
Dec)
Purfication of
Virgin (2 Feb)

unknown
from SR to SG

procession into SG

SS. Philip and


James (1 May)

from SR to SG

(Vigil Vespers and


Matins in SG) Missa
populi in SG;
procession from SR
into SG for Missa
maior, then display
relic to public
Missa
populi/Mass/Missa
maior

SG/altar of St.
Mark in
SR/SG

Ritus, 80r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 234


lines 2821ff); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 106; Toker, On Holy Ground, 48.

St. Zenobius (25


May)

from SG to SR

At Terce everyone
(clergy and public)
gather in SG, sing
Terce then,
procession (with
Bishop) from SG to
SR

Ritus, 83r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 236


lines 2925-2931) ; Mores, 10r (Toker On
Holy Ground, 278 lines 278-290); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101, Table 3.2;
Toker, 2009, 46.

Vigil of St. John


the Baptist

from SR to SG

procession after
Terce and Mass in
SG
procession of the
gonfalone

Ritus, 85r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 238-239


lines 2989 ff.).

from the city


into SG
St. John the
Baptist (24 June)

from SR to in
SG

procession after
Terce and Mass in
SG

Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 86; Guasti, Le Feste


di S. Giovanni, 12; Richa, Notizie Istoriche,
4:LV; Trexler, Public Life, 251-256.
Ritus, 85r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 238-239
lines 2995 ff.); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual, 101, Table 3.2.

244

Table B1 continued
from SR to SG

from Piazza
della Signoria
into SG

Assumption of
the Virgin (15
Aug)
Nativity of the
Virgin (8 Sept)
Beheading of St.
John the Baptist
(29 Aug)

recite office, singing


two masses, canons
celebrated another
Mass at altar of St.
Matthew, then
procession to SG for
Missa maior
procession of the
standards

SR

no procession

SG

morning Mass

from SR to SG
(to altar of St.
Matthew)

procession/ Vespers
and Matins in SG

Mores, 10r (Toker, On Holy Ground, lines


397-406); Tacconi, Cathedral and Civic
Ritual , 101 Table 3.2; Dameron, Florence
and Its Church, 198.

Dati, Istoria di Firenze, 86-88;Guasti, Le


Feste di S. Giovanni, 13-15; Richa, Notizie
Istoriche, 4:LV-LVII; Trexler, Public Life,
256-261.

Ritus, 92r-92v (Toker, On Holy Ground,


245).

Ritus, 92r (Toker, On Holy Ground, 245


lines 3245-3249); Mores, 11r (Toker, On
Holy Ground, 279 lines 428-432); Tacconi,
Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101, Table 3.2.
*This is not meant as a comprehensive list of all processions that involved the church of San Giovanni. See
Tacconi's Table 3.2 (Cathedral and Civic Ritual, 101) for a record of all processions recorded in Ritus and
Mores.

245

Table B2: Prescribed Mass Readings in the proprium de tempore


Feast/Holiday

MRM
(pg)

Epistle / Gospel

Edili
106 (pg)

Edili 107
(pg)

Season of Advent

***

First Sunday of Advent


(Dominica prima de Adventu)

Romans 13:11-14 / Luke 21: 25-33

8r

7r

Second Sunday of Advent

8v

8v

Third Sunday of Advent

Romans 15:4-13 / Matthew 11:210


Philippians 4:4-7 / John 1:19-28

9v

9v

Ember Wednesday (Feria Quarta


Quatuor Temporum)

Isa. 2:2-5 / Isa. 7:10-15 / Luke


1:26-38

10r

11r

Ember Friday (Feria Sexta


Quatuor Temporum)

Isa. 11:1-5 / Luke 1:39-47

11v

13r

Ember Saturday (Sabbato


Quatuor Temporum)

Isa. 19:20-22 / Isa. 35:1-7 / Isa.


40:9-11 / Isa. 45:1-8 / Dan. 3:49,
50, 47, 48, 51 / Hymn / 2 Thess.
2:1-8 / Luke 3:1-6

12r

14r

Fourth Sunday of Advent

13

1 Cor. 4:1-5 /

14v

17v

Season of Christmas

***

Christmas Eve (Vigil Nativitas


Domini)

14

Romans 1:1-6 / Matthew 1:18-21

15r

18v

Christmas Day: first Mass


(Nativitas Domini)

16

Titus 2:11-15 / Luke 2:1-14

15v

19v

Christmas Day: second Mass

17

Titus 3:4-7 / Luke 2:15-20

16v

21r

Christmas Day: major Mass


(Missa Maiorem)

19

Hebrews 1:1-12 / John 1:1-14

17r

22r

S Stephani Prothomartiris

21

Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59 / Matt. 23:3439

18r

24r

Octave S Stephani

22

19r

25v

S John Evangeliste

23

19r

25v

Holy Innocents (Festo Sanctorum


Innocentum)

24

Ecclus. (Sirach) 15:1-6 / John


21:19-24
Apoc. (Rev.) 14:1-5 / Matt. 2:1318

19v

27r

S Thome

26

Hebrews 5:1-6 (E106 also John)

20v

28v

Sunday in the Octave of


Christmas (Dominica infra
Octavam Nativitas Domini)

27

Galatians 4:1-7 / Luke 2:33-40

21v

29v

S Silvestri

28

(E106 Timothy / Luke)

22r

30v

Season of Epiphany

***

Octave of Christmas /
Commemoration of the
Circumcision of Jesus

29

Luke 2:21 /Titus 2:11-15

23r

31v

Vigil of Epiphany (Vigilia


Epiphanie)

30

Matthew 2:19-23

23v

32r

Epiphany

31

Isaiah 60:1-6 / Matthew 2:1-12

23v

32v

246
Table B2 continued
Sunday in the Octave of Epiphany

32

Romans 12:1-5 / Luke 2:42-52

24v

34v

Octave of Epiphany /Comm. of


Baptism of Christ

34

John 1:29-34

25v

36r

Second Suday after Epiphany

35

Romans 12:6-16 / John 2:1-11

26r

37r

Third Sunday after Epiphany

37

27r

38v

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

38

27r

39v

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

39

Romans 12:16-21 / Matthew 8:113


Romans 13:8-10 / Matthew 8:2327
Col. 3:12-17 / Matthew 13:24-30

28r

40v

Septuagesima

***

Septuagesima Sunday

40

1 Cor. 9:24-10:4 / Matt. 20:1-16

28v

41v

Sexagesima Sunday

42

2 Cor. 11:19-12:9 / Luke 8:4-15

29v

43v

Quinquagesima Sunday

45

1 Cor 13:1-13 / Luke 18:31-43

31r

46r

Lent (Quadragesima)

***

Ash Wednesday (Feria quarta


Cinerum)

46

Joel 2:12-19 / Matt. 6:16-21

33r

48r

Feria quinta (Thursday)

50

34r

51v

Feria sexta (Friday)

52

Isaiah 38:1-6 / Matt. 8:5-13 (E106


Ezek. Not Isaiah)
Isaiah 58:1-9 / Matt. 5:43-6:4

35r

53r

Sabbato (Saturday)

54

Isaiah 58:9-14 / Mark 6:47-56

36r

55r

First Sunday of Lent


(Quadragesima)

55

2 Cor. 6:1-10 / Matt. 4:1-11

37r

56v

Feria secunda (Monday)

57

Ezek. 34:11-16 / Matt. 25:31-46

38r

59r

Feria tertia (Tuesday)

59

Isaiah 55:6-11 / Matt. 21:10-17

39r

60v

Ember Wednesday (Feria quarta


quatuor temporum)

61

Exod. 24:12-18 / 3 Kings (1


Kings) 19:3-8 / Matt. 12:38-50

39v

62r

Feria quinta (Thursday)

63

Ezek. 18:1-9 / Matt. 15:21-28

41r

64v

Ember Friday

65

Ezek. 18:2-28 / John 5:1-15

42r

66r

Ember Saturday

67

Deut. 26:15-19 / Deut. 11:22-25 /


2 Maccabees. 1:23 / Ecclus.
(Sirach) 36:1-10 / Dan. / 1 Thess.
5:14-23 / Matt. 17:1-9

43r

68r

Second Sunday in Lent

70

1 Thess. 4:1-7

45r

71v

Feria secunda (Monday after the


2nd Sunday in Lent)

72

Dan. 9:15-19 / John 8:21-29

46r

72v

Feria tertia

74

46v

74r

Feria quarta

75

47v

75v

Feria quinta

77

3 Kings (1 Kings) 17:8-16 / Matt.


23:1-12
Esther 13:9-11, 15-17 / Matt.
20:17-28
Jeremiah 17:5-10 / Luke 16:19-31

48v

77r

Feria sexta

78

Genesis 37:6-22 / Matt. 21:33-46

49v

79r

Sabbato

81

Genesis 27:6-39 / Luke 15:11-32

50v

81v

Third Sunday in Lent

84

Eph. 5:1-9 / Luke 11:14-28

52v

85v

247
Table B2 continued
Feria secunda

86

53v

87r

55r

89v

89

4 Kings (2 Kings) 5:1-15 / Luke


4:23-30
4 Kings (2 Kings) 4:1-7 / Matt.
18:15-22
Exod. 20:12-24 / Matt. 15:1-20

Feria tertia

88

Feria quarta

55v

91r

Feria quinta

91

Jer. 7:1-7 / Luke 4:38-44

56v

93r

Feria sexta

93

57v

94v

Sabbato

96

Numbers 20:2-3, 6-13 / John 4:542


Daniel 8:1-62 / John 8:1-11

59r

98r

Fourth Sunday in Lent

99

Galatians 4:22-31 / John 6:1-14

61v

102r

Feria secunda

101

62r

104r

Feria tertia

103

3 Kings (1 Kings) 3:16-28 / John


2:13-25
Exodus 32:7-14 / John 6:14-31

63r

106v

Feria quarta

105

64v

108v

Feria quinta

108

66v

112r

Feria sexta

110

67v

114r

Sabbato

113

69r

117v

Passion Sunday (Dominica de


Passione)

114

Ezek. 36:23-28 / Isa. 1:16-19 /


John 9:1-38
4 Kings (2 Kings) 4:25-38 / Luke
7:11-16
3 Kings (1 Kings) 17:17-24 / John
11:1-45
Isaiah 49:8-15 / John 8:12-20
(E106 Kings not Isaiah)
Hebrews 9:11-15 / John 8: 46-59

70r

119r

Feria secunda

116

Jonah 3:1-10 / John 7: 32-39

71r

121r

Feria tertia

118

Daniel 14:28-42 / John 7:1-13

72r

122v

Feria quarta

120

Lev. 19:1,2,11-19 / John 10:22-38

73r

125r

Feria quinta

122

Daniel 3:34-45 / Luke 7:36-50

74r

126v

Feria sexta

124

Jeremiah 17:13-18 / John 11:47-54

75r

129r

Sabbato

126

Jeremiah 18:18-23 / John 12:10-36

76r

130v

Palm Sunday Blessing of the


Palms (Benedicto Palmarum)

127

Exod. 15:27-16:7 / Matt. 21:1-9

77r

133r

Palm Sunday Mass (Ad missam)

134

Phil. 2:5-11 / Matt. 26:1-27:1-61/


Matt. 27:62-66

81r

141r

Feria secunda (Holy Week)

142

Isaiah 50:5-10 / John 12:1-9

86r

150v

Feria tertia

143

87r

152r

Feria quarta

149

Jeremiah 11:18-20 / Mark 14:115:46


Isa. 62:11-63:1-6 / Isa. 53:1-10, 12
/ Luke 22:1-23:49 / Luke 23:50-53

90v

159v

Holy Thursday (Feria quinta in


Cena Domini)

156

1 Cor. 11:20-32 / John 13:1-15

95v

168v

Good Friday (Feria sexta in


Parasceve)

161

Hosea 6:1-6 / Exodus 12:1-11 /


John 18:-19:37 / John 19:38-42

98r

173r

248

Table B2 continued
Holy Saturday (Sabbato Sancto)

174

Gen. 1-2:2 / Gen. 5:31; 6:1-7, 1322; 7:6, 11-14, 18-24; 8: 1-3, 6-12,
15-21 / Gen. 22:1-19 / Exod.
14:24-15:1 / Isa. 54:17-55:1-11 /
Bar. 3:9-38 /Ezek. 37:1-14 / Isa.
4:1-6 / Exod. 12:1-11 / Jonah 3:110 / Deut. 31:22-30 / Dan. 3:1-24;
THEN Mass readings Col. 3:1-4 /
Matt. 28:1-7

106r

189v

contains rubrics, musical notation,


Ordo Misse, Ordinarium Misse,
and Canon Misse

196-211

Easter Sunday (Dominica


Resurrectionis Domini)

212

1 Cor. 5:7-8 / Mark 16:-17

144r

241r

Feria secunda

213

Acts 10:37-43 / Luke 24:13-35

144v

242v

Feria tertia

215

Acts 13:16, 26-33 / Luke 24:36-47

146r

245r

Feria quarta

217

Acts 3:12-19 / John 21:1-14

147r

246v

Feria quinta

219

Acts 8:26-40 / John 20:11-18

147v

248v

Feria sexta

220

1 Peter 3:18-20 / Matt. 28:16-20

148v

250v

Sabbato in Albis

222

1 Peter 2:1-10 / John 20:1-9

149r

252r

Sunday in Octave of Easter


(Dominica in Octava Pasce)

223

1 John 5:4-10 / John 20:19-31

150r

254r

Second Sunday after Easter

225

1 Peter 2:21-25 / John 10:11-16

150v

255v

Third Sunday after Easter

226

1 Peter 2:11-19 / John 16:16-22

151v

257r

Fourth Sunday after Easter

227

James 1:17-21 / John 16:5-14

152v

258v

Fifth Sunday after Easter

229

James 1:22-27 / John 16:23-30

153r

260r

Major Litanies

231

James 5:16-20 / Luke 11:5-13

154r

261v

Vigil of the Ascension

232

John 17:1-11 (E106 also Eph.

154v

263r

Ascension

233

Acts 1:1-11 / Mark 16:14-20

155r

264r

Sunday in the Octave of the


Ascension

235

1 Peter 4:7-11 / John 15:26-16:4

156r

266r

Vigil of the Pentecost

236

Acts 19:1-8 / John 14:15-21

156v

267r

Pentecost

239

158v

271r

Feria secunda

242

Gen. 22:1-9 / Exod. 14:24-15:1 /


Deut. 31:22-30 / Isa. 4:1-6 / Bar.
3:9-38 / Ezek. 37:1-14; THEN
Mass readings Acts 2:1-11 / John
14:23-31
Acts 10:40-45 / John 3:16-21

159v

273r

Feria tertia

243

Acts 8:14-27 / John 10:1-10

160v

275r

Ember Wednesday

245

161r

276r

Feria quinta

247

Acts 2:4-21 / Acts 5:12-16 / John


6:44-52
Acts 8:5-9 / Luke 9:1-6

162r

278r

Ember Friday

247

Joel 2:23,24,26,27 / Luke 5:17-26

163v

279r

211v235r

249

Table B2 continued
Ember Saturday

249

Joel 2:28 ('prophetia prima'


labeled) / Lev. 23:9-11, 15-17, 20,
21 (pphia 2) / Deut. 26:1-3, 7-11
(pphia 3) / Lev. 26:3-12 (pphia 4) /
Dan. 3:49 (pphia 5) /Rom. 5:1-5 /
Luke 4:38-44

163r

280v

First Sunday after Pentecost

254

1 John 4: 8-21 / Luke 6:36-42

167r

284r

Second Sunday after Pentecost

259

1 John 3:13-18 / Luke 14: 16-24

168r

286r

Third Sunday

260

1 Peter 5:6-11 / Luke 15:1-10

168v

287v

Fourth Sunday

262

Romans 8:18-23 / Luke 5:1-11

169v

289r

Fifth Sunday

263

1 Peter 3:8-15 / Matthew 5:20-24

170v

291r

Sixth Sunday

264

Romans 6:3-11 / Mark 8:1-9

171r

292v

Seventh Sunday

266

172r

294r

Eighth Sunday

267

Romans 6:19-23 / Matthew 7:1521


Romans 8:12-17/ Luke 16:1-9

172v

295v

Ninth Sunday

269

173v

297r

Tenth Sunday

270

174r

298v

Eleventh Sunday

272

175r

300r

Twelfth Sunday

273

175v

302r

Thirteenth Sunday

275

1 Corinthians 10:6-13 / Luke


19:41-47
1Corinthians 12:2-11 / Luke 18:914
1Corinthians 15:1-10 / Mark 7:3137
2 Corinthians 3:4-7 / Luke 10:2337
Galatians 3:16-22 / Luke 17:11-19

176v

304r

Fourteenth Sunday

276

177v

305v

Fifteenth Sunday

278

178r

307v

Sixteenth Sunday

279

Galatians 5:16-24 / Matthew 6:2433


Galatians 5:25, 6:1-10/ Luke 7:1116
Ephesians 3:13-21/ Luke 14:1-11

179r

308v

Seventeenth Sunday

280

Ephesians 4:1-6 / Matthew 22:3546

180r

310v

Trinity Sunday

252

165v

Corpus Christi

256

166r

Ember Wednesday (Feria quarta


quatuor temporum Septembris)

282

Amos 9:13-15 / 2 Esdra 8:1-10 /


Mark 9:16-28

180v

311v

Ember Friday

284

Hosea 14:2-10 / Luke 7:36-50

181v

314v

Ember Saturday

285

Lev. 23:27-31 (pphia prima) / Lev.


23:39-43 (pphia 2) / Micah 7:14,
16,18,20 (pphia3) / Zech. 8:1, 1419 (pphia 4) / Dan. 3:42 (pphia 5) /
Heb. 9:2-12 / Luke 13:6-17

182v

315v

Eighteenth Sunday

289

1 Cor. 1:4-8 / Matt. 9:1-8

185r

320v

Nineteenth Sunday

291

Eph. 4:23-28 / Matt. 22:2-14

185v

322r

Twentieth Sunday

292

Eph. 5:15-21 / John 4:46-53

186v

324r

Twenty-first Sunday

294

Eph. 6:10-17 / Matt. 18:23-35

187r

325r

250
Table B2 continued
Twenty-second Sunday

295

Phil. 1:6-11 / Matt. 22:15-21

188r

327r

Twenty-third Sunday

297

Phil. 3:17-4:3 / Matt. 9:18-26

188v

328v

Twenty-fourth Sunday

298

Col. 1:9-14 / Matt. 24:15-35

189r

330r

Incipit Offitium Proprium


Sanctorum

331

190v

332r

251

Table B3: Prescribed Mass Readings in the proprium sanctorum


MRM
pg
300
300

E106
pg
190v
191r

E107
pg
332r
334r

Immaculate Conception (8 Dec)


Purification-- ritual for Blessing of Candle
(2 Feb)
Purification of B. Virgin Mary--Mass
St. Agatha
Annunciation to St. Mary (25 Mar)
St. Mark (25 Apr)
SS Philipp and Jacob (1 May)
Invention of the True Cross (3 May)
St. Zenobius (25 May)
Vigil St. John Baptist
Nativity of St. John Baptist (24 June)

NOT
313

NOT
196v

NOT
344v

313
318
324
326
328
329
NOT
340
340

198r
198v
202r
203v
204r
204v
206v
209v
210v

348r
349v
356r
359v
360v
362r
367r
374r
376r

SS Peter and Paul


Visitation of Mary and Elisabeth
St. Mary Magdalene (22 July)
St. Lawrence(10 Aug)
Vigil Assumption B. V. M.

347
NOT
354
364
367

213r
214v
218v
224v
225v

381r
NOT
389r
397v
399r

Assumption B.Virgin Mary (15 Aug)

368

226v

400v

Decapitation of St. John Baptist (29 Aug)


Nativity of B. V.M. (8 Sept)

374
377

229r
229v

405v
408r

Exalation of Holy Cross

380

232r

410v

Vigil St. Matthew


St. Matthew (21 Sept)
St. Reparata (8 Oct)
All Saints (1 Nov)

383
384
NOT
395

233v
234r
NOT
238v

413r
414r
417v
423v

Feast/Holiday
Vigil St. Andrea (29 Nov)
St. Andrea (30 Nov)

Lessons
John 1:35-51
Romans 10:10-18 / Matthew
4:18-22
?

Malachi 3:1-4 / Luke 2:22-32


Isaiah 2:2-5 / Luke 1:26-38
John 14:1-13
Philippians 2:5-11 / John 3:1-15
John
Jeremiah 1:4-10 / Luke 1:5-17
Isaiah 49: 1-3, 5-7 / Luke 1:5768
Acts 12:1-11/ Matt. 16:13-19
Le libri sapiente / Luke
Luke
II Cor 9: 6-10 (E106 also John)
Ecclus. 24:23-31 / Luke 11:
27,28
Ecclus. 24:11-13, 15-20 / Luke
10:38-42
Mark 6:17-29
Proverbs 8:22-35 (not E 107) /
Matt. 1:1-16
Phillipians 2:8-11 / John 12:3136
Luke 5:27-32
Matthew 9:9-13
Apoc. 7:2-12 / (E106 also
Matthew)

Beginning of Commune Sanctorum


403
242r
430r
* This list is not comprehensive, but only lists a select few feasts from the above Missals.

252

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Black, Christopher F. Italian Confraternities in the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge:
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Bloch, Amy R. Baptism and the frame of the south door of the Baptistery, Florence,
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________. Baptism, Movement, and Imagery at the Baptistery of San Giovanni in
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________. The Sculpture of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Ritual Performance in
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Borsook, Eve. The Companion Guide to Florence. Woodbridge: Companion Guides,
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________. Sorge la piazza del duomo uniti in un solo volere. In Ghiberti e la sua arte
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Citt di Vita, 1979.
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