Baptistry of St John - East Portal

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East Portal Description

(Local Name: Porta del Paradiso) Ghiberti adopted an entirely new approach when he came to design his greatest work, the east portal. Michelangelo considered it worthy to serve as the Gate of Paradise - hence "Porta del Paradiso" - and Ghiberti himself sang its praises by adding "mira arte fabricatum" (made with admirable art) on the right-hand door next to his signature. In 1990 the original door was replaced by a replica and can now be admired in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

Nowhere else has a sculptor expressed himself in bronze as perfectly as in this door, created between 1425 and 1452. The ten separate panels contain reliefs of scriptural subjects. The framing incorporates figures of prophets and

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