DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51584#0091
LORENZO GHIBERTI.
87
was obliged to give his vote in public, and to state
at the same time the reasons by which his vote was
justified. The names of the seven competitors, as
given by Vasari, were—Jacopo della Quercia, of
Siena; Nicolo d’Arezzo, his pupil; Simon da Colle,
celebrated already for his fine workmanship in
bronze, from which he was surnamed Simon dei
Bronzi; Francesco di Valdambrina; Filippo Bru-
nelleschi ; Donato, better known as Donatello;
and Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Lorenzo was at this time about twenty-three ; he
was the son of a Florentine named Cione, and of a
family which had attained to some distinction in
Florence. The mother of Lorenzo, left a widow
at an early age, married a worthy man named Bar-
toluccio, known for his skill as a goldsmith. The
goldsmiths of those days were not merely artisans,
but artists in the high sense of the word; they
generally wrought their own designs, consisting of
figures and subjects from sacred or classical story,
exquisitely chased in relief, or engraved or ena-
melled on the shrines or chalices used in the church
service; or vases, dishes, sword-hilts, and other
implements.
The arts of drawing and modelling, then essential
to a goldsmith, as well as practical skill in chisel-
ling, and founding and casting metals, were taught
to the young Lorenzo by his father-in-law ; and his
progress was so rapid, that at the age of nineteen
87
was obliged to give his vote in public, and to state
at the same time the reasons by which his vote was
justified. The names of the seven competitors, as
given by Vasari, were—Jacopo della Quercia, of
Siena; Nicolo d’Arezzo, his pupil; Simon da Colle,
celebrated already for his fine workmanship in
bronze, from which he was surnamed Simon dei
Bronzi; Francesco di Valdambrina; Filippo Bru-
nelleschi ; Donato, better known as Donatello;
and Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Lorenzo was at this time about twenty-three ; he
was the son of a Florentine named Cione, and of a
family which had attained to some distinction in
Florence. The mother of Lorenzo, left a widow
at an early age, married a worthy man named Bar-
toluccio, known for his skill as a goldsmith. The
goldsmiths of those days were not merely artisans,
but artists in the high sense of the word; they
generally wrought their own designs, consisting of
figures and subjects from sacred or classical story,
exquisitely chased in relief, or engraved or ena-
melled on the shrines or chalices used in the church
service; or vases, dishes, sword-hilts, and other
implements.
The arts of drawing and modelling, then essential
to a goldsmith, as well as practical skill in chisel-
ling, and founding and casting metals, were taught
to the young Lorenzo by his father-in-law ; and his
progress was so rapid, that at the age of nineteen