HISTORY | ART
A Rivalry That Led To Renaissance
A personal view on one of history’s greatest feuds
Under no circumstances the following text is 100% historically accurate. But as we all know, very few things are. Enjoy the journey.
Long before Prost versus Senna, or Mozart and Salieri, there was a competition that led to one of the greatest periods in art history.
As a result of this rivalry, we have a description of linear perspective, Florence obtained its main attraction, and Italy is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the most exquisite works of art.
The Renaissance was born out of this competition. The competitors were Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Surely, the statement above is an utterly incomplete and rather profound summary of what caused the 15th-century revolution in every art form. But History loves suspense, and that I shall indulge.
For this very reason, I turned my trip to Firenza into a scavenger hunt, pursuing an unusual yet intriguing goal: to ask locals how the Ghiberti-Brunelleschi feud shaped the face of the city and the minds of its inhabitants.
The Great Grudge
Seven people stood facing the jury, awaiting the results of what was quite an extraordinary design competition. It was the dawn of the roaring 1400s, and the city of Florence decided to finally freshen up the Florence Baptistery.
Someone suggested that newly crafted flamboyant bronze doors should be a great way to renovate and perpetuate the minor basilica.
“Alright, guys, we’ve seen all the designs. And we are now down to the two final contestants”.
Giovanni de’ Medici, who was (rather unsurprisingly) the head of the jury, probably said something very close. However far more elegant and in Italian.
Among the seven people, only two were really in competition. Both were trained goldsmiths.
One was a 21-year-old Lorenzo Ghiberti, with good experience in painting and sculpture.
The other was a short-tempered and passionate goldsmith and mathematician by the name of Filippo Brunelleschi.
When I came to Firenza and started asking around about those two, it was a street painter who emphasized the importance of their background. At first, I didn’t pay attention to this detail. But as I learned more about the quarreling couple, I found their background to be extremely relevant.
Ghiberti, thinking as a painter and sculptor, focused on composition and figures, creating them as one piece.
Brunelleschi, with his mathematical past and the mind of a future architect, prioritized filling the empty space with individual pieces.
Guess who won? Not that simple.
“We can’t make the final descision, so how about you two join forces? Sounds good?”
Yet again, something Giovanni de’ Medici could have said — not exactly in those words, but close enough.
Almost immediately, a heated argument arose between the finalists. Brunelleschi, being very impatient and slightly arrogant, claimed he was not ready to share control over the creative process. He proposed awarding the commission for the door to Ghiberti.
Ghiberti, who was about to propose the same thing, gladly accepted. After all, history doesn’t care about runners-up. Only winners matter, right?
Not in this case.
Ghiberti, as they would say now, played it safe. His work was still very much tied to late Gothic art, whereas his rival created something entirely new, drawing inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman art.
It appears to me that the outcome of the design contest divided Florence just like a football derby divides Spain every time Real Madrid plays against Barcelona. This inaccurate and completely fictional comparison, nevertheless, made a local museum worker laugh, which can be considered a light form of legitimization.
I don’t suppose Brunelleschi ever forgot this competition, nor had he forgiven Ghiberti, or even considered him a rival. This grudge he nurtured inside allowed him to channel his anger toward developing a new approach to architecture.
The Outcome
It took Ghiberti 21 years to finish the doors of the Florence Baptistery. There’s little doubt that it was his greatest work and still is one of the most significant examples of early Renaissance sculpture.
Michelangelo later referred to the doors as the “Gates of Paradise,” and a tourist next to me rapturously called them “Mamma mia, and all that!” Those two equally relevant descriptions from unequally skilled personalities only prove the fact that Ghiberti did a great work.
Lorenzo Ghiberti went on to have a wealthy life, spreading and popularizing humanist ideas, and leaving behind a significant legacy.
Every time I stopped to study his works, I couldn’t help but notice a thorough approach to composition and a slight influence of Gothic taste, primarily in lines and drapery.
Filippo Brunelleschi had a different path. Passionate about new ideas and inspired by ancient art, he went on to become one of the most influential architects of Florence.
“Look for the capitals and columns, the top,” I was told by the locals. “Can you see the reference? Antiquity.”
He also worked on linear perspective and is often credited as the first person to describe its system.
Mistakenly, he is also credited for inventing linear perspective. This is hardly true, as perspective is not something to be invented, rather than explained. Otherwise, up until the year 1420, the world would have been extremely flat and lacking depth.
His title, combined with great math skills, allowed Brunelleschi to secure probably the most significant commission of his lifetime — the famous Santa Maria del Fiore, or, to be more accurate, its dome.
At one point, he fell into disfavor and was even briefly imprisoned in 1434. Some historians say it was Ghiberti who initiated the prosecution.
Old wounds heal slowly.
Nevertheless, Brunelleschi still remains the most influential figure of the early Renaissance period in architecture. According to a brief survey among locals, he wins over Ghiberti ten to one.
I ended up my three-day trip to Firenza with a stomach full of prosciutto and wine and a heart full of inspiration. How a single feud can ignite such drastic changes? That is a question I don’t have a clear answer to. Perhaps competition stimulates innovation. And perhaps innovation is a ground for competition. I know one thing — The Renaissance started with a rivalry.
Thank you for reading! Check out more of my art explorations. Love!
