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St. John the Baptist (Ghiberti)
Encyclopedia
St. John the Baptist is a bronze statue by Lorenzo Ghiberti
located in one of the 14 niches of the Orsanmichele
in Florence
, Italy
. The statue of the Saint was commissioned by the cloth merchant's guild, the Arte di Calimala
. The artist's use of the unnaturalistic but elegant curves in the hair and drapery of the saint show the influence of the International Gothic
style prevalent in Italy at the time the work was created. The work was successfully cast in a single piece, making it the first bronze statue of its size to be cast in a single piece for at least several hundred years in Italy.
in 1402 and completing the commission, Ghiberti was commissioned with three sculptures to fill exterior niches at Orsanmichele. The first of these was St. John the Baptist (1412-1416), followed by St. Matthew (1419-1420) and St. Stephen (1428). The sculpture of St. John was the only one commissioned by Arte di Calimala, the merchant guild
. The power and influence associated with this guild dictated, at least to some degree, the form which the final work would take. More specifically, in 1406, the Florence City Council passed a decree granting major guilds the power to use bronze, a far more costly material than the traditional stone, for their commissioned projects. After the execution of the bronze Baptistery doors, the construction of which was also overseen by the Calimala guild, the guild was eager to fund another equally impressive project.
The completion of this project set off a wave of demand for bronze statuary. This benefited Ghiberti immensely, as both of his later sculptures were commissioned in bronze.
and clay
model. The exceptional detail of the goatskin cloak, the beard and the hair accompany of series of optical corrections. The pronounced cheekbones, the forehead that recedes sharply at the temples, and the slightly furrowed brow that overhangs the deeply inset eyes are examples of this practice that allowed sculptors to construct sited works that would generally be seen from below, rather than from straight ahead.
, presented Ghiberti with the challenge of making a work that both befitted its site and meshed in with the other works at the site.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...
located in one of the 14 niches of the Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele is a church in the Italian city of Florence...
in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The statue of the Saint was commissioned by the cloth merchant's guild, the Arte di Calimala
Arte di Calimala
The Arte di Calimala, the guild of the cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, was one of the greater guilds of Florence, the Arti Maggiori, who arrogated to themselves the civic power of the Republic of Florence during the Late Middle Ages...
. The artist's use of the unnaturalistic but elegant curves in the hair and drapery of the saint show the influence of the International Gothic
International Gothic
International Gothic is a phase of Gothic art which developed in Burgundy, Bohemia, France and northern Italy in the late 14th century and early 15th century...
style prevalent in Italy at the time the work was created. The work was successfully cast in a single piece, making it the first bronze statue of its size to be cast in a single piece for at least several hundred years in Italy.
Background
After winning the competition for the doors of the BaptisteryBaptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
in 1402 and completing the commission, Ghiberti was commissioned with three sculptures to fill exterior niches at Orsanmichele. The first of these was St. John the Baptist (1412-1416), followed by St. Matthew (1419-1420) and St. Stephen (1428). The sculpture of St. John was the only one commissioned by Arte di Calimala, the merchant guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
. The power and influence associated with this guild dictated, at least to some degree, the form which the final work would take. More specifically, in 1406, the Florence City Council passed a decree granting major guilds the power to use bronze, a far more costly material than the traditional stone, for their commissioned projects. After the execution of the bronze Baptistery doors, the construction of which was also overseen by the Calimala guild, the guild was eager to fund another equally impressive project.
The completion of this project set off a wave of demand for bronze statuary. This benefited Ghiberti immensely, as both of his later sculptures were commissioned in bronze.
The statue
Ghiberti's St. John was the largest statue ever cast in Florence up to that point. From its base, it rises 2.55 meters, and falls under the quintessential Gothic arch style. The hollow cast, the thinness of the bronze, and a comparison with his later St. Matthew all indicate that this sculpture was cast in one piece from a waxWax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
model. The exceptional detail of the goatskin cloak, the beard and the hair accompany of series of optical corrections. The pronounced cheekbones, the forehead that recedes sharply at the temples, and the slightly furrowed brow that overhangs the deeply inset eyes are examples of this practice that allowed sculptors to construct sited works that would generally be seen from below, rather than from straight ahead.
Legacy
One of Ghiberti's greatest challenges, and ultimately one of his greatest triumphs, with the St. John was the need to cast as large and as masterful a sculpture in bronze as was routinely produced in stone. Though he had used bronze before (such as on the Baptistery doors), all of his previous work had been on a much smaller scale, and more the work of a craftsman. The constraints on the size of bronze sculpture, teamed with the non-monumental customs of the International StyleInternational style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
, presented Ghiberti with the challenge of making a work that both befitted its site and meshed in with the other works at the site.