The Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/

The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance Masterpiece
- a Symposium

November 16, 2007

Scholars gather to explore various aspects of an extraordinary loan of
three narrative reliefs and four figural sections from surrounding frames
originally made for the Baptistery in Florence by Ghiberti prior to their
permanent installation in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. This single-day
event celebrates the completion of a 25-year conservation project of this
seminal monument of the Italian Renaissance.

Morning Session, 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Free with Museum admission

Welcome
Ian Wardropper, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Chairman, Department of European
Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Opening Remarks: The Gates and the Opificio
Cristina Acidini, Superintendent, Polo Museale Fiorentino, and
Superintendent, Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

Introduction of Speakers
James David Draper, Henry R. Kravis Curator, Department of European
Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Master Collaborator
Gary M. Radke, Dean's Professor of the Humanities, Syracuse University,
and Consulting Curator of Italian Art, High Museum of Art

Documenting the Gates
Rolf Bagemihl, Lecturer and Academic Director, Arcadia Programs, Accademia
Italiana, Florence and Rome

Ghiberti and Painting
Keith Christiansen, Jayne Wrightsman Curator, Department of European
Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ghiberti, Perspective, and Vision
Amy R. Bloch, Assistant Professor, Department of Art, University at
Albany, State University of New York

------------

Afternoon Session, 2:00 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Free with Museum admission

Conservation of the Porta del Paradiso: Experiences and Advancement in
Knowledge
Annamaria Giusti, Chief Curator, Department of Bronze Sculpture
Conservation, Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

The Gates of Paradise: Some Further Thoughts on How Ghiberti Planned and
Executed the Reliefs
Richard E. Stone, Senior Museum Conservator, Department of Objects
Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ghiberti's Workshop and the Art of Chasing: A Technical Investigation
Edilberto Formigli, Professor, History of Ancient Technology, University
of Siena, and Director, Antiche Tecniche Artigianali, Murlo

After the Gates of Paradise: A Ghiberti Coda at the Florence Baptistery
A. Victor Coonin, Associate Professor and Chair, Art Department, Rhodes
College

Summation and Closing Remarks
Andrew Butterfield, President, Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts, LLC

--
Free with Museum admission; reservations and tickets not required.

For more information, please call (212) 396-5460,
or contact lecturesmetmuseum.org.

The exhibition is made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Richardson.

Additional support is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the
Oceanic Heritage Foundation.

The exhibition was organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, in
collaboration with the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore and the Opificio
delle Pietre Dure, Florence.

It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and
the Humanities and by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This symposium is made possible by The Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation,
Inc.

Additional support is provided by the Italian Cultural Institute of New York.

--