Ghiberti Doors

When I saw the Ghiberti Doors of Grace Cathedral for the first time, I was immediately struck by its magnificent size, as well as the intricacy of each of the panels. The stories are lifted from the texts of the Old and New Testaments, and are emblazoned in fine detail on each panel. Here, they tell the narratives of a people of faith. And since the doors at Grace Cathedral are replicas made from the molds of the originals, I can't help but think about our faith stories as being "replicas" of the many other narratives that have been lived and told then retold. There is a fine tension between original and replica, and oftentimes, it is this repetition -- this re-creation -- that gives meaning and significance to our lives. The Doors remind us of the community of which we are part, and they show us through art that we with shared faith stories, which make us one people of many different faiths. Each individual panel tells multiple stories drawn and carved as "merged" narratives. And then each door is built of panel upon panel of stories told in no particular order but juxtaposed next to one another. How wonderful that when we first approach the Cathedral, the Doors remind us of the stories that form our faith histories.




The Doors of Paradise are considered by many to be the first and greatest masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. The magnum opus of Florentine sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), the doors were made for the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral (the Duomo) and told the story of the Old and New Testaments. Grace Cathedral's doors were made from the same molds - which were later destroyed - that were used for the originals. -Excerpted from Grace Cathedral Visitor Guide