English
There are moments where we all feel like we are in hell and in these moments we wish to escape to paradise. In terms of religion, however, this is not that easy when we think about the idea of paradise as border to the divine gardens. According to some the term resembles the Garden of Eden, a place that existed before time where man was one with nature, before he know about culture, language, individualization, symbols and analogies.
For others it is a subtle but essential reminder of the place where we can find the individual but also the collective. An irrational but profound memory of pleasant moments in the womb of the mother or in a higher state of mind with visions that other populations achieved by eating certain mushrooms.
It’s no secret that we can escape to paradise in Florence where we find the most celebrated gates. At the Piazza del Duomo to be exact, on the east side of the baptistery, most likely the oldest building in town, west of the beautiful cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore. In such an ambiance under the sky of Florence looking at the 10 liberations at the gates of paradise (telling episodes of the Old Testament from the creation of Adam and Eve to the wonderful encounter between Salomon and the queen of Saba) it is difficult to overlook the ambiguity that the gates bare that were created that they won’t ever be forgotten.
This wonder by the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381 – 1455) was created in a public competition for the giving away of a work of Brunelleschi – who also created the unforgettable dome cupola – without his innovations in terms of perspective it would have never been possible. With his incredible sense of depth in space and architecture the gates appear lighter.
Paul Oilzum
Renting apartments in Florence is a way to get closer to paradise and the approach the gates is a way to temporarily be in it.
