Genesis 22 Of The Old Testament Essay

In Genesis 22 of the Old Testament a true trial of Abraham’s faith was assembled. God made him an offer, one which could not pass up; however, reluctant this is a test he would truly pass. God stated to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the part of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” This report filled the heads of many Christian believers for generations that followed; in fact, in Florence stands a Baptistery that pays tribute to the genuine honor of one’s faith in God. This position carries a bit of history and major creative people from early Renaissance contributed to his elegant revitalization. Nevertheless, before it could be completed a crash of the economy hit creating political upheaval, a dark cloud of death came over the metropolis called the bubonic plague; so of course, the

completion of the doors came to a stop. The death toll from those killed about half the population, chaos spreads.

Yet, in 1401 the people and the building were in for a complete turnaround. It was a time when the conflict was about to erupt and troops from Milanese were threatening the city of Florence; So in an attempt to motivate and create a civic unity in the city the idea of completing the Baptistery doors by holding a competition, encouraging all artists to submit a rendering of “Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac”; in fact, two of those artists included the magnificent Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. The story was described by these two noteworthy artists, each with their own flair, unique design quality and in great defining detail. All the same, I personally am more attracted to the quality that Ghiberti brought to the design in his portrayal you can watch the story being acted out. Its soft spoken yet shouts to the challenging decisions made in life, even today. I enjoy the raw emotion you experience when you look at this composition, it’s not all clutter and it depicts the mountain where God sent

Abraham. I appreciate the fact that in his piece the angel is not gripping the arm of Abraham as it expects to be in the one portrayed by Brunelleschi; because it implies to me that one is more in line with God. Even more, relishing the fact that at that place has been already too much wildness in the world and physical grabbing plays into that conflict in which the city needed to fare back from. So for the fact that Ghiberti’s piece spoke more a non-physical aspect, which is the unity the city, was looking for.
Proceeding along, comparing Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi renditions of Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac was complex and compelling. When looking at the quality of style they were constructed we can see that both panels are both formulated in bronze and mounted within a Quatrefoil. Now in relations to the artistic style, there are numerous impacts shown in both panels. Even know there is linear curvatures in both, Ghiberti implemented it more in his panel. In both the panels, Abraham’s heads are both in profile and allowing faces to exhibit a greater sense of detail. There is an incredible amount of tension and feeling within both of these panels.

Moving on, when contrasting these two magnificent panels we can see that Brunelleschi’s portrayal of Abraham has been sculpted with a presence that dominates the entire panel; whereas, Ghiberti has placed Abraham in a more humbling position.