The Gates of Paradise are the Renaissance doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti made for Florence’s Baptistery.
Ghiberti created the doors between 1425 and 1452, after winning a competition for an earlier set of Baptistery doors. Their ten large gilded bronze panels depict scenes from the Hebrew Bible, including the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, David, and Solomon. Ghiberti used sophisticated perspective and varied relief depths to create an unusually convincing sense of space.
The nickname “Gates of Paradise” is traditionally associated with Michelangelo, who is said to have praised the doors as worthy of serving as the gates of Paradise. The doors are not the original eastern doors in their exposed position today: a modern copy now stands outside, while the original panels are preserved indoors at Florence’s Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
They are often confused with Ghiberti’s earlier Baptistery doors, whose panels show scenes from the New Testament.