A G: Italy Day 7 - Florence Day 1 Part 3 by Gordon, The Opera del Duomo Museum in Florence 百花大教堂博物馆

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Italy Day 7 - Florence Day 1 Part 3 by Gordon, The Opera del Duomo Museum in Florence 百花大教堂博物馆

The Opera del Duomo Museum in Florence

Gates of Paradise, The Deposition, Penitent Magdalene

~ Gordon

Museum del Duomo Florence is right next to the duomo. The museum carries many arts, sculptures, frescoes and a lot more treasures from Duomo di Florence and Baptistery of St John. There was a movie showing how the Brunelleschi Dome was built. But mostly, there are 3 main cool art you don’t want to miss, the Deposition and the Penitent Magdalene , and the original Gates of Paradise.

Gates of Paradise

Copy of the Gates of Paradise at the chapel

Gates of Paradise

The Original Gates of Paradise at the Museum

Gates of Paradise

The giant bronze Gates of Paradise is located at the entrance of the museum. Lorenzo Ghiberti is the sculptors of this perfect bronze gate. The gate was built in 1452. It took Lorenzo Ghiberti 27 years to built. This means he started this project in 1425. It is very beautiful. There are 10 Bible stories, each of different scenes. I could recognize one, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The actual story is the life of Jesus from after he died of the crucifixion. This original gate is well protected at the museum. No rain can change its color! It used to be the eastern gate at Florence Baptistery.

The Deposition

A model of the Deposition

The Deposition is very famous because it is a Michelangelo piece of art, even though he didn’t finish it fully. The sculpture has a person who is hooded, mourning over Mary and Jesus. It comes that the hooded figure is Michelangelo!

The Penitent Magdalene

A model of the Penitent Magdalene

The Penitent Magdalene is a wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello. It was created between 1453 and 1455. The sculpture was commissioned for the Baptistery of St John and used to be kept in the baptistery. It looks like someone just died and is going to heaven.

I wish that we could come here to the Museo Dell'opera del Duomo Florence again. I like the way the museum showing how the dome was built. I learned a lot of history of the basilica, the baptistery, and even the history of Florence. I saw so many treasure in one place. So convenience! No rush to some other places. I hope we come again!