MUMBAI.- The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum is hosting one of the most-acclaimed masterpieces of the Florentine Renaissance through a special collaboration with the Guild of the Dome Association, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck-Institute, and the Museum of the Opera del Duomo: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s (Italian, 1378-1455) The Gates of Paradise (1425-52). The full-scale lost wax bronze replica, cast from the original mould while the original was being restored, is on display in India for the first time and will allow visitors to discover Ghiberti’s masterful sculptural and narrative rendering at close quarters and to contextualise the civic values promoted by the great art of the period.

The Gates of Paradise are an extraordinary illustration of the artistic, political, religious, and social contexts of Ghiberti and his patrons in fifteenth-century Florence. At the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, The Gates of Paradise evoke a fascinating thematic parallel between the artistic climate and civic values that shaped the Florentine Renaissance and the extraordinary Indian patronage and entrepreneurship that created Mumbai. Co-curated by Dr. Gerhard Wolf and Dr. Timothy Verdon, and advised by Mrs. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, the exhibition offers visitors a rare experience of the civic values that give birth to the Florentine Renaissance—values that carry significant implications for the development of urban culture in a rapidly-urbanizing India.

The Florentine Renaissance, through its celebration of humanist philosophy, artistic patronage, technical and organizational mastery, and wealth, contributed to the artistic and economic transformation of the city during the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. Named “The Gates of Paradise” by the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo (Italian, 1475-1564), the centerpiece of the exhibition recalls the ethical and cultural impact of extraordinary works of art and architecture on civilization. The gates were located at the Eastern entrance to the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence Baptistery, popularly called the Duomo)—the oldest civic temple in Florence and a crucial public gathering place for urban rituals and performances. The construction of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral) and Filippo Brunelleschi’s (Italian, 1377-1466) cupola (dome) marked outstanding artistic and economic developments in the territory of Florence. The erection of The Gates of Paradise completed the ensemble by defining the urban space as a converging point for artistic patronage, religion, and civic politics that became fundamental to Florentine society, especially through its numerous guilds, members of the elite, merchants, textile entrepreneurs, and bankers across Europe, the Mediterranean, and Asia.

The exhibition presents The Gates of Paradise as an “ambassador” to the Florentine Renaissance, accompanied by a rich collection of high-quality historical and contemporary photographs that document Florence. Displayed in the Kamalnayan Bajaj Special Exhibitions Gallery, the photographs are courtesy a loan from Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck-Institute. The photographs enable visitors to visualize the urban and public spaces that served as a stage for the expression of a dynamic and diverse Florentine culture. In doing so, the exhibition draws attention to the nuanced urban and historical contexts surrounding the creation of The Gates of Paradise rather than focusing on the latter as an isolated example of artistic and technical mastery.

The Gates of Paradise at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum are identical to the replica that currently decorates the exterior facade of the Eastern Door of the Florence Baptistery. The original masterpiece underwent nearly twenty-seven years of restoration and is permanently located inside the Museo dell’Opera in Florence. The exhibition will also feature replicas of five restored panels from the North Door of the Florence Baptistery in the Special Projects Space in the Museum Plaza, along with replicas of the five bronze statues created by Benvenuto Cellini (Italian, 1500-71), including Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1522), displayed in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The Gates of Paradise and North Door panel replicas demonstrate technical innovations in lost wax bronze casting and invite visitors to compare artistic traditions and restoration technologies across cultures, both Florentine and Indian.