A Comparison
Lorenzo
Ghiberti
Sacrifice of
Isaac
competition panel
for the east doors
of the Baptistery of
Florence
Cathedral
1401-1402
Filippo
Brunelleschi
Sacrifice of
Isaac
competition panel for
the east doors of the
Baptistery of
Florence
Cathedral
1401-1402
Which is more successful? Why?
•In Brunelleschi’s Sacrifice of Isaac, the artist has centered the composition on the moment of the moment of
sacrifice. Isaac’s body is at the very center of the composition. Brunelleschi has scattered the other objects and
figures into the corners of the frame, so that they seem to revolve around the central focus of the composition. The
composition is unified by the frame but not by the internal connections between figures or objects.
•Brunelleschi’s Sacrifice of Isaac is marked by tension. Isaac is hunched over; his posture conveys fear. Abraham is
leaning over him ready to plunge the knife into his flesh. Isaac seems to be tensing his body for the pain that he
anticipates. At the final moment, the angel literally grabs Abraham’s arm to stop him from killing his son.
•Brunelleschi has not created a strong sense of illusionistic space. However, the intervening angel does seem to fly
out and across the frame to stop Abraham. And Brunelleschi has seemed to create orthogonals that lead to a sort of
vanishing point cenetred at the knife’s point.
•Brunelleschi represents the body with medieval emotionalism. The body is not entirely realistic and has not been
displayed as a thing of beauty. Instead the body is used to convey Isaac’s fear; the body seems tense and huddled.
•In Ghiberti’s Sacrifice of Isaac, the artist has placed Abraham at the center of the frame. Ghiberti has used a rock
which angles diagonally across the scene to divide the image into two different narrative scenes. In the top right half,
Ghiberti has placed the most important dramatic moment in the narrative—the moment of sacrifice. The composition
as a whole, though divided into two parts, is a unified whole.
•The artist has created enormous emotional tension as well as physical tension through Abraham’s arm that is arched
tightly back to gather force for the act of killing. Ghiberti has also used the intense gaze between father and son to
heighten the tension. The son looks directly at his father confronting him silently as the father prepares to sacrifice
him. This mutual gaze is almost too painful to witness.
•Ghiberti has created a Sense of depth with the big rock that reaches diagonally back into the space of the
composition. In the middle ground, the altar tilts forward also creating a sense of depth. Abraham steps forward with
his left foot (to balance the thrust of his right arm). He seems to step out of the frame, again creating illusionistic
space.
•Isaac is beautfully modled. His entire toroso is displayed for the viewer’s enjoyment. The muscles and limbs are
modeled on classical forms; they are well-proportioned. The body is both gorgeous and realistic—the body seems
alive--heightening the viewer’s sense that God’s demand—this sacrifice—is overwhelming.