SAN LORENZO, FLORENCE]

[Sidenote:  The Bronze Doors.]

There is no more instructive study than the bronze doors of Italian churches.  They are the earliest specimens of bronze casting to be found in Italy of Christian times; they show the gradual transition from Eastern to Western forms of art, and they were usually made by the most prominent sculptor of the day.  Their size is considerable, they are frequently dated, and their condition is often extraordinarily good.  Donatello’s are relatively small, but they adhere to the best traditions.  Excluding the great doors made by Luca della Robbia for the Sacristy of the Duomo, these in San Lorenzo are among the latest which were produced according to the ancient model and the correct idea.  Thenceforward the doors ceased to be doors; the reliefs ceased to show the qualities of bronze, and disregarded the principles of sculpture.  Donatello made two pairs of doors, one on either side of the altar.  The doors open in the middle; there are thus four long-hinged panels of bronze, and each panel has five reliefs upon it.  It is doubtful if the most archaic doors in Italy show such uniformity of design, for all the twenty bronze reliefs illustrate one single theme, namely, the conversation of two standing men.  The panels simply consist of two saints, roughly sketched in somewhat low-relief upon an absolutely flat background:  there is great variety in the drapery, and some of the figures might come out of thirteenth-century illuminations.  Never was a monotonous motive invested with such variety of treatment:  never was simplicity better attained by scrupulous elimination.  Donatello’s symmetrical idea had been previously employed, and Torrigiano put his figures in couples on what Bacon called one of the “stateliest and daintiest monuments of Europe."[171] Luca della Robbia put his figures in threes on the Cathedral gates, a seated figure in the centre, with a standing figure on either side.  But Donatello had to make twice as many panels as Luca.  Martyrs, apostles and confessors are talking on the San Lorenzo doors.  Thus St. Stephen shows the stone of his martyrdom to St. Laurence.  Elsewhere St. Peter’s movement suggests that he is upbraiding his fellow, for the argument excites these saints.  They gesticulate freely; martyrs seem to fence with their palm-leaves.  One will turn away abruptly, another will pay sudden attention to his book, while his companion continues to talk.  One man slaps his book to clinch the discussion, another jots down a note; two others are ending their controversy and prepare to leave—­in opposite directions.  But, though these are literal descriptions of the scenes, there is no levity; everything is ordained according to Donatello’s strict formula.  He was none the less determined to adhere to the old conventional and non-pictorial treatment of the gates, and at the same time to give animation to every panel.  In this he has succeeded, but the symmetrical arrangement