Ghiberti's baptistry doors
Julianne participated in the research study on video documentation in adult education. She chose Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, the north doors of the baptistry of St. John in Florence to research because she had recently studied it in depth in one of her other classes.
I made the video documentation of her relflection on seeing Ghiberti's work so that she could share her insights from the experience with everyone in class. I want to know if video documentation enhances learning for the student and the teacher.
The competition for the commission of the baptistry doors is legendary. Ghiberti and Brunelleschi both competed by entering beautiful bronze reliefs of Jacob sacrificing Issac. When Brunelleschi lost to the more PR savvy Ghiberti he is said to have left for Rome in anger. He studied the architecture there for 12 years measuring domes and wall and finding engineering that had been lost for over 1,000 years. He returned to Florence with the skills to complete what is still the largest dome in the world. The then unfinished basillica of Santa Maria del Fiore had been waiting since the 11 century for the technology to finish the work.