This article examines whether or not Lorenzo Ghiberti is a true Renaissance artist. Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti, son of a goldsmith from Florence, Italy, would become one of the most influential artists of the early Renaissance. A child prodigy, he received his first commission at the age of 23. Ghiberti carried out several tasks at once, including the doors of the Florence Baptistery and numerous statues. He studied humanism and incorporated much of its philosophy into his work. Ghiberti's mother married Cione Ghiberti in 1370 and they lived in Pelago near Florence; later she went to Florence and lived there as the common-law wife of a goldsmith named Bartolo di Michele. They married in 1406 after Cione's death, and it was in their house that Lorenzo Ghiberti spent his youth. It is not known for certain which man Ghiberti's father was, as he claimed the two men were both his fathers, at different times. But throughout his early years, Lorenzo considered himself Bartolo's son, and it was Bartolo who trained the boy as a goldsmith. It is reported in the autobiographical part of his writings that Ghiberti also trained as a painter at this time. He left Florence in 1400 with a painter to work in the city of Pesaro for its ruler, Sigismondo Malatesta. In 1401, Ghiberti quickly returned to his hometown after hearing of an ongoing competition to commission a pair of bronze doors for the baptistery of the Florence Cathedral. He and six other artists were commissioned to depict the biblical scene of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in a bronze relief in the shape of a quatrefoil, following the tradition of the first set of doors made by Andrea Pisano. Ghiberti was chosen...... middle of paper ...... far from the background. Throughout his career, Ghiberti took an active interest in the work and careers of other artists. His studio was a gathering place for several prominent artists who were at the forefront of early Renaissance technology. Whether through collaboration, rivalry, or simply familiarity with each other's work, each artist influenced the other. Several apprentices working in his studio would later become well-known artists themselves. Ghiberti was also a historian and collector of classical objects. In his Commentaries (a collection of three books including his autobiography), Ghiberti sets out the history of art as well as his theories on art and humanist ideals. After a life spent laying the foundations of Renaissance art and expanding its boundaries, Lorenzo Ghiberti died on December 1, 1455, at the age of 77, in Florence...