BYU unveils the 'Gates of Paradise': How a campus museum restored a renaissance masterpiece

SALT LAKE CITY — After decades in storage and nearly a decade of restoration work, the BYU Museum of Art has unveiled restored gypsum-cast panels of Italian Renaissance sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti's famed Gates of Paradise from the 1400s, according to a university release.

The exhibition opened Feb. 20 and drew a crowd of over 3,000 people throughout the evening.

The panels will be on display through October. After that, they'll be moved to the museum's atrium as part of its permanent collection.

What to expect when going to see the Gates of Paradise

Y Magazine reports that, "the exhibit includes 3D-printed scans of a few of the panels that visitors can touch." There's also "a telescope on the mezzanine level of the museum which offers a closer look at the gilded armature," according to the Y Magazine.

Riley Lewis, marketing manager of the Museum of Art, told the Deseret News that right off the bat, people can expect to be in awe of Ghiberti's work.

"When you come, you'll see the size and grandeur and how bright this is," he said. "As you get closer, you'll get drawn in by the technical skill that went into this."

Lewis then talked about the level of detail and precision that went into every square millimeter and how it shows how much of a master craftsmen that Ghiberti was.

"He wasted absolutely no space with this (piece) and his ability is on full display," Lewis said.

What's the origin story?

Janalee Emmer, director of the BYU Museum of Art, said Michelangelo first coined the name "Gates of Paradise."

Originally, the doors of the Florence baptistery — the 17-foot-tall and 10-foot-wide doors — were taken down for protection during World War II.

Several plaster casts and molds were made after the war, which is how BYU's replica was created.

Originally acquired by BYU-Hawaii in 1984, the replicas were stored in crates for 32 years until they were rediscovered by former BYU art professor Sharon Gray, per the university release.

Gray told Y Magazine she "was astonished" to uncover the "hidden treasure" in a storage room on campus as a service missionary years later.

The panels were transferred to Provo 10 years ago.

"It is a profound honor to be entrusted with this plaster cast of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise. We have accepted this responsibility with humility," Emmer said.

According to the university release, there are fewer than a dozen of these replicas still intact.

"This piece isn't just anywhere. ... For BYU to have (one) is very unique and important," Samantha Atzbach, a former student assistant who helped restore the piece, said.

The original doors are now housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy.

Biblical themes

With 10 Old Testament stories featured on them, the panels brought the scriptures to life in the early Renaissance, when not everyone was literate or had access to the scriptures, according to Emmer.

"This was the way they learned scripture," she said in a video released by the university.

Similarly, Emmer hopes that Ghiberti's portrayal of familiar biblical characters and stories will bring the scriptures to life in a new way for today's viewers, as reported by the Y Magazine.

In addition to the 10 large panels, there are also 24 narrow panels and eight small square ones that also depict biblical prophets and historical figures, according to Y Magazine.

The addition to the BYU Museum of Art is a fitting one, seeing that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are currently studying the Old Testament as part of this year's "Come, Follow Me" curriculum.

Worldwide religious leaders visit Provo

Lewis, marketing manager for the museum, told the Deseret News that one of his favorite things to do when the museum opens a new exhibition is watching what people instantly gravitate to.

Typically, with most other exhibits, there is a clear consensus or highlight.

This hasn't been the case with the Gates of Paradise.

For example, according to the university release, "as part of the exhibition opening, Jewish leader Maeera Schreiber, Muslim leader Imam Ahmad Salah and Catholic leader Monsignor Timothy Verdon participated in an interfaith panel, discussing the biblical scenes depicted on the Gates."

Each one of them picked a different story as their favorite, Lewis said.

"Every panel has different features. Ghiberti was well-known for going into the weeds of these stories and drawing out elements that sometimes got missed and putting his own interpretation into things and I think that's really resonated (with people)," Lewis said.

Creation and preservation

Despite it being a replica, John Adams, manager of exhibition production at the museum, said he feels like he's working on an original piece.

He also noted that the nearly 10-year restoration project was not an easy one, as they tried to preserve as much of Ghiberti's original work as they could in the replica.

"Many of the panels were broken and had missing pieces," he said.

Upon inspection, the final condition report for the panels was more than 300 pages long, Y Magazine reported.

According to the university release, extensive time was spent on repairing damage, restoring lost detail and applying 23 karat gold leaf — a common practice in historical restoration.

While it pales in comparison to the 27-year undertaking Ghiberti experienced when he originally created the work in the 1400s, "that long process has been mimicked a little bit at the museum," Emmer said.

Adams estimates 13,000 student hours were spent on the project.

Student involvement

Many students expressed appreciation for the opportunity to work on the piece.

According to the university release, Rachel Maughan loved being able to take her time on precise details, as opposed to rushing through class assignments.

"It's really nice to focus on growing those skills and treating it like Ghiberti would," Maughan said.

Another student assistant, Rhys Price, said, "It's culturally significant ... but it's also a work of dedication to God."

And Hannah Moss, another art student, summed it up perfectly: "You don't have to go to Italy to see these, you can see them right here in Provo."

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