What subjects did Lorenzo Ghiberti cover in I Commentarii?

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In his work I Commentarii, completed around 1447, the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti organized his thoughts into three distinct books covering the following subjects:

  • Book I: A history of ancient art, which serves as a digest of writings by Latin authors. In this section, Ghiberti emphasizes his belief that the excellence of ancient art resulted from the inseparable connection between artistic practice and theory.1
  • Book II: A record of art from the immediate past. This book includes an autobiography in which Ghiberti establishes his own significance in art history, alongside expressions of his admiration for specific Sienese painters and a northern goldsmith named Gusmin.1
  • Book III: A theoretical discussion on art. In the surviving manuscript, this final section remains fragmentary.1

Overall, these commentaries reflect Ghiberti’s humanist interests and his ambition to recapture the artistic standards of the ancients.12