Construction of the octagonal Florence Baptistery was completed in 1128, which makes this minor basilica one of Florence’s oldest buildings. But its doors are more famous. A young goldsmith named Lorenzo Ghiberti won the competition to create a 28 panel door. It took him 21 years. The next year, in 1425, he was asked to create the “Gates of Paradise” door which is now on the east side. This gilded panel, “Joseph Sold into Slavery,” is one of the ten panels that tell Old Testament stories. This masterpiece took him an additional 27 years to create.
