第13章　天堂之门

这个故事，是以一场比赛开始的。但这场比赛，并不是看谁跑得最快，或者看谁的哨子吹得最响，而是一场困难得多的竞赛。由于难度太大，因此每个参与比赛的人都有一年的时间，来想方设法赢得比赛。

这是一场雕塑大赛。比赛是如此开始的。在意大利的佛罗伦萨，有一栋规模很小的八边形建筑，叫作“洗礼堂”。所谓的洗礼堂，就是婴儿乃至成年人接受洗礼、皈依成为基督徒的地方。举办比赛的时候，那座洗礼堂有四个入口，其中的一个入口装有两扇漂亮的青铜大门，上面还有浮雕。佛罗伦萨的官员们认为，应当给其余三个入口中的一个也配上两扇青铜大门才是。

当时，佛罗伦萨有好几位在世的优秀雕塑家，而佛罗伦萨人也无法断定，哪一位才是制作新大门的最佳人选，因此他们便举办了一场比赛。比赛规则如下：

每位雕塑家都必须雕刻出一幅与大门搭配的浮雕作品。

这幅浮雕作品描述的内容，必须与《圣经》中的亚伯拉罕和以撒这两个人物有关。

每位雕塑家都有一年的创作时间，然后再由三十四名裁判共同决定谁是获胜者。

最终将由获胜者来制作这两扇大门。

All the sculptors set to work. And all except one kept their work secret from everyone else until the year was up.The one exception was Lorenzo Ghiberti.He worked and worked, and then he asked his friends to come in and tell him how he could make his relief better.Then he worked some more until he had a very beautiful relief indeed.

When the year was up, each sculptor brought his relief to the judges. And what do you think happened?The judges couldn't decide which was the very best！There was a tie for first place.One of the winners was Ghiberti's relief.The other was cast by a famous architect-a person who designs buildings-named Brunelleschi.But Brunelleschi himself thought Ghiberti's relief was better than his own, so he very generously said he would withdraw and let Ghiberti be the winner.Then the judges said Ghiberti could make the doors.

Ghiberti set to work. He worked and worked.One year, two years, five years, ten years passed and still he worked on the doors.You won't believe how long it took to make them.I'll tell you the date when he began and when he finished.He started to work on the reliefs in 1403.He finished the doors in 1424.

“What?”you say.“It took him twenty-one years to make one pair of doors?That is a long time！”

Finally the doors were finished and put in the south doorway of the baptistery. They opened down the middle and had twenty-eight panels fit together into frames to make two enormous doors.Those panels were made up of scenes chiefly from the life of Christ in

所有的雕塑家便开始创作了。他们全都是秘密创作，在一年期满之前都不想让他人知道自己的创作情况，只有一个人例外。这位例外的雕塑家，就是洛伦佐·吉贝尔蒂。他先是不停地工作，然后又将自己的朋友们请过来，就如何将浮雕作品雕刻得更加完美来向他提出意见。接下来，他又继续工作，最终制作出了一幅确实非常精美的浮雕作品。

一年期满之后，所有雕塑家便都带着自己的浮雕作品，来到裁判们的面前。你们觉得，比赛结果如何呢？裁判们竟然无法决定哪一幅是最佳作品！因此，他们选出了并列第一的两幅作品。获胜作品中，有一件便是吉贝尔蒂的那幅浮雕。而另一幅获胜作品，则是由一位名叫布鲁内莱斯基的著名建筑师雕刻的；所谓的建筑师，就是设计和建造建筑的人。不过，布鲁内莱斯基本人却认为吉贝尔蒂的浮雕比自己的作品更好，因此他很大度地说自己退出比赛，让吉贝尔蒂胜出。于是，裁判们便宣布，由吉贝尔蒂去制作那两扇大门。

吉贝尔蒂便开始动手工作了。他不停地工作着。一年过去了，两年过去了，五年过去了，十年过去了，他还在制作那两扇大门。这两扇门做了多久，说出来你们都不会相信呢。我来告诉你们他开工和完工的日期吧。他是在1403年开始制作浮雕的。而他完成这两扇大门的时间，则到了1424年。

“什么？”你们可能会说，“他做两扇大门竟然花了二十一年的时间？那也太久了吧！”

大门终于完工，并被安装到了洗礼堂的南入口上。大门是从中间打开的，上面

relief.Each scene was made separately and then fit together with the rest.Try to imagine doors that are over sixteen feet tall, and each door weighing one and one-third tons.

Ghiberti's doors were a big hit. Everyone liked them so much that the men of Florence asked the sculptor to make another pair of bronze doors for the east doorway to the baptistery.There was no need for a competition this time.They knew Ghiberti was the man for the job.

Ghiberti started on the second pair of doors. He worked and worked and worked.One year, two years, five years, ten years, twenty years, and still he worked on the doors.He began these doors in 1425.He finished them in 1452.What?Twenty-seven years to make one set of doors?That is a long time, of course, so he wanted in some small way to leave his signature behind after so many years.Can you imagine what he decided to do?

Ghiberti included a bust of himself, his son Vittorio, and Vittorio's wife and child-his whole family who had watched as he labored for so very long. So there they are，

有二十八块嵌板，它们拼合在门框内，形成两扇大门。那些嵌板上的浮雕作品，主要由描述基督生平的场景组成。每幅场景都是独立雕制而成，然后再与其他的浮雕嵌板拼合起来。想象一下吧，这两扇大门有十六英尺多高，并且每一扇都达一又三分之一吨重呢。

吉贝尔蒂制作的这两扇大门，受到了热烈的好评。大家都非常喜欢这两扇门，因此佛罗伦萨市民又请这位雕塑家再为洗礼堂的东入口制作两扇青铜大门。这一次，不用再举行选拔比赛了。他们明白，吉贝尔蒂就是这一工作的不二人选。

于是，吉贝尔蒂开始动手制作第二对大门了。他不停地工作。一年过去了，两年过去了，五年过去了，十年过去了，二十年过去了，他却仍然还在制作那两扇门。他是在1425年开始动手制作这两扇门的。而他完工的时间，则到了1452年。什么？花了二十七年的时间，才制作出了两扇大门？这当然也是很长的一段时间，因此他希望在这么多年后，能够用一种不起眼的方式，在门上留下自己的签名。你们猜得出他决定干什么吗？

在这两扇大门上，吉贝尔蒂为自己，为他的儿子维托里奥、儿媳和孙子们都留下了一尊半身像；这一家人都见证了他在这么久的时间里所付出的辛劳。于是，只

surrounded by the famous characters from the Old Testament along with frogs, crickets, lizards, and bouquets of flowers just for fun.

But this time, when Ghiberti had finished, the doors were so splendid that many people said they were perfect. Their name, The Gates of Paradise, is based on the story that the young Michelangelo, greatly impressed by the doors, described them as worthy to be the gates of Paradise.

The Gates of Paradise has ten scenes from the Old Testament. This illustration is a detail of the scene showing the story of Abraham.

是为了好玩，他们便都置身于大门上那些《圣经·旧约》里的著名人物，以及青蛙、蟋蟀、蜥蜴和花丛之间了。

这一次，待吉贝尔蒂完工之后，由于那两扇大门无比辉煌，因此许多人都说它们非常完美。而这两扇大门之所以被称为“天堂之门”，则源自一则故事：据说，年轻的米开朗琪罗对这两扇大门的印象极其深刻，曾经说过它们可以称得上是“天堂之门”；因此，后来的人便用这个名称，来称呼这两扇大门了。

这座“天堂之门”上，雕有十幅源自《圣经·旧约》中的场景。上图便是描绘亚伯拉罕故事的一幅场景中的细部。