robin cook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> one of the panels on the famous bronze doors of
> the baptistry in florence shows a pyramid (albeit
> that renaissance scholars keep referring to it as
> 'noahs ark'). the representation of the pyramid
> has various lines drawn on it's surface. the near
> horizontal lines resemble a spiral ramp, though
> this is probably just coincidence; or perhaps
> related to ghiberti's ideas about perspective in
> the early 15th century. but what caught my eye was
> the outline of the pyramid (the 3 visible
> corners). this appears identical to Khufu. yet
> early representations of Giza are hopelessly
> primitive and naive (greaves, pocock et.al.) well
> into the 18th century.
> if this is not just coincidence where might
> ghiberti have got his ideas from?

Deriving their ideas from an account in Genesis, early Christian authors (e.g., Origen) believed that Noah's ark was pyramid-shaped. (See e.g. Dilbeck, "Opening the gates of paradise: function and the iconographical program of Ghiberti's bronze door" 2011 - [iro.uiowa.edu] - pg. 31, n. 84.)

Images:

[www.bluffton.edu]

[beckydaroff.com]

Hermione
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