Finding spring with the help of Ghilgerti

My daughter has been taking an art class with our local support group.  Each class starts with a bit of history on an artist and then the students complete a project in similar fashion.  She's enjoying the class, both for the content and the company of her friends.

This week the class learned of the first great sculptor of the Renaissance, Lorenzo Ghilgerti.  Ghilberti won a competition to design a set of doors for the Baptistry of the Cathedral in Florence in 1404.  He spent the rest of his career working on these and another set, called (initially by Michelangelo) "The Gates of Paradise".

I think the project this week, experimenting with bas relief sculpture in clay, was dd's favorite so far. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture yesterday before the piece started to dry and crack. 

Note that this tree has leaves...a reminder that the trees aren't always bare in the freezing cold Michigan winters (February in Michigan is always the hardest!).

Her teacher shared a website where you can see pictures of copies and the originals (in the Duomo museum) of the work.  You can see for yourself here. Below is just one of the many pictures of the original.  I picked another one with leaved trees. Come on, spring!