Lorenzo Ghiberti created the East Doors of Florence Baptistery between 1425 - 1452. The 10 panels show scenes from the Old Testament. Each panel was cast in one piece from bronze and then gilded.
The original panels are now in the Museo del Duomo across from the rear of the Cathedral, and the doors in this image are copies made following the great Florence flood of November 1966.
During the flood, the doors were covered "waist high" by swirling. oily flood waters, and two panels were torn off the doors and feared lost.
After finding them in the mud when the waters receded, it was discovered that the gilding, once though lost, was still intact on the panels, and all of them were removed for cleaning and conservation.
Several are now displayed in the museum where they are protected from the weather.
The doors are often called the "Gates of Paradise", supposedly because Michaelangelo said they were so beautiful that they were worthy of that name.