Filarete's Hilaritas: Claiming Authorship and Status on the Doors of St. Peter's.

FILARETE, ca. 1400-1469; ITALIAN bronzes; DOORS; ST. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City); SELF-portraits; 15TH century Italian art; MEDIEVAL Christian art & symbolism

ROME; ITALY

The article focuses on the bronze doors created in the mid 15th-century by the Italian artist Antonio Averlino, called Filarete, for St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Commissioned by Pope Eugenius IV in 1433 and installed in 1445, the doors feature an unusual number of self-portraits and signatures by the artist. The author presents a detailed examinations of the door's iconographic program, focusing on Filarete's depiction of himself and his assistants celebrating their artistic achievement. It is suggested that Filarete conceived the work as a way of expressing status and honor in the hopes of increasing his social standing at the papal court.