<P> The group of bronze statues above the gate depict The Beheading of St John the Baptist . It is the masterwork of Vincenzo Danti from 1571 . </P> <P> In 1401, a competition was announced by the Arte di Calimala (Cloth Importers Guild) to design doors which would eventually be placed on the north side of the baptistery . (The original location for these doors was the east side of the baptistery, but the doors were moved to the north side of the baptistery after Ghiberti completed his second commission, known as the Gates of Paradise .) </P> <P> These north doors would serve as a votive offering to celebrate the sparing of Florence from relatively recent scourges such as the Black Death in 1348 . Many artists competed for this commission and a jury selected seven semi-finalists . These finalists include Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello and Jacopo della Quercia, with 21 - year - old Ghiberti winning the commission . At the time of judging, only Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were finalists, and when the judges could not decide, they were assigned to work together on them . Brunelleschi's pride got in the way, and he went to Rome to study architecture leaving Ghiberti to work on the doors himself . Ghiberti's autobiography, however, claimed that he had won, "without a single dissenting voice ." The original designs of The Sacrifice of Isaac by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi are on display in the museum of the Bargello . </P> <P> It took Ghiberti 21 years to complete these doors . These gilded bronze doors consist of twenty - eight panels, with twenty panels depicting the life of Christ from the New Testament . The eight lower panels show the four evangelists and the Church Fathers Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory and Saint Augustine . The panels are surrounded by a framework of foliage in the door case and gilded busts of prophets and sibyls at the intersections of the panels . Originally installed on the east side, in place of Pisano's doors, they were later moved to the north side . They are described by the art historian Antonio Paolucci as "the most important event in the history of Florentine art in the first quarter of the 15th century". </P>

Who won the 1401 competition to design the doors for the florence baptistery