Wandering through the magnificent corridors of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, I seem lost among the works of the greats for what feels like hours. All around me, pieces by Renoir, Vermeer and Rembrandt stand out in golden frames, smiling down upon a crowded room.

And that is when I notice them: a set of three, gilded panels that gleam in the dim museum lighting. Aptly titled The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece, the three pieces steal the breath of those who gaze upon their rare grandeur.

Detailing the Biblical tales of Adam and Eve, Jacob and Esau and David and Goliath, The Gates of Paradise first arrived in New York on October 30 after a three-month stint at The Art Institute of Chicago.   Done in supple bronze, the reliefs are three of ten bronze-cast panels that Ghiberti crafted for the Baptistery of the Florentine Cathedral.

Resting in a section all their own, the 32 inch door panels seem to gleam against the cosmopolitan setting of the Metropolitan, a clash of the old and new worlds. From a distance, the beauty possesses the power to stun viewers. A closer look reveals detail so rich, so powerful, that one is amazed that such a piece has been created by human hands. Icons seem to be forever frozen in time, with looks of religious passion and expressions of true human emotion capturing their golden faces.   The breadth of detail is so rich; it is as if Ghiberti has taken a Polaroid for future generations to gaze upon.

Ghiberti's door frames utilize a medium that is truly unique; while the oils on canvas and framed wood workings hold their beauty, the smoothness and the golden monochromatic elements of the panels are a refreshing diversion from other Renaissance pieces.

On exhibit into the New Year, Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise are well worth the trip into the city. While they have traveled thousands of miles from home, the museum's high vaulted ceilings and marble grandeur are the perfect setting for such pieces of art.

Lorenzo Ghiberti himself once said, "Few things of importance were made in our city that were not designed or devised by my hand." And, in their bronze wonder, The Gates of Paradise prove that Ghiberti had much to boast about.