![Florence_baptistery_ceiling_mosaic_14493px](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Florence_baptistery_ceiling_mosaic_14493px.jpg)
The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John ( it, Battistero di San Giovanni), is a religious building in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and has the status of a
minor basilica
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...
. The
octagon
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
al
baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
stands in both the
Piazza del Duomo and the
Piazza San Giovanni
Piazza San Giovanni is a city square in Florence, Italy.
Buildings around the square
* Florence Baptistery
* Palazzo Arcivescovile, Florence
* Torre dei Lodi Focardi Marignolli
*Opera di San Giovanni
Opera is a form of theatre in which m ...
, across from
Florence Cathedral
Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...
and the
Campanile di Giotto
Giotto's Campanile (, also , ) is a free-standing campanile that is part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy.
Standing adjacent to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and t ...
.
The Baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine
Romanesque style. Although the Florentine style did not spread across Italy as widely as the Pisan Romanesque or Lombard styles, its influence was decisive for the subsequent development of architecture, as it formed the basis from which
Francesco Talenti
Francesco Talenti (''c''. 1300 – aft. 1369) was a Tuscan architect and sculptor who worked mainly in Florence after 1351. He is mentioned working at Orvieto Cathedral in 1325. In the 1350s he completed the two middle storeys of Giotto's Campani ...
,
Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...
,
Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
, and other master architects of their time created Renaissance architecture. In the case of the Florentine Romanesque, one can speak of "proto-renaissance", but at the same time an extreme survival of the late antique architectural tradition in Italy, as in the cases of the
Basilica of San Salvatore, Spoleto
San Salvatore is a romanesque-style, former basilica church located in the center of Spoleto, Province of Perugia, region of Umbria, Italy.
The Lombards’ renovation of the church dates back to the eighth century and it is testimony to the archi ...
, the
Temple of Clitumnus
The so-called Temple of Clitumnus ( it, Tempietto del Clitunno) is a small early medieval church that sits along the banks of the Clitunno river in the town of Pissignano near Campello sul Clitunno between Spoleto and Trevi, Umbria, Italy. In 2 ...
, and the church of
Sant'Alessandro in Lucca.
The Baptistery is renowned for its three sets of artistically important
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
doors with relief sculptures. The south doors were created by
Andrea Pisano
Andrea Pisano (Pontedera 12901348 Orvieto) also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was an Italian sculptor and architect.
Biography
Pisano first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and work ...
and the north and east doors by
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...
.
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
dubbed the east doors the ''Gates of Paradise''.
The Italian poet
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
and many other notable
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
figures, including members of the
Medici family
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
, were baptized in this baptistery.
The building contains the monumental
tomb of Antipope John XXIII
The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII is the marble-and-bronze tomb monument of Antipope John XXIII (Baldassare Cossa, c. 1360–1419), created by Donatello and Michelozzo for the Florence Baptistry adjacent to the Duomo. It was commissioned ...
, by
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...
.
History
Early history
![Totila fa dstruggere la città di Firenze](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Totila_fa_dstruggere_la_citt%C3%A0_di_Firenze.jpg)
It was once believed that the Baptistery was originally a
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of Ro ...
dedicated to
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
, the tutelary god of the old Florence. The chronicler
Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani (; 1276 or 1280 – 1348)Bartlett (1992), 35. was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the ''Nuova Cronica'' (''New Chronicles'') on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman ...
reported this medieval Florentine legend in his 14th-century ''
Nuova Cronica
The ''Nuova Cronica'' (also: ''Nova Cronica'') or '' New Chronicles'' is a 14th-century history of Florence created in a year-by-year linear format and written by the Italian banker and official Giovanni Villani (c. 1276 or 1280–1348). T ...
'' on the
history of Florence
Florence ( it, Firenze) weathered the decline of the Western Roman Empire to emerge as a financial hub of Europe, home to several banks including that of the politically powerful Medici family. The city's wealth supported the development of ...
. Excavations in the 20th century have shown that there was a 1st-century Roman wall running through the piazza with the Baptistery, which may have been built on the remains of a Roman guard tower on the corner of this wall, or possibly another Roman building including a second-century house which was restored in the late 4th or early 5th century.
It is certain that an initial octagonal baptistery was erected here in the late 4th or early 5th century. It was replaced or altered by another early Christian baptistery in the 6th century. Its construction is attributed to
Theodolinda
Theodelinda also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570–628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when ...
, queen of the Lombards (570–628), to seal the conversion of her husband, King
Authari
Authari (c. 550 – 5 September 590) was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. He was considered as the first Lombard king to have adopted some level of "Roman-ness" and introduced policies that led to drastic changes particularly in th ...
.
Octagonal design
The octagon had been a common shape for baptisteries for many centuries since early Christian times. Other early examples are the
Lateran Baptistery
The domed octagonal Lateran Baptistery ( it, Battistero lateranense) stands somewhat apart from the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome, to which it has become joined by later construction. This baptistery was founded by Pope Sixtus III in 44 ...
(440) that provided a model for others throughout Italy, the
Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus (527–536) in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
and the
Basilica of San Vitale
The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO ...
in
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
(548).
![Battisterogrundriss](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Battisterogrundriss.svg)
The earlier baptistery was the city's second
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
after San Lorenzo, outside the northern city wall, and predates the church
Santa Reparata. It was first recorded as such on 4 March 897, when the Count Palatine and envoy of the Holy Roman Emperor sat there to administer justice. The granite
pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
were probably taken from the Roman forum sited at the location of the present
Piazza della Repubblica. At that time, the baptistery was surrounded by a cemetery with Roman
sarcophagi
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a cadaver, corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from ...
, used by important Florentine families as tombs (now in the
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo).
Construction
The present much bigger Baptistery was built in
Romanesque style around 1059, evidence of the growing economic and political importance of Florence. It was reconsecrated on 6 November 1059 by
Pope Nicholas II
Pope Nicholas II ( la, Nicholaus II; c. 990/995 – 27 July 1061), otherwise known as Gerard of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1059 until his death in 27 July 1061. At the time of his ...
, a Florentine. According to legend, the marbles were brought from
Fiesole
Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times.
Sin ...
, conquered by Florence in 1078. Other marble came from ancient structures. The construction was finished in 1128.
An octagonal
lantern
A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...
was added to the pavilion roof around 1150. It was enlarged with a rectangular entrance porch in 1202, leading into the original western entrance of the building, that in the 15th century became an apse, after the opening of the eastern door facing the western door of the cathedral by Lorenzo Ghiberti. On the corners, under the roof, are monstrous lion heads with a human head under their claws. They are early representations of
Marzocco
The ''Marzocco'' is the heraldic lion that is a symbol of Florence, and was apparently the first piece of public secular sculpture commissioned by the Republic of Florence, in the late 14th century. The lion stood at the heart of the city i ...
, the heraldic Florentine lion (the symbol of Mars, the god of war, the original male protector of Florentia, protecting a lily or iris, the symbol of the original female patron of the town, Flora, the fertile agricultural earth goddess).
Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, three bronze double doors were added, with bronze and marble statues above them. This gives an indication that the Baptistery, at that time, was at least equal to the neighbouring cathedral in importance.
Exterior
Design
![Battistero Firenze](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Battistero_Firenze.jpg)
The Baptistery has eight equal sides with a ''
scarsella'', an apse expanding out of the west side. The sides, originally constructed in sandstone, are clad in geometrically patterned, colored
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
, white
Carrara
Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...
with green Prato marble inlay, reworked in Romanesque style between 1059 and 1128. The style of this church would serve as a prototype, influencing many architects, such as
Leone Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. He ...
, in their design of Renaissance churches in Tuscany.
The exterior is also ornamented with a number of artistically significant statues by
Andrea Sansovino
Andrea dal Monte Sansovino or Andrea Contucci del Monte San Savino (1529) was an Italian sculptor active during the High Renaissance. His pupils include Jacopo Sansovino (no relation).
Biography
He was the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte S ...
(above the ''Gates of Paradise''),
Giovan Francesco Rustici
Giovan Francesco Rustici, or Giovanni Francesco Rustici, (1475–1554) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor.
__NOTOC__
He was born into a noble family of Florence, with an independent income. Rustici profited from study of the Medi ...
,
Vincenzo Danti
Vincenzo Danti (1530 – 26 May 1576) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Perugia.
His father was an architect and goldsmith, and Vincenzo developed an interest in drawing and goldsmithing. In 1545 he went to Rome to study sculpture and ...
(above the south doors) and others.
The design work on the sides is arranged in groupings of three, starting with three distinct horizontal sections. The middle section features three blind
arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
es on each side, each arch containing a window. These have alternate, pointed and semicircular
tympani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...
. Below each window is a stylized arch design. In the upper
fascia, there are also three small windows, each one in the center block of a three-panel design.
The apse was originally semicircular, but rebuilt in a rectangular shape in 1202.
Baptistery doors
Andrea Pisano
As recommended by
Giotto
Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Giot ...
to the ''
Arte di Calimala
The Arte di Calimala, the guild of the cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, was one of the greater guilds of Florence, the ''Arti Maggiori'', who arrogated to themselves the civic power of the Republic of Florence during the Late Middle ...
'' (Cloth Merchants Guild), the guild who had the
patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of the Baptistry,
Andrea Pisano
Andrea Pisano (Pontedera 12901348 Orvieto) also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was an Italian sculptor and architect.
Biography
Pisano first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and work ...
was awarded the commission to design the first set of doors in 1329. An antetype for the doors was probably the ''San Ranieri Gate'' of the
Pisa Cathedral
Pisa Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the th ...
, done by
Bonanno Pisano
Bonanno Pisano (Pisa), active in the 1170s and 1180s, was an Italian sculptor, mixing Byzantine and classical elements. Giorgio Vasari attributed the realization of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to him in his ''Vite''. Pisano was born in Pisa and w ...
around 1180. The wax model and the gilding at the end was the work of Andrea Pisano, whereas the bronze-casting was executed by Venetian masters, for whom these monumental doors nevertheless were a difficult challenge; it took six years to complete the doors. The gate wings consist of 28
quatrefoil
A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
panels altogether, with twenty top panels depicting scenes from the life of St.
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
. The eight lower panels represent the
eight virtues of hope, faith, charity (the three
theological virtues
Theological virtues are virtues associated in Christian theology and philosophy with salvation resulting from the grace of God. Virtues are traits or qualities which dispose one to conduct oneself in a morally good manner. Traditionally they hav ...
), humility, fortitude, temperance, justice and prudence (the four
cardinal virtues
The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in both classical philosophy and Christian theology. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term ''cardinal'' comes from the ...
). The south doors were originally installed in 1336 on the east side, facing the Duomo, and were transferred to their present location in 1452.
Ref? Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...
moulded reliefs for the adjusted doorcase. There is a Latin inscription on top of the door: ''Andreas Ugolini Nini de Pisis me fecit A.D. MCCCXXX'' ("Andrea Pisano made me in 1330").
The group of bronze statues above the gate depict ''The Beheading of St John the Baptist''. It is the masterwork of
Vincenzo Danti
Vincenzo Danti (1530 – 26 May 1576) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Perugia.
His father was an architect and goldsmith, and Vincenzo developed an interest in drawing and goldsmithing. In 1545 he went to Rome to study sculpture and ...
from 1571.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
In 1401, a competition was announced by the ''Arte di Calimala'' to design the doors of the east side of the baptistery facing the cathedral, which lasted there for 25 years, before they would eventually be moved to the north side and to be replaced by Ghiberti's second commission, known as the ''Gates of Paradise''.
These north doors would serve as a votive offering to celebrate the sparing of Florence from relatively recent scourges such as the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
in 1348. Many artists competed for this commission and a jury selected seven semi-finalists. These finalists include
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...
,
Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
and
Jacopo della Quercia
Jacopo della Quercia (, ; 20 October 1438), also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of Michelangelo.
...
, 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
The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People), was a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.
Terminology
The word ''bargello'' appears ...
.
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 New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. The eight lower panels show the four evangelists and the Church Fathers
Saint Ambrose,
Saint Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...
,
Saint Gregory
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...
and
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
. The panels are surrounded by a framework of foliage in the door case and gilded busts of
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
s and
sibyl
The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece.
The sibyls prophesied at holy sites.
A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditi ...
s 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
Antonio Paolucci (born 29 September 1939) is an Italian art historian and curator. In 2007 he was appointed director of the Vatican Museums by Pope Benedict XVI, a post he held until 2017 when he was replaced by his former deputy, Barbara Jatta. ...
as "the most important event in the history of Florentine art in the first quarter of the 15th century".
The bronze statues over the northern gate depict ''John the Baptist preaching to a
Pharisee and
Sadducee
The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio- religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Th ...
''. They were sculpted by
Francesco Rustici
Francesco Rustici, called Il Rustichino (Siena, 1592 – Siena, 1626) was an Italian painter active in Siena. He worked on commissions for the local churches as well as from the Grand-Dukes of Tuscany. In his work he shows a preference for noc ...
and are superior to any sculpture he did before.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
is said not only to have given him technical advice, Leonardo never left him during the whole process from the modelling to the casting; the pose of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
resembles that of
Leonardo's depiction of the prophet.
Ghiberti was now widely recognized as a celebrity and the top artist in this field. He was showered with commissions, even from the pope. In 1424 he received a second commission, this time for the east doors of the baptistery, on which he and his workshop (including
Michelozzo and
Benozzo Gozzoli
Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions ...
) toiled for 27 years, excelling themselves. These had ten panels depicting scenes from the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, and were in turn installed on the east side. The panels are large rectangles and are no longer embedded in the traditional Gothic quatrefoil, as in the previous doors. Ghiberti employed the recently discovered principles of perspective to give depth to his compositions. Each panel depicts more than one episode. In "The Story of Joseph" is portrayed the narrative scheme of ''Joseph Cast by His Brethren into the Well'', ''Joseph Sold to the Merchants'', ''The Merchants Delivering Joseph to the Pharaoh'', ''Joseph Interpreting the Pharaoh's dream'', ''The Pharaoh Paying him Honour'', ''Jacob Sends His Sons to Egypt'' and ''Joseph Recognizes His Brothers and Returns Home''. According to
Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
's ''
Lives
Lives may refer to:
* The plural form of a '' life''
* Lives, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* The number of lives in a video game
* '' Parallel Lives'', aka ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', a series of biographies of famous ...
'', this panel was the most difficult and also the most beautiful. The figures are distributed in very low relief in a perspective space (a technique invented by Donatello and called ''rilievo schiacciato'', which literally means "flattened relief"). Ghiberti uses different sculptural techniques, from incised lines to almost free-standing figure sculpture, within the panels, further accentuating the sense of space.
The panels are included in a richly decorated gilt framework of foliage and fruit, many statuettes of prophets and 24 busts. The two central busts are portraits of the artist and of his father, Bartolomeo Ghiberti.
Although the overall quality of the casting is exquisite, some mistakes have been made. For example, in panel 15 of the north doors (''Flagellation'') the casting of the second column in the front row has been mistakenly overlaid over an arm, so that one of the flagellators looks trapped in stone, with his hand sticking out of it.
[ (dead link 29 July 2020)]
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
referred to these doors as fit to be the ''Gates of Paradise'' (), and they are still invariably referred to by this name.
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
described them a century later as "undeniably perfect in every way and must rank as the finest masterpiece ever created". Ghiberti himself said they were "the most singular work that I have ever made".
Preservation of original art
The ''Gates of Paradise'' situated in the Baptistery are a copy of the originals, substituted in 1990 to preserve the panels after over five hundred years of exposure and damage. To protect the original panels for the future, the panels are being restored and kept in a dry environment in the
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, the museum of the Duomo's art and sculpture. Some of the original panels are on view in the museum; the remaining original panels are being restored and cleaned using lasers in lieu of potentially damaging chemical baths. Three original panels made a US tour in 2007-2008, and then were reunited in a frame and hermetically sealed with the intention of making the panels appear in the context of the doors for public viewing.
Several copies of the doors are held throughout the world. One such copy is held at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
, New York. Another copy, made in the 1940s, is installed in
Grace Cathedral, in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
; copies of the doors are also crafted for the
Kazan Cathedral in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
; the
Harris Museum
The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum.
History
In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...
in
Preston,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
; and in 2017 for the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art.
In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...
in Kansas City, Missouri.
Other contributors
The two porphyry columns on each side of the ''Gates of Paradise'' were plundered by the
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
ns in
Majorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
and given in gratitude to the Florentines in 1114 for protecting their city against
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one o ...
while the Pisan fleet was conquering the island.
The ''Gates of Paradise'' are surmounted by a (copy of a) group of statues portraying the ''Baptism of Christ'' by Andrea Sansovino. The originals are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. He then left for Rome to work on a new commission, leaving these statues unfinished. Work on these statues was continued much later in 1569 by Vincenzo Danti, a sculptor from the school of Michelangelo. At his death in 1576 the group was almost finished. The group was finally completed with the addition of an angel by
Innocenzo Spinazzi
Innocenzo Spinazzi (1726–1798) was an Italian sculptor of the Rococo period active in Rome and Florence.
Biography
Born in Rome the son of a silversmith, he became the leading sculptor in Florence, where he died. He was trained by Giovanni Bat ...
in 1792.
Panels
Images from the doors
Reproduction examples
in situ
''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
File:Ghiberti.png, ''Gates of Paradise'', Self-portrait bust of artist
File:AdamEveGhiberti.jpg, ''Gates of Paradise'', ''The Story of Adam and Eve'' (copy at the Baptistery)
File:Abraham (Gates of Paradise) 01.JPG, ''Gates of Paradise'', ''The Story of Abraham''
File:Firenze.Baptistry.door01.JPG, ''Gates of Paradise'', ''The Story of Joseph'' (copy at the Baptistery)
Interior
![Grabmaljohannes13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Grabmaljohannes13.jpg)
The interior, which is rather dark, is divided into a lower part with columns and pilasters and an upper part with a walkway. The Florentines spared neither trouble nor expense in decorating the baptistery. The interior walls are clad in dark green and white marble with inlaid geometrical patterns. The niches are separated by monolithic columns of Sardinian granite. The marble revetment of the interior was begun in the second half of the eleventh century.
The building contains the monumental
tomb of Antipope John XXIII
The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII is the marble-and-bronze tomb monument of Antipope John XXIII (Baldassare Cossa, c. 1360–1419), created by Donatello and Michelozzo for the Florence Baptistry adjacent to the Duomo. It was commissioned ...
by Donatello and
Michelozzo Michelozzi. A gilt statue, with the face turned to the spectator, reposes on a deathbed, supported by two lions, under a canopy of gilt drapery. He had bequeathed several relics and his great wealth to this baptistery. Such a monument with a
baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over h ...
was a first in the Renaissance.
The
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
marble pavement was begun in 1209. The geometric patterns in the floor are complex. Some show us oriental zodiac motifs, such as the slab of the astrologer
Strozzo Strozzi. There was an octagonal font, its base still clearly visible in the middle of the floor. This font, which once stood in the church of Santa Reparata, was installed here in 1128. Dante is said to have broken one of the lower basins while rescuing a child from drowning. The font was removed in 1571 on orders from the grand duke
Francesco I de' Medici
Francesco I (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587) was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 until his death in 1587. He was a member of the House of Medici.
Biography
Born in Florence, Francesco was the son of Cosimo I de' Medic ...
. The present, and much smaller, octagonal font stands near the south entrance. It was installed in 1658 but is probably much older. The reliefs are attributed to
Andrea Pisano
Andrea Pisano (Pontedera 12901348 Orvieto) also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was an Italian sculptor and architect.
Biography
Pisano first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and work ...
or his school.
Mosaic ceiling
![2910FirenzeBattisteroInside](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/2910FirenzeBattisteroInside.JPG)
The Baptistery is crowned by a magnificent mosaic ceiling. It was created over the course of a century in several different phases. The oldest parts are the upper zone of the dome with the hierarchy of angels (2,3), the Last Judgment on the three western segments of the dome (1) and the mosaic above the rectangular chapel on the western side. An inscription in the mosaic above the western rectangular chapel states the date of the beginning of the work and the name of the artist. According to this inscription, work on the mosaic began in 1225 by the Franciscan friar Jacobus. The artist was previously falsely identified to be the Roman mosaicist Jacopo Torriti, who was active around 1300. In accordance with his style, Jacobus was trained in Venice and strongly influenced by the Byzantine art of the early to mid-thirteenth century. Since the inscription also names Emperor Frederick II, the inscription and the completion of the first phase of mosaics must fall within the Ghibelline phase of Florentine rule between 1238 and 1250.
''The Last Judgment'', created by Jacobus and his workshop, was the largest and most important spiritual image created in the Baptistery. It shows a gigantic majestic Christ and angels with the instruments of the passion at each side (formerly attributed to the painter Coppo di Marcovaldo), the rewards of the saved leaving their tomb in joy (at Christ's right hand), and the punishments of the damned (at Christ's left hand). This last part is particularly famous: evil doers are burnt by fire, roasted on spits, crushed with stones, bitten by snakes, gnawed and chewed by hideous beasts.
The other scenes on the lower zones of the five eastern sections of the dome depict different stories in horizontal tiers of mosaic: (starting at the top) stories from the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
; stories of Joseph; stories of Mary and the Christ and finally in the lower tier, stories of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of the church. A total of sixty pictures originated in the last decade of the thirteenth century. The key artists employed were Corso di Buono and
Cimabue
Cimabue (; ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter a ...
. It is the most important narrative cycle of Florentine art before Giotto.
[
In the drum under the dome many heads of prophets are depicted. Some chapels of the gallery are also decorated with mosaic. These parts were executed around 1330 by mosaicists from Siena.
]![Kuppelbap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Kuppelbap.jpg)
See also
* History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
The early domes of the Middle Ages, particularly in those areas recently under Byzantine control, were an extension of earlier Roman architecture. The domed church architecture of Italy from the sixth to the eighth centuries followed that of the ...
References
Footnotes
Citations
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*Mayer, Yakov Z
"Crying at the Florence Baptistery Entrance: A Testimony of a Traveling Jew"
''Renaissance Studies'' Vol. 33 No. 3 2018.
on the private travel guide Florin.ms with detailed text
Over-saturated pictures of the ''Gates of Paradise''
with rather clumsy roll-over visual reference, with identifications and details
on MuseumsinFlorence.com, a private travel guide of German origin
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in 1128
11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Octagonal churches in Italy
Catholic baptisteries
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
Romanesque architecture in Florence
Individual doors
Baptisteries in Italy