Florence Baptistery facts for kids
The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni), is a very old and important religious building in Florence, Italy. It's named after John the Baptist, who is the patron saint of Florence. For hundreds of years, this building has been a central place for religious events, city life, and amazing art. It stands in two main squares, the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza San Giovanni, right between the main Florence Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace.
Long ago, babies in Florence were baptized here in big groups on special days like Holy Saturday and Pentecost. They used a large font with five basins in the middle of the building. As time went on, people started baptizing babies individually soon after they were born. This meant they didn't need as much equipment. Around 1370, a smaller font was made, which is still used today. The original large font was taken apart in 1577 to make space for big celebrations. Many Florentines were sad about this at the time.
The Baptistery is still a key spot for Florence's most important religious events. This includes the Festival of Saint John on June 24, which is still a holiday in the city. In the past, the Baptistery also held symbols of Florence and the towns it had taken over. It was a place to celebrate achievements, like winning horse races during festivals. The famous poet Dante Alighieri was baptized here. He once hoped to return as a poet and receive a special laurel crown at his baptismal font. The city walls, started in 1285, might have been planned so the Baptistery would be exactly in the center of Florence. This was like the idea of a temple at the heart of the New Jerusalem mentioned in the Bible.
The design of the Baptistery was inspired by the Pantheon, an ancient Roman temple. People have noticed this for over 700 years. However, the Baptistery is also a very unique artistic creation. Experts say its overall look is unlike any other building. This uniqueness has made the Baptistery's origins a mystery for centuries. Some thought it was originally a Roman temple, or an early Christian church built by Roman builders. Today, most experts agree it was built in the 11th or 12th century, during a time called "proto-Renaissance" (meaning "early Renaissance"). For Filippo Brunelleschi, a famous architect, it was almost a perfect building. It inspired his studies of perspective and his approach to architecture.
The Baptistery is also famous for its amazing artworks. These include beautiful mosaics and three sets of bronze doors with detailed sculptures. Andrea Pisano created the south doors. Lorenzo Ghiberti led the workshops that made the north and east doors. Michelangelo himself said the east doors were so beautiful that "they might fittingly stand at the gates of Paradise." The building also holds the first funerary monument (a tomb) from the Renaissance, made by Donatello and Michelozzo.
Contents
History of the Baptistery
How Old Is It?
For a long time, people in Florence believed the Baptistery was an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the god Mars. They also thought it was a sign of the city's rebirth after attacks by the Ostrogoths. However, in the 1800s, people started to doubt these stories. Digs showed that a large house, not a temple, was on this spot in Roman times. A burial ground from around the 7th century was also found under part of the building.
Sadly, no old documents about the Baptistery's construction have survived. Some old writings mention a church of Saint John the Baptist. But the old Cathedral, known as Santa Reparata, was also sometimes called the church of Saint John the Baptist. So, it's hard to know for sure which building they were talking about.
Today, most experts agree that the Baptistery was built in the 11th or 12th century. This is based on how it was built and its architectural style. It has been hard to figure out an exact date because of some confusing information from an old book written in 1684. This book said that Pope Nicholas II blessed the Baptistery in 1059. It also said a baptismal font was brought into the building in 1128. Experts found it difficult to understand why there were two completion dates almost 70 years apart. Many thought one of the dates must be wrong.
In the 2020s, new research into the old writings showed that neither of these claims was true. The Baptistery was not blessed in 1059, and no font was brought in in 1128. The book from 1684 has been found to have errors before.
So, to figure out the Baptistery's age, experts now look only at the building itself and its historical setting. In the 1930s, a study of Florentine stone-cutting and building methods showed that the lower parts of the Baptistery were built like other churches from the 1060s or 1070s. It was not as refined as later parts of San Miniato al Monte, which were built between 1077 and 1115.
Why the 1070s?
A new idea from 2024 suggests the Baptistery was built in the early 1070s. It might have been a team effort between the rulers of the March of Tuscany and the pope. These were powerful people who could afford such a big and expensive building. It would have been too much for a small city like Florence in the 11th century. Ranieri, the bishop of Florence appointed around 1072 or 1073, probably oversaw the construction. His tomb is honored inside the building.
This idea is supported by the way the building was made and by an interesting discovery from the 1970s. Digs under the Piazza del Duomo found two lime kilns (ovens for making cement). Tests on charcoal from these kilns showed they were used around 1073. Since the cathedral had been worked on from the mid-1030s to mid-1050s, experts weren't sure what big project these kilns served later. Now that the 1059 blessing story is gone, it seems very possible they were used for the Baptistery.
Building the Baptistery at this time would make sense historically. In the 1060s, some reformist monks accused the bishop of Florence of simony. This meant he supposedly bought his position with money. Many Florentines believed these accusations. They even refused to accept the holy oil the bishop blessed for their children's baptisms, seeking baptisms elsewhere. This went on for three years until 1068. A monk then went through a trial by fire to prove the monks were right. He survived, making the bishop's position impossible, and the bishop left Florence that summer.
In the early 1070s, Beatrice of Lorraine and her daughter Matilda of Tuscany ruled the March of Tuscany. They were close allies with Pope Alexander II (who died in 1073) and Pope Gregory VII (pope from 1073-1085). These powerful figures could not only support a huge building project, but they also had a reason to. Florence was an important center for government and religion. A grand new baptistery would help bring back respect for the Florentine bishop. It would also make sure he oversaw the baptisms of Florentine babies on Holy Saturday, as church rules required.
The Baptistery's design, which reminds people of the Pantheon, also supports the idea that the pope was involved. In the 11th century, the Pantheon, which had become a church, was only used for the most important holidays. Only the pope himself celebrated mass there. Also, popes at this time were very interested in the old Roman Empire. Pope Alexander II supported building another church in Lucca that used old Roman columns. Pope Gregory VII consecrated a church in Rome in 1073 that used an old pagan altar for Christian use. Church writings even compared Pope Gregory to Julius Caesar. Gregory himself wrote that the Church's reach was now bigger than the Roman Empire's. The Church also believed in the Donation of Constantine, a document that supposedly gave the pope the power of the Roman emperor. This justified the pope being equal to or above the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany. If interest in ancient Roman style had just happened naturally in Florence, we would expect more Florentine churches to look like ancient buildings. But later parts of the Baptistery, built only a generation or two later, show a more typical medieval style with lots of geometric and detailed decorations. This is very different from the simple inside of the Pantheon.
Who Designed It?
Some experts think the same architect designed the Baptistery, Santi Apostoli, and San Miniato al Monte because their styles are similar. The design of San Miniato (started in 1077) is similar to a demolished church in Rome that Pope Gregory VII blessed in 1073. This could mean the Baptistery's architect came from the pope's group in Rome. The Baptistery also has a special window design that is seen on a church in Umbria. This might mean the architect had visited that area.
Why Eight Sides?
The octagon (eight-sided shape) was a common design for baptisteries since early Christian times. Other old examples include a baptistery found under Milan Cathedral and the Lateran Baptistery in Rome. The eight sides were very meaningful. As one expert, Timothy Verdon, explains, "while man’s earthly life unfolds in units of finite time like the week with its seven days, in Baptism believers pass over into eternal life, beyond measurable time. They enter into the ‘eighth day’."
Even though the Pantheon is round, it can be divided into eight sections. This made it easy to use its ideas for an eight-sided building.
How It Was Built
An old writer named Giovanni Villani wrote that the small tower on top of the dome, called a lantern, was finished in 1150. This is the first known example of such a feature in architecture history.
Digs show that the building originally had a rounded end, called a semicircular apse. An old record said that the current straight end, called a scarsella, was started in 1202. However, this record cannot be checked. Since the lantern was installed in 1150, it means there was already a wide dome. This dome likely wouldn't have survived if a rounded apse was removed from under it later. So, the scarsella might actually have been built a little before 1150.
Thick walls under the Baptistery's floor form an inner octagon. Its size is similar to the innermost part of the Baptistery's floor design. The purpose of these walls is not clear. Some experts think they were part of a smaller baptistery that was there before the current one. Others think they enclosed a basin for full-immersion baptisms, or that they held up a ring of columns, like in the Lateran Baptistery or Santo Sepolcro, Pisa.
Florence definitely had a baptistery before this one. But whether it was in the same spot, or somewhere else near the cathedral, is still being discussed.
Outside the Baptistery
Design and Decorations
The Baptistery has eight sides. They are decorated with classical architectural parts and marble patterns in white and green-black. The straight end (the scarsella) sticks out from the west side. The other sides each have three fake arches. The arches on the corner sides are all the same size. The arches on the sides with doors have a larger central arch. Inside these arches are windows that look like the small shrines inside the Pantheon. Different types of marble are used, mostly white Carrara marble and a green-black stone from Prato. The design of this church was a big influence for Renaissance architects like Filippo Brunelleschi and Leone Battista Alberti.
The striped corners were not part of the original design. They were added in 1293 when work on the new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, began. They covered the sandstone blocks that made up the building's structure. The two porphyry columns next to the "Gates of Paradise" were taken by people from Pisa from Majorca. They gave them to the Florentines in 1117 as a thank you for protecting their city. As a painted chest in the Bargello museum shows, these columns originally stood freely in the Piazza del Duomo. They were badly damaged in a storm in 1424 and moved to their current spot a few years later.
The painting on the chest also shows how the Baptistery looked in medieval times. There were groups of statues by Tino di Camaino above each door. The statues that survived are now in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. A statue called Charity in the Museo Bardini might also be from this group.
During the Renaissance, new groups of sculptures were ordered. Above the east door, there was a Baptism of Christ. Andrea Sansovino started it in 1505, Vincenzo Danti continued it in 1568-1569, and Innocenzo Spinazzi finished it in 1792. Above the north door, there was a Baptist Preaching by Francesco Rustici (1506-11). This work was greatly influenced by Rustici’s friend Leonardo da Vinci, who also painted this subject. Above the south door, there was Vincenzo Danti's Beheading of the Baptist (1569-70). Today, all three groups are in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Only the Baptism of Christ has been replaced by a copy. The spaces above the other two doors are now empty.
Above the main two levels of the outside, set back a bit, is an attic level. This was probably finished in the 1130s. It contains what Brunelleschi called the "only error" in the building. A horizontal stone beam that bends to become vertical, which goes against the rules of classical architecture.
The Famous Doors
The three huge sets of doors made for the Baptistery are masterpieces of Gothic and Renaissance art. They are now kept safely in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Copies, made between 1990 and 2009, now hang at the Baptistery in the original door frames. Each set of doors shows Bible stories in a different way. Some tell stories across the doors, from top to bottom. Others are one big picture across two doors, reading bottom to top. And one set has two large columns of scenes, reading left to right and top to bottom.
Andrea Pisano: South Doors
In the 1320s, a powerful guild (a group of merchants) called the Arte di Calimala decided to decorate the Baptistery. They wanted a set of doors for the south entrance. This was the door where parents bringing babies for baptism were thought to enter. By 1329, they decided on a very ambitious plan. It was inspired by doors made for Pisa Cathedral 150 years earlier, which were still considered the best. Andrea Pisano made wax models for bronze sculptures, which were then made by Venetian artists and covered in gold. The year they started, 1330, is written above the doors. They took six years to finish. The historian Giovanni Villani was in charge of the project, which he later remembered proudly.
The doors show twenty scenes from the life of John the Baptist, Florence's patron saint. They are made of gilded bronze. Many scenes were clearly inspired by the fifteen scenes from his life shown on the mosaic ceiling inside, or by three scenes painted by Giotto in the nearby Peruzzi Chapel. One expert called it a "visual epic," where the hero tries to reach his goal, suffers, and triumphs even in death. The bottom two rows of the doors show hope, faith, charity (three important Christian values), and humility, strength, moderation, justice, and wisdom (four important human qualities).
The sculptures have small figures that look very important. Emotions are shown clearly but not too strongly, like in the scene where the Baptist's sad followers bury him. Even though the four-leaf clover shapes around the scenes might have been added by another artist, Andrea Pisano found ways to work within them. For example, the buildings and clothes in the funeral scene fit artfully into the shape. Another expert, Kenneth Clark, noted that Andrea's style is "profoundly human." He said that while Giotto's people are types, Andrea's are individuals.
The frame around the doors was finished over a century later by the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s son, Vittorio. It shows Adam and Eve after they sinned, and baby Cain and Abel fighting. Below them are flowers and fruits that symbolize the original sin that baptism was believed to remove.
Lorenzo Ghiberti's Doors
Lorenzo Ghiberti made two sets of doors for the Baptistery. An art historian called the making of the first set "the most important event in the history of Florentine art in the first quarter of the fifteenth century." He called the second set "one of the great moments in the history of art."
North Doors
In 1401, the Arte di Calimala guild asked seven sculptors from Tuscany to create a sculpture of the Sacrifice of Isaac. They promised that the best one would get a big job: making sculptures for a new set of doors on the east side of the Baptistery. The amazing works by Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, now in the Museo del Bargello, are often seen as the start of the Renaissance in Western art. Ghiberti won the job. It's not completely clear if all 34 judges agreed he was the winner, as he said. Or if they were tied between him and Brunelleschi, as a biography of Brunelleschi written 80 years later claimed.
In November 1403, the guild signed a contract with the 25-year-old Ghiberti. His work was mostly done by summer 1416. But he continued to lead the project until the doors were put in place on Easter Sunday of 1424. This 21-year project was extremely expensive. It cost as much as Florence's yearly defense budget and almost as much as Florence paid to buy the entire city of Sansepolcro a few years later. Ghiberti's salary was similar to that of a manager of a Medici bank.
Above eight panels showing the Four Evangelists and important Church Fathers, the life of Christ from the New Testament is told in twenty panels. They read from bottom to top, showing the "upward path of salvation." One expert writes that "Ghiberti’s Christ is a dignified, resigned, almost aloof Messiah, whose attitude and behavior have consistently an overtone of sadness and separateness."
In these doors, Ghiberti seems to move from the International Gothic style to the ideas of the Renaissance. On one hand, Ghiberti uses flowing lines and works carefully within the medieval four-leaf clover shape. He doesn't refer much to ancient art in most panels. However, he is also an innovator. He overcomes the limits of his design by creating a new sense of depth. He does this through foreshortening (making things look shorter to show depth), flowing clothes, different levels of carving, and buildings angled away from the viewer. And in a few panels thought to be made later, like the Flagellation, Ghiberti shows a strong interest in ancient sculptures and buildings. The panels are surrounded by a frame of leaves and fruit on the door case. There are also gilded busts of prophets and wise women, as well as a self-portrait of Ghiberti in his middle age, where the panels meet.
East Doors ("Gates of Paradise")
As soon as the first set of doors was finished, the Arte di Calimala guild asked the great scholar Leonardo Bruni for a plan for another set. These new doors would show stories from the Old Testament. Bruni imagined at least 24 panels, similar to the other doors. Ghiberti, who was now widely known for his great talent, was given the job at the beginning of 1425. By 1429, when work started, he had convinced his patrons to agree to a completely new design. This design had ten large panels without the four-leaf clover shapes. Each panel was big enough to show many different events. Every panel would be completely covered in gold, making it look more unified than earlier doors where the background was just bare bronze.
This project would end up costing almost as much as the first set of doors, but it was even more beautiful. The first set of doors, which originally faced the Cathedral, was moved to the north entrance so these new "Gates of Paradise" could take their place.
The stories shown begin with the Creation of Adam and Eve and end with the meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Beyond their simple meaning, they might also show the religious ideas of the future bishop of Florence, Antoninus. For example, the importance of Eve's creation in the first panel might refer to Antoninus’ idea that the Church was created from humanity in a similar way. For another expert, George Robinson, the stories of Jacob and Esau, Joseph, the Battle of Jericho, and David and Goliath have political meanings. He suggests they show that "if the Israelites were to survive… they had to be united despite conflict, and were obliged to allow power and authority to find its place in the hands of the young and untested."
Work on these doors lasted from 1429 until 1447. A large workshop was involved, including Ghiberti’s sons Vittorio and Tommaso, Benozzo Gozzoli, Luca della Robbia, Michelozzo, and Donatello. Together, they learned how to combine different styles. They also put into practice new ideas like linear perspective and the art theories developed by Leon Battista Alberti. As an expert writes, the workshop that made these doors was "the meeting point of differing cultural traditions and stylistic experiences, mediated and transfigured by the refined eclecticism of Lorenzo Ghiberti, by his extraordinary capacity for cultivating both the antique and the modern at the same time, for working within the gothic tradition yet also within renaissance trends."
One of the most impressive panels tells the story of Jacob and Esau. It slowly unfolds from the background (Rebecca praying about the twins in her womb at the upper right) to the foreground (just off-center, Esau, who was tricked out of his birthright, confronts his father Isaac). This scene follows many of Alberti’s rules. It is set in an architectural space seen with linear perspective. The Corinthian columns refer to ancient buildings. The clothes are sculpted to show the beauty of the bodies underneath. And the figures' movements are harmonious within the space.
The panels are surrounded by a richly decorated gold frame of leaves and fruit. There are also many small statues of prophets and 24 busts. Lorenzo Ghiberti again included a self-portrait. An expert, Kenneth Clark, suggests that the "serious young man, intently contemplating his visions, has become a wily old bird, accustomed to all the deceptions of the world, and remembering them half-humorously."
Copies of the Doors
Several copies of the doors exist around the world. One copy is at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Another copy, made in the 1940s, is in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Copies were also made for the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia; the Harris Museum in Preston, United Kingdom; and in 2017 for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
An old writer named Giorgio Vasari claimed to have seen models Ghiberti made for a third set of doors. Ghiberti had hoped these would replace Andrea Pisano’s doors.
Door Panels: What They Show
South doors (Andrea Pisano):
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North doors (Lorenzo Ghiberti):
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=Images for kids
Here are some examples of the door panels as they look today at the Baptistery (these are copies).
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North doors, Self-portrait of Ghiberti.
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Gates of Paradise, Self-portrait of Ghiberti about two decades later.
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Gates of Paradise, The Story of Adam and Eve (copy at the Baptistery).
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Gates of Paradise, The Story of Abraham.
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Gates of Paradise, The Story of Joseph (copy at the Baptistery).
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Inside the Baptistery
The inside of the dome, with its grand columns and niches, looks like the Pantheon. The huge columns used here could not have been made in the 11th and 12th centuries. So, they must have been taken from ancient buildings, probably public or religious structures in the old Roman forum. This forum was located where the present Piazza della Repubblica is now. The walls are covered in dark green and white marble with geometric patterns. A shorter gallery level with double windows is decorated with many geometric and detailed designs.
The building contains the grand tomb of Antipope John XXIII by Donatello and Michelozzo Michelozzi. A golden statue, with its face turned towards the viewer, rests on a deathbed. It is supported by two lions under a golden cloth canopy. This person had given many holy items and his great wealth to this baptistery. Such a monument with a baldachin (a canopy over an altar or throne) was a first in the Renaissance.
The marble floor is made up of many different sections, each with its own design. Some are geometric, others show figures. A zodiac (a circle of animal signs), similar to one on the floor of San Miniato al Monte from 1207, was once thought to have a meaning related to stars. But this is now considered unlikely. The floor was probably made during the 12th century. According to old writings from the 1600s, adults would place children on a porphyry (a type of rock) disc in the southeast part of the floor just before baptism.
The current eight-sided baptismal font, which has the year 1370 carved on it, stands near the south entrance. Its sculptures are thought to be by Tuscan artists who worked with Orcagna.
The altar is a rebuilt version of the original 12th-century altar. It was taken apart in 1731. But pieces were saved, along with drawings showing how they originally looked. This altar inspired Brunelleschi’s altar for the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo.
The Mosaic Ceiling
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The Baptistery has a magnificent mosaic ceiling in an Italo-Byzantine style. Most experts believe it was completed between about 1240 and 1300. There were many stops and starts due to political problems at the time. The work uses around ten million tiny mosaic pieces.
The great artist who drew the designs for the six-meter-high Christ Sitting in Judgment (1) and parts of the elegant canopy in the center (2) seems to be an unknown master. This artist is also known for a large Crucifix in the Uffizi gallery and other works. The second level of mosaics (3), showing Christ, angels, and other heavenly figures, also seems to reflect his work. Two important artists who fought in the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, Meliore di Jacopo and Coppo di Marcovaldo, also worked on this section. Meliore likely also drew the plans for the Madonna, apostles, and angels to the left of Christ (1) before 1270.
Christ is shown overseeing an enormous Last Judgment. These mosaic tiles were put in place when Dante was a child. Paradise, on Christ’s right side, is mostly still, with only a few moving parts. Meliore and Coppo di Marcovaldo, among other artists, helped design this section.
Below Christ’s left hand, the damned (those going to Hell) come out of coffins. Devils lead lost souls into Hell, which is full of movement, twisted bodies, and expressions of pain. Coppo di Marcovaldo designed the best parts of this scene, including the disgusting figure of Satan. Satan's pose seems to make fun of Christ in Judgment. Coppo’s workshop, including his son Salerno di Coppo, created the rest.
The Last Judgment covers the main part of three of the dome's eight sections. The other five sections, meant to be seen facing the Gates of Paradise and looking from left to right, have four levels of stories. These show the beginning of the Book of Genesis (4); the life of Joseph (5); the lives of Mary and Christ (6); and the life of Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of the church and the city (7).
The stories in the first of these sections probably date from 1270–75. They have been repaired and restored over many centuries. But generally, the upper Old Testament stories seem to be from the workshop that included Salerno, Coppo di Marcovaldo’s son. The New Testament stories below show a more natural style, similar to Cimabue, an artist known for a crucifix at San Miniato al Monte.
Whether Cimabue himself worked on these mosaics has been debated since the 1920s. Recent studies tend to agree that he did. Experts have found his style in scenes like the Fall of Man, the Rebuke of the Creator, the Expulsion from Paradise, Joseph Sold by His Brothers, the False Report of Joseph’s Death, Joseph Led into Egypt, the Birth and Naming of the Baptist, and the Young St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness. All of these are dated to the mid-1270s. For example, the figure of Adam in the Rebuke of the Creator is compared to the face of the Christ child in Cimabue’s famous Maestà painting, now in the Louvre museum.
Cimabue might have worked with, or was followed by, Corso di Buono. Corso is known from signed and dated paintings in a church in Montelupo Fiorentino. Corso and his workshop were responsible for the rest of the scenes in the northeast and eastern sections. Several scenes in the southeast section fell down in 1819 and had to be remade. But others in better condition suggest the work of Corso and Grifo di Tancredi.
The remaining scenes have been linked to unknown artists called the Penultimate Master and the Last Master. However, one expert identifies another master who finished the last three scenes of St. John’s life. He believes these were designed around 1300. This is because of the soft way the figures are shaped, the detailed architectural settings, and the clothing details.
Below the main dome, mixed with rectangular openings, are mosaic pictures of saints, popes, bishops, and martyr deacons. On the outside of the gallery-level railings are busts of important religious figures, all from the early 1300s. Artists involved included Gaddo Gaddi and the Penultimate Master. Also from this time are the mosaics inside the galleries, first those above the south door, then those above the east door. These can be linked to Gaddo Gaddi and Lippo di Benivieni.
The mosaics in the scarsella (the straight end of the building) are especially hard to date and categorize by style. Prophets and saints appear on the arch leading to the altar area. On the ceiling inside, we see four figures supporting a large wheel. This wheel surrounds prophets and important religious leaders, with a mystic lamb in the center. John the Baptist and the Madonna and Child are on either side. One expert highlights the amazing quality of these mosaics:
"What strong expression in the serious and thin face of the Baptist! What moving and fearful emotion in the young face of Thaddeus, framed by his wild curly hair! What richness in the way lights and darks are placed in the shaping of St. Thomas' head. What care in showing the sharp and intense face of St. Paul, shaded with soft color changes, and made lively with bright highlights!"
Making these designs was not always easy. One document mentions that two mosaic artists had to be removed from the job for not being professional. New skilled mosaic artists had to be found quickly in Venice or elsewhere.
Since 2023, the mosaic ceiling is being restored again. It is expected to be finished in 2028.
See also
- History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
