Florence - The Cathedral Square and the surrounding buildings
Florence Baptistry - Piazza di San Giovanni ....
Battistero di Firenze
The
Baptistry is one of the oldest buildings in
Florence Scholars think that in the V century a Romanesque baptistry was built on the ruines of a Roman temple.
The exterior presents green and white marble decorations, typical of Florentine Romanesque buildings.
Particularly valuable are its three bronze doors, formed by a series of panels representing the history of Mankind and its Redemption. The south door is the most ancient. The sculptor Andrea Pisano terminated it in 1336.
Lorenzo Ghiberti designed the north door, whose panels represent the four evangelists and episodes of the New Teastament.
After having finished the north door, Ghiberti dedicated to the east door. It took him 28 years to finish it. The bas-reliefs reproduce scenes of the Old Testament.
This magnificent door excited Michelangelo`s admiration. The famous artist maintained that this masterpiece deserved to be called
Gate of Paradise door, as it is still known.
The panels in the
Baptistry are reproductions of the originals, which are now in the
Museum Opera Duomo
The interior of the
Baptistry is similar to the one of the Pantheon in Rome. The golden mosaics decorating the dome are the most striking element of the interior.
The works for the mosaics in the apsis began in 1225. Famous Tuscan artists, including Cimabue, made the designs, which Venetian craftsmen transformed into mosaics. It took them 23 years to complete their work.
Along the wall to the right of the apsis there is Baldassarre Cossa`s grave. Baldassarre Cossa is better known as Antipope John XXIII. Even though he had fallen in disgrace, he still had important acquaintances and Cosimo de` Medici commissioned an impressive sepulchral monument for him. The grave is by Donatello.
