May 5th - The Baptistery

The Baptistery is an 11th-century building that was constructed in front of Florence's famous Duomo Cathedral. Named after St. John the Baptist, the Baptistery was created to house the baptisms of all the children in Florence. The building itself was constructed in the same Tuscan-Romanesque style as San Miniato (with green and white marble architecture), but its shape was that of an octagon. The 8-sided structure was representative of the 8th day, the religious concept of the day without dawn or twilight. In addition, the number 8, when turned on its side, becomes the symbol for eternity, and eternal life. In the past, the Baptistery would have been encircled by a cemetery, also known as the "realm of death." This was a symbol of mortality for those who were passing through, a reminder of the fragility of life, the inevitability of death and thus the importance of baptism. Nowadays, the Baptistery is at the core of Florence, in the buzzing epicenter of the tourist district. It is hard to really get the feel of this somber "realm of death" in present times when the building is surrounded by tourists and souvenir carts. In fact, had we not been told, I never would have known what lay beneath the cobblestones.



Another important component of the Baptistery is its bronze doors. There are three sets of doors- one created by Andrea Pisano, and two by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The doors represent a feat in casting, as creating doors out of bronze was a relatively new art at the time of their construction in 15th century Florence. Ghiberti's doors are a culmination of his life's work- he beat out the great architect Brunelleschi and spent the larger portion of his career creating and fine-tuning them. I was awestruck to see up close the level of detail that went into each and every panel of the doors (and there are twenty panels total). Every aspect is carefully thought out and planned, from which scenes are displayed to the hierarchical order in which each panel should fall (according to who was most important and closest to Jesus - those images would be placed at the top of the door). Ghiberti's use of composition, style and space are incomparable, and show are real development in the innovation of art during the Renaissance. He moved away from simple, static images and gave his scenes a breath of life- as if they were suspended on the verge of movement, and not just statues.