Pisa Baptistery

Pisa Baptistery
Baptistery with thePisa Cathedraland theLeaning Tower of Pisa
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Location
Location	Piazza del Duomo, 23, 56126 Pisa PI, Italy
Shown within Italy
Geographic coordinates	43°43′24″N10°23′38″E
Architecture
Completed	1363

ThePisa Baptistery of St. John(Italian:Battistero di San Giovanni) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical building inPisa,Italy.Construction started in 1152 to replace an olderbaptistery,and when it was completed in 1363, it became the second building, in chronological order, in thePiazza dei Miracoli,near theDuomo di Pisaand the cathedral's free-standingcampanile,the famousLeaning Tower of Pisa.The baptistery was designed byDiotisalvi,whose signature can be read on two pillars inside the building, with the date 1153.

Description

The largest baptistery in Italy, it is 54.86 m high, with a diameter of 34.13 m. The Pisa Baptistery is an example of the transition from theRomanesquestyle to theGothicstyle: the lower section is in the Romanesque style, with rounded arches, while the upper sections are in the Gothic style, with pointedwimpergsand a rich figurative program. Like the cathedral and the campanile the Baptistery is built of bichromaticCarrara marble,white with recurring horizontal lines in blueish-grey stone, also used for abstract floral and graphic decoration, a unique trait of some of the most important religious buildings inTuscany(In the neighboringFlorenceandPistoiathe darkmarmo verdefromPratowas used).

The architrave over the main portal, c. 1200

The north portal, c. 1200.

The eastportalfrom probably around 1200 is facing the facade of the cathedral. The door is flanked by two columns with foliage decoration, a direct copy of a classical model.Engaged with the portal frame are two smaller three-quarter columns with a simpler, less deep floral ornamentation. The inner jambs between each pair of columns are decorated each with eleven figurativereliefsexecuted in Byzantine style. On the left there are depictions of the months (with September and October combined in one panel), beginning with January at the bottom. On the right it begins at the top with theAscension of Christ,then angels, Mary withlifted hands,then the Apostels depicted in pairs looking up, and second to the bottom theHarrowing of Hell;the lowermost relief showsKing David.The tripartite form is conveyed in the arch with three retreatingarchivoltswith theTwenty-Four Eldersin medaillons and theLambas the keystone.

Thearchitraveis divided in two tiers. The upper one is slightly tilted and shows Christ between theMaryandSt. John the Baptist,flanked by angels and the evangelists. The lower tier depicts several episodes in the life of St. John the Baptist, the natural patron of the baptistery: his sermon, the baptism of Christ, his imprisonment on behalf ofHerod,Salomedances before Herod, his subsequent beheading and his burial. The architraves are probably by the same artists who also did the foiled columns and the reliefs on the jambs.

Only the north portal has also figurative decoration on its architrave, picturing the Annunciation toZechariahandSt. Elizabeth,the parents of St. John, flanked by two prophets and two angels in light armour with swords.

The interior

Baptistery interior

The interior is overwhelming and lacks decoration. The octagonal font at the centre dates from 1246 and was made byGuido Bigarelli da Como.The bronze sculpture of St. John the Baptist at the centre of the font is a work byItalo Griselli.

Marble pulpitbyNicola Pisano,1260

Thefamous pulpitwas sculpted between 1255-1260 byNicola Pisano,father ofGiovanni,the artist who produced the pulpit in the Duomo. The scenes on the pulpit, and especially the classical form of the nudeHercules,show Nicola Pisano's qualities as the most important precursor ofItalian Renaissance sculptureby reinstating antique representations: surveys of theItalian Renaissanceoften begin with the year 1260, the year that Nicola Pisano dated this pulpit.

Constructed on the same unstable sand as the tower and cathedral, the Baptistery leans 0.6 degrees toward the cathedral. Originally the shape of the Baptistery, according to the project by Diotisalvi, was different. It was perhaps similar to the church ofHoly Sepulchrein Pisa, with its pyramidal roof. After the death of the architect, Nicola Pisano continued the work, changing the style to the more modern Gothic one. Also, an external roof was added giving the shape of acupola.As a side effect of the two roofs, the pyramidal inner one and the domed external one, the interior is acoustically perfect,making of that space aresonating chamber.

The exterior of the dome is clad with lead sheets on its east side (facing the cathedral) and red tiles on its west side (facing the sea), giving a half grey and half red appearance from the south.

An inscription, currently undeciphered, is located to the left of the door jamb of the Baptistery.

• 
  The Pisa Baptistery
• 
  View from north-east showing the two colours of the dome
• 
  The Pisa Baptistery
• 
  Baptistery font
• 
  Baptistery interior
• 
  Baptistery dome
• 
  Baptistery columns
• 
  A fisheye view of the interior
• Acoustic resonance and reverberation demonstration

See also

• History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
• List of tallest domes

Further reading

• Rory Carroll, "Pisa Baptistery is giant musical instrument, computers show,"
• Pasini, Daria. Ancora sull’epigrafe con triplice invocazione all’arcangelo Michele [Again on the Epigraph with the Triple Invocation to the Archangel Michael].GRADUS: Rivista di Archeologia e di Restauro,10, 1: 18-24, URL:Inscription
• Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco. The Undeciphered Inscription of the Baptistery of Pisa.Academia Letters,3359: 1-6, DOI:https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3359