The Baptistry
There are 8 images in this gallery.
The Baptistry is the oldest building in the Piazza del Duomo, most famous for the superlative bronze doors crafted by Lorenzo Ghiberti.
The Baptistry of Florence
Ghiberti's Baptistry Doors
Ghiberti's Baptistry Doors ~ detail
Looking closely at the Baptistry Doors, you can see the
images emerge in great relief
A female head decorates the Baptistry Doors
Interior of the Baptistry
These images from the interior of the Baptistry may look like shining frescoes, but they're actually gilt mosaics! The gilding amplifies the meager light inside the Baptistry, and because they're mosaics, they'll never fade. Created to educate the illiterate masses, the mosaics depict a lovely Paradise and a terrifying Hell.
Paradise, Christ the Pantocrater and Hell are portrayed in the mosaic ceiling of the Baptistry
Looking up, a vision of angels greet the newly baptized
