Baptistry


The Battistero di San Giovanni, Siena. (Photo by Gaspra)

The Siena cathedral's baptistry is a riot of medieval frescoes and a catalog of greatest early Renaissance sculptors

The Baptismal font in the Siena Battistero
The baptismal font (Photo by Francesco Gasparetti).
Down a steep set of stairs behind the Duomo's right flank (just through the arch arch by the Museo Metropolitana), the baptistery's dark ceiling is a phantasmagoria of medeival frecoes—look for the crocodile.

The baptismal font in the center of the room is girded by a who's-who gallery of low-relief bronze panels crafted by the greatest of local late Gothic/early Renaissance sculptors, including Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Arnolfo di Cambio. In order (not of casting, but of the life story of St. John the Baptist), the panels are:

  • "Annunciation to Zacharias" by Jacopo della Quercia (1428-1429)
  • "Birth of John the Baptist" by Giovanni di Turino (1427)
  • "Baptist Preaching" by Giovanni di Turino (1427)
  • "Baptism of Christ" by Ghiberti (1427)
  • "Arrest of John the Baptist" by Ghiberti and Giuliano di Ser Andrea
  • "The Feast of Herod" by Donatello (1427)

The Banquet Feast of Herod by Donatello (1427) on the baptisaml font in Siena's Battistero
Feast of Herod, Donatello (1427).
Pay particular attention to that last panel, Dontaello's Feast of Herod, which arguably marks the first use of perspective in art. In this case, Donatello etched thin lines into the bronze to create the illusion that the (extremely low) relief extends back into space. This was less 3D sculpting than it was simply drawing on the flat bronze surface; it would be years before painters like Masaccio adapted the same technique to fresco.

Tips

Details

Battistero di San Giovanni
Piazza San Giovanni (behind the Duomo, where Via Franciosa and Via Fusari meet to become Via Pellegrini)
tel. +39-0577-286-300
www.operaduomo.siena.it

Open
Mar 1–Nov 2 daily 10:30am–7pm
Nov 3–Feb 28 daily 10:30am–5:30pm (to 7pm Dec 26–Jan 6)

Adm
Combo Pass: Covers entire Duomo group for half-price. » book

How long does the baptistery take?

Planning your day: You can give the Battistero a quick look-see in about 10–15 minutes.

Get the combo pass or cumulative ticket

Siena Cathedral Combo Pass - The pass covers entry to the entire Duomo grouping for about half the cost of individual admissions to: the Duomo (normally €3; or €6 when the panels are uncovered), Crypt (€8), Baptistery (€3), Museo dell'Opera (€6), and Oratorio of San Bernardino (€3). » book

Then there are the cumulative tickets that cover any of the following combinations of sights:

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Details
Battistero di San Giovanni
Piazza San Giovanni (behind the Duomo, where Via Franciosa and Via Fusari meet to become Via Pellegrini)
tel. +39-0577-286-300
www.operaduomo.siena.it

Open
Mar 1–Nov 2 daily 10:30am–7pm
Nov 3–Feb 28 daily 10:30am–5:30pm (to 7pm Dec 26–Jan 6)

Adm
Combo Pass: Covers entire Duomo group for half-price. » book


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