Marble slabs from the Baptistery

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Author
Florentine master stonemasons
Date
1170-1199
Collocation
Lapidarium storico
Original location
Baptistery of Saint John
Material
White marble, green marble
Technique
Sculpture, inlay

Fragments of the slabs of theancient baptismal font and of the Romanesque presbytery enclosure of the Baptistery, made by Florentine artisans in the last three decades of the 12th century and then dismantled in 1577. Most of these were found in 1897-1907, reused as material in the roof of the Baptistery and the surrounding area.

The fragments are mostly rectangular panels, single or coupled, in white marble, carved and inlaid in green marble. Most are carved on only one side, with lacunar forms, including geometric frames and raised rosettes, adorned with geometric inlay motifs.

The shape of the ancient baptisimal font is uncertain. Most likely it resembled those still existing in Pisa and Pistoia. The masters who built it were the same ones who worked in the presbytery area and on the pulpit of the Basilica of San Miniato, which is decorated with almost identical slabs. Recently, seven marble slabs of the Baptistery were found in the church of San Francesco, in Sarteano (Siena).

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Lapidarium storico