Description
The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Corte is the Gothic octagon striped in white and green marble that stands on Piazza del Duomo, opposite Pistoia Cathedral. About 40 metres tall, it is counted among the masterpieces of Tuscan Gothic, because Florentine, Pisan and Sienese styles meet in it.
The beauty is above all outside. The banded cladding uses white and green marble brought from Siena, Prato and Carrara, and runs along all eight sides up to the pyramid-shaped dome.
The main portal has an unusual detail: it is topped by a complete triangular pediment, with a pierced rose window in the middle. In the lunette and on the architrave there are sculptures and reliefs showing the Virgin, saints and stories of John the Baptist. The two side portals also have reliefs and capitals carved in marble.
Higher up, below the dome, run a storey of blind arcading and a walkway closed by a balustrade of twisted colonnettes; pinnacles soar at the corners. On the side facing the cathedral there's also a small outdoor pulpit.
Inside, the contrast is sharp. The hall is bare brick, and in the middle stands out the octagonal baptismal font by Lanfranco da Como, with terracotta panels. Beside it is an early 17th-century wooden altar, which came from the Basilica of the Madonna dell'Umiltà.
The font is much older than the building that houses it. The 1975 restoration brought to light the date, 1226, and the sculptor's name, written inside the basin: for centuries they had been hidden under late Baroque additions.
The name comes from the Lombard royal court: the baptistery replaced an old church, Santa Maria in Corte. Locals also call it the “Ritondo”. Rebuilding began in 1301, but the war waged on Pistoia by Lucca and Florence halted the work for years.
Its building site is one of the best documented of the Middle Ages: we know by name the master builders who passed the baton for sixty years. Among them is Cellino di Nese, previously master mason of the Baptistery and the Camposanto in Pisa; newly found documents also mention work by Giovanni Pisano.
Don't miss
• The portal with the rose window in its pediment.
• Lanfranco da Como's baptismal font.
• The outdoor pulpit.
• The wooden altar from the Madonna dell'Umiltà.
Did you know?
• As early as the Middle Ages, the weekly market was held in front of the baptistery on Saturdays.
• The baptistery is no longer used for baptisms and sometimes hosts cultural events.
The beauty is above all outside. The banded cladding uses white and green marble brought from Siena, Prato and Carrara, and runs along all eight sides up to the pyramid-shaped dome.
The main portal has an unusual detail: it is topped by a complete triangular pediment, with a pierced rose window in the middle. In the lunette and on the architrave there are sculptures and reliefs showing the Virgin, saints and stories of John the Baptist. The two side portals also have reliefs and capitals carved in marble.
Higher up, below the dome, run a storey of blind arcading and a walkway closed by a balustrade of twisted colonnettes; pinnacles soar at the corners. On the side facing the cathedral there's also a small outdoor pulpit.
Inside, the contrast is sharp. The hall is bare brick, and in the middle stands out the octagonal baptismal font by Lanfranco da Como, with terracotta panels. Beside it is an early 17th-century wooden altar, which came from the Basilica of the Madonna dell'Umiltà.
The font is much older than the building that houses it. The 1975 restoration brought to light the date, 1226, and the sculptor's name, written inside the basin: for centuries they had been hidden under late Baroque additions.
The name comes from the Lombard royal court: the baptistery replaced an old church, Santa Maria in Corte. Locals also call it the “Ritondo”. Rebuilding began in 1301, but the war waged on Pistoia by Lucca and Florence halted the work for years.
Its building site is one of the best documented of the Middle Ages: we know by name the master builders who passed the baton for sixty years. Among them is Cellino di Nese, previously master mason of the Baptistery and the Camposanto in Pisa; newly found documents also mention work by Giovanni Pisano.
Don't miss
• The portal with the rose window in its pediment.
• Lanfranco da Como's baptismal font.
• The outdoor pulpit.
• The wooden altar from the Madonna dell'Umiltà.
Did you know?
• As early as the Middle Ages, the weekly market was held in front of the baptistery on Saturdays.
• The baptistery is no longer used for baptisms and sometimes hosts cultural events.