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What is it and where is the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Parma
Next to Parma Cathedral stands a tall octagonal building made of pink marble: it is the magnificent Baptistery of St. John. It has three portals and five arches, connected by a band of animals from a medieval bestiary, which, like embroidery, almost belts the monument. Above are four floors of open loggias and a blind loggia as a crowning feature . The first portal has in its lunette the Virgin seated on a throne with the child, the second has as its theme the Day of Judgment, and the third is dedicated to the passage of time. The author of such wonder is Benedetto Antelami, a great architect and sculptor.
Why it is special: description of the interior of the baptistery in Parma
The interior, divided into segments by slender columns that extend into the ribs and accentuate its vertical momentum, is an explosion of color: high up on the dome stand the red sky of love and the blue sky of empyrean, which are reflected in the baptismal font below, a single block of pink four-lobed marble. Apostles and prophets follow, then Christ with Our Lady and St. John. The last two bands contain stories of St. John and Abraham. Two orders of loggias then follow.
Don't miss: Antelami's cycle of the months.
The second contains the months, alternating with the seasons, Antelami's most extraordinary work, a hymn to man's daily activities and a sign of the new times, of Humanism in the making, in which work is no longer a divine curse but a source of dignity. Indeed, they are stately, well-dressed figures of great composure and devoid of signs of fatigue. Curiously, they age over the course of the year, from January youth with the oliphant, the hunting horn, to July, a young man trampling ears of corn with horses yoked, to November, a mature man harvesting turnips, to December, now an old man, chopping wood.
Fun fact: the role of Buffalmacco.
The livelylower part is the work of the same Emilian craftsmen who decorated the dome and consists of frescoed arches, among which those of St. George slaying the dragon and St. Catherine are of interest because they are attributed to Buffalmacco, the witty Florentine painter who was the protagonist of some of Boccaccio's novellas; the arches are then crowned with lunettes in which painting and sculpture coexist, not to be missed is the one on the western portal in which King David plays the harpsichord, surrounded by musicians and dancers; it seems as if we are witnessing a real animated festival.
A bit of history
The baptistery was commissioned from Benedetto Antelami, who began its decoration in 1196. Construction was interrupted because of the lack of marble, the sending of which ceased due to the quarrels between Parma and the lord of Verona, Ezzelino da Romano, and resumed in 1249, with the construction of the dome, in full compliance with Antelami's design, to be completed in 1270.
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