Siena Cathedral Baptistery Font (Siena, Italy) : Detail of the lower portion of the font, one of the bronze Virtues

Creator:

Della Quercia, Jacopo, ca. 1372-1438
Donatello, ca. 1386-1466
Ghiberti, Lorenzo, ca. 1381-1455

Published/Created:

Siena Cathedral, Siena, Tuscany, Italy
1416-1431

Date Depicted:

ca. 1990's
500 AD - 1499 AD

Materials:

bronze
marble
stone

Notes:

In the early 15th century a new type of font developed. This so-called Renaissance font is approached by a flight of steps, at the top of which is a polygonal, square or round basin, supported on a pedestal and covered by a lid. The side of the basin and the lid are usually ornamented. The most influential design in the type's development was the new font (1416-1431) for the Siena Baptistery, on which Lorenzo Ghiberti was commissioned to advise, with decoration by Ghiberti, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia. This was innovative in its structure, with a lidless basin and a tabernacle, and in its combination of bronze and marble. The hexagonal basin bears six gilded bronze reliefs of the Life of St John the Baptist, separated by six free-standing bronze Virtues set in shallow marble niches. Gold and azure blue enamelled friezes and inscriptions decorate the rim of the basin and the steps. A cluster of columns in the middle of the basin supports the hexagonal marble tabernacle, which is fashioned after Florentine models. On five sides there is the figure of an Apostle, set within a niche, while on the sixth there is a small door, behind which are stored the baptismal ointments. Putti crown the corners of the tabernacle, and above these rise columns supporting a statue of St John the Baptist.

Variant Titles:

Battistero di San Giovanni: Font

Topics:

Architecture -- Italy -- 15th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Renaissance

Culture:

Italian

Accession Number:

1A2-I-S-B-3-A3

Genre:

architecture (AAT)
baptisteries (AAT)
churches: cathedrals (AAT)
containers: liturgical vessels: baptismal basins (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Furnishings & Decorative Arts
Sculptures, Models, & Architecture
Tools, Equipment & Instruments

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

cycles or series; New Testament; saints; John, the Baptist, Saint carving ; casting architectural elements; fonts (religious building fixtures); visual works; sculpture (visual work); visual works; sculpture (visual work); reliefs (sculptures); bas-relief

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Module Two

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
ca. 1990's

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4152

OID:

10168240

PID:

digcoll:1822852