Baptistery (Pisa)
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The Baptistery in Pisa (Italian: Battistero di Pisa ) is the baptistery of the cathedral in Pisa .
The free-standing building was started in 1152 by Diotisalvi as a supplement to the cathedral in Romanesque style on a circular floor plan based on the model of the Anastasis rotunda of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The inside of the building has a two-storey column ring made of 12 pillars and columns, which separates a groin vaulted corridor from the central area under the inner dome. This inner dome consists of a truncated cone that was originally open at the top. After a financial stop at the end of the 12th century, the exterior cladding was continued by Niccolò Pisano in 1260 and by Giovanni Pisano in 1277–1284 . While the first level was still adapted to the style of the cathedral, the second floor was built with blind arcades in the lush Gothic style . The outer segment dome, which partially covers the inner dome, was only built in 1358 by Cellino di Nese and Zibellinus , a master builder from Bologna . A third outside floor was added to the building. In 1394, the open center of the old conical dome was closed with a small vault, which brought the building to its current total height.
The Baptistery in Pisa is the largest baptistery in Christian history. It is 54 meters high and has a circumference of 107 meters.
The copies of the busts visible today above the arcades depict prophets and apostles , the originals of which were created by Giovanni Pisano. At the top of the church is a three-meter-high bronze statue of John the Baptist , which was fixed there at the beginning of the 15th century. The main portal is framed by two pillars decorated with reliefs and tells the life story of John the Baptist .
In the middle of the church is an octagonal baptismal font , created by Guido Bigareli da Como in 1246. In 1929 a statue of John the Baptist was added by Italo Griselli . The marble pulpit in the baptistery was made by Nicola Pisano from 1255 to 1260. Seven pillars support the hexagonal pulpit, in which the lectern is carried by an eagle . You can also see prophets, the five virtues and John the Baptist . On the parapet of the pulpit there are five reliefs with the scenes of the Birth of Jesus , Adoration of the Three Magi , Presentation in the Temple , Crucifixion and the Last Judgment from the life of Christ .
Stairs can be used to access both the gallery on the galleries and under the dome roof. Sketches of the largely destroyed frescoes from Camposanto are exhibited on the perimeter .
The baptistery has a special echo behavior due to its cylindrical construction. Occasionally one of the guards will play several different singing tones, which, in combination with one another, become a sound experience through the echo in the building.
As in many medieval religious buildings, in the Pisan Baptistery, too, special importance is attached to the number symbolism in relation to the number of architectural elements (e.g. columns, supports, etc.) and their number is related to numbers that appear in the Bible. An overview of such numerical interpretations can be found here . The four, eight and twelve are particularly represented in the baptistery.
literature
- Lexicon of Christian Iconography . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau et al. 1968 (1994).
- Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Italian Renaissance. Architecture - sculpture - painting - drawing. Könemann, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-89508-054-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Günter Brucher : The sacred architecture of Italy in the 11th and 12th centuries. DuMont, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7701-1815-4 , pp. 140-141.
