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Battistero (Italy)

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Battistero, {CATEGORY}

Although the Baptistery's precise origins remain unclear, its foundations are known to date back to Roman times. The central doors are stunning works of art, depicting scenes from the Old and New Testament and they have been called The Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo Ghiberti who worked on them from 1403 to 1424 designed these ornate doors. Inside, the octagonal structure is richly decorated with Roman columns and gilded column heads. The floor's marble inlay features Islamic-style patterns and the apse is decorated with 13th-century mosaics. Coppo di Marcovaldo and Cimabue were among those involved in the cupola's decorative mosaic work.

Practical Information

Address: Via della Canonica 1, Florence 50122

City: Florence

Country: Italy

Phone 1: +39 0552302885

Email: opera@operaduomo.firenze.it

Official site: www.operaduomo.firenze.it

Opening hours: Mon-Sat noon-6:30pm. Sun 8:30am-1:30pm

Entrance fee: Admission 3€ ($3.90), free for children under 6

Access by bus: Bus 1, 6, 17, 14, 22, 23, 36, 37, 71

Hotels nearby

36 yd - Duomo View

The Duomo View Hotel is perfectly located for both business and leisure guests to Florence.All hotel's guestrooms have all the conveniences expected in a hotel in its class to suit guests' utmost comfRead moreorts.Each guestroom is fully equipped with hair dryer.Guests staying at this Florence accommodation can enjoy a wide range of hotel facilities such as business center, elevator.For a more enjoyable stay, guests can take advantage of a variety of recreational facilities, including massage.These top-class facilities are complemented to excellent services to meet the needs of visitors to Florence. To proceed with your reservation at the Duomo View Hotel via our secure online booking form, please enter your period of stay.Hide

42 yd - B&B A Casa di Alino

It is situated at Piazza San Giovanni 2 in the north-east section of Florence, at only 10 minutes walking distance from the center.The B&B A Casa di Alino has all the services one would expect of a {sRead moretars} hotel in Florence: n.a.. This establishment is more of a Family hotel .For those going to the airport, Peretola is 4 miles from the hotel which is about 12 minutes by car.Nearby the hotel you can visit several monuments: The Baptistry, Belltower by Giotto, S.Maria del Fiore - Duomo, Medici Riccardi Palace, Strozzi Palace, Santa Maria Novella, Hospital of Innocents, Basilica of Santa Croce, S. Croce, Basilica of San Lorenzo, Rucellai Palace.Hide

42 yd - B&B Residenza Giotto

The B&B Residenza Giotto is located in Florence making it one of the best hotels to stay at while in town.All hotel's guestrooms have all the conveniences expected in a hotel in its class to suit guesRead morets' utmost comforts.The guestrooms are equipped with non smoking rooms, air conditioning, desk, hair dryer, shower, satellite/cable TV, coffee/tea maker.This Florence accommodation contains all of the facilities and conveniences you would expect from a hotel in its class.The hotel creates a balance of rich culture and modern convinience to ensure you a memorable stay. For your reservation at the B&B Residenza Giotto, simply submit your dates and complete our secure online booking form.Hide

46 yd - Hotel De La Ville

The 4-star Hotel De La Ville offers comfort and convinience whether you're on business or holiday in Florence. Offering a variety of facilities and services, the hotel provides all you need for a goodRead more night's sleep. Babysitting, safety deposit boxes, concierge, elevator, restaurant are just some of the facilities on offer. Guestrooms are designed to provide an optimal level of comfort with welcoming decor and convenient amenities like in room safe, satellite/cable TV, daily newspaper, non smoking rooms, hair dryer. Take a break from a long day and make use of massage. Hotel De La Ville combines warm hospitality with a lovely ambiance to make your stay in Florence unforgettable.Hide

51 yd - Tourist House Duomo

With its central location, Tourist House Duomo is within easy reach of most tourist attractions and business addresses in Florence.The Tourist House Duomo boasts a convenient location with modern amenRead moreities in every guestroom and superb service.Each guestroom is tastefully appointed with non smoking rooms, air conditioning, television, shower, separate shower and tub.Guests can experience the high standards of comfort while staying at this luxury Florence hotel with everything they need right on the site such as shops, elevator, business center, car park. This hotel is characterized by a combination of modern comfort and traditional element of Florence, making it a distinct accommodation. To proceed with your booking at the Tourist House Duomo, simply choose your travel dates and fill in our secure online booking form.Hide

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Battistero, {CATEGORY}

In choosing a date to mark the beginning of the Renaissance, art historians often seize on 1401, the year Florence's powerful wool merchant's guild held a contest to decide who would receive the commission to design the North Doors of the Baptistery to match the Gothic South Doors, cast 65 years earlier by Andrea Pisano. The era's foremost Tuscan sculptors each designed and cast a bas-relief bronze panel depicting his own vision of The Sacrifice of Isaac. Twenty-two-year-old Lorenzo Ghiberti, competing against the likes of Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, and Filippo Brunelleschi, won hands down. He spent the next 21 years casting 28 bronze panels and building his doors. Although limited by his contract to design the scenes within Gothic frames as on Pisano's doors, Ghiberti infused his figures and compositions with an unmatched realism and classical references that helped define Renaissance sculpture. (Ghiberti stuck a self-portrait in the left door, the fourth head from the bottom of the middle strip, wearing a turban). The result so impressed the merchant's guild - not to mention the public and Ghiberti's fellow artists - they asked him in 1425 to do the East Doors, facing the Duomo, this time giving him the artistic freedom to realize his Renaissance ambitions. Twenty-seven years later, just before his death, Ghiberti finished 10 dramatic lifelike Old Testament scenes in gilded bronze, each a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and some of the finest low-relief perspective in Italian art. The panels now mounted here are excellent copies, the originals are displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo . Years later, Michelangelo was standing before these doors and someone asked his opinion. His response sums up Ghiberti's life accomplishment as no art historian ever could: "They are so beautiful that they would grace the entrance to Paradise". They've been called the Gates of Paradise ever since. The Baptistery is one of Florence's oldest, most venerated buildings. Florentines long believed it was originally a Roman temple, but it most likely was raised somewhere between the 4th and 7th centuries on the site of a Roman palace. The octagonal drum was rebuilt in the 11th century, and by the 13th century it had been clad in its characteristic green-and-white Romanesque stripes of marble and capped with its odd pyramid-like dome. The interior is ringed with columns pilfered from ancient Roman buildings and is a spectacle of mosaics above and below. The floor was inlaid in 1209, and the ceiling was covered between 1225 and the early 1300s with glittering mosaics. Most were crafted by Venetian or Byzantine-style workshops, which worked off designs drawn by the era's best artists. Coppo di Marcovaldo drew sketches for the over 7.8m (26-ft). high, ape-toed Christ in Judgment and the Last Judgment that fills over a third of the ceiling. To the right of the altar is the 1425 wall tomb of Antipope John XXIII, designed by Michelozzo and Donatello, who cast the bronze effigy of the deceased, deposed pontiff

Battistero, {CATEGORY}

In choosing a date to mark the beginning of the Renaissance, art historians often seize on 1401, the year Florence's powerful wool merchant's guild held a contest to decide who would receive the commission to design the North Doors of the Baptistery to match the Gothic South Doors, cast 65 years earlier by Andrea Pisano. The era's foremost Tuscan sculptors each designed and cast a bas-relief bronze panel depicting his own vision of The Sacrifice of Isaac. Twenty-two-year-old Lorenzo Ghiberti, competing against the likes of Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, and Filippo Brunelleschi, won hands down. He spent the next 21 years casting 28 bronze panels and building his doors. Although limited by his contract to design the scenes within Gothic frames as on Pisano's doors, Ghiberti infused his figures and compositions with an unmatched realism and classical references that helped define Renaissance sculpture. (Ghiberti stuck a self-portrait in the left door, the fourth head from the bottom of the middle strip, wearing a turban). The result so impressed the merchant's guild - not to mention the public and Ghiberti's fellow artists - they asked him in 1425 to do the East Doors, facing the Duomo, this time giving him the artistic freedom to realize his Renaissance ambitions. Twenty-seven years later, just before his death, Ghiberti finished 10 dramatic lifelike Old Testament scenes in gilded bronze, each a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and some of the finest low-relief perspective in Italian art. The panels now mounted here are excellent copies, the originals are displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo . Years later, Michelangelo was standing before these doors and someone asked his opinion. His response sums up Ghiberti's life accomplishment as no art historian ever could: "They are so beautiful that they would grace the entrance to Paradise". They've been called the Gates of Paradise ever since. The Baptistery is one of Florence's oldest, most venerated buildings. Florentines long believed it was originally a Roman temple, but it most likely was raised somewhere between the 4th and 7th centuries on the site of a Roman palace. The octagonal drum was rebuilt in the 11th century, and by the 13th century it had been clad in its characteristic green-and-white Romanesque stripes of marble and capped with its odd pyramid-like dome. The interior is ringed with columns pilfered from ancient Roman buildings and is a spectacle of mosaics above and below. The floor was inlaid in 1209, and the ceiling was covered between 1225 and the early 1300s with glittering mosaics. Most were crafted by Venetian or Byzantine-style workshops, which worked off designs drawn by the era's best artists. Coppo di Marcovaldo drew sketches for the over 7.8m (26-ft). high, ape-toed Christ in Judgment and the Last Judgment that fills over a third of the ceiling. To the right of the altar is the 1425 wall tomb of Antipope John XXIII, designed by Michelozzo and Donatello, who cast the bronze effigy of the deceased, deposed pontiff

Battistero, {CATEGORY}

Although the Baptistery's precise origins remain unclear, its foundations are known to date back to Roman times. The central doors are stunning works of art, depicting scenes from the Old and New Testament and they have been called The Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo Ghiberti who worked on them from 1403 to 1424 designed these ornate doors. Inside, the octagonal structure is richly decorated with Roman columns and gilded column heads. The floor's marble inlay features Islamic-style patterns and the apse is decorated with 13th-century mosaics. Coppo di Marcovaldo and Cimabue were among those involved in the cupola's decorative mosaic work.

Battistero, {CATEGORY}

Although the Baptistery's precise origins remain unclear, its foundations are known to date back to Roman times. The central doors are stunning works of art, depicting scenes from the Old and New Testament and they have been called The Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo Ghiberti who worked on them from 1403 to 1424 designed these ornate doors. Inside, the octagonal structure is richly decorated with Roman columns and gilded column heads. The floor's marble inlay features Islamic-style patterns and the apse is decorated with 13th-century mosaics. Coppo di Marcovaldo and Cimabue were among those involved in the cupola's decorative mosaic work.