Florence
A visit to Florence Baptistery is a must for any tourist. Its balanced geometrial layout is really impressive as well as the integration of Romanesque and Paleochristian architecture, developed from the 11th to the 13th century, expressed by the white and green marble coming from Prato. In the Middle Ages it was believed a Roman pagan temple dedicated to Mars.
For sure Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti made the gilded bronze doors. The East door by Ghiberti is a masterpiece of the artist, combining the rhythms of the late gothic period to a new classical style and is known as “gate of Paradise”.
Above and on the doors the scuptures and basreliefs are also recognised as somee of the most important works made in Tuscany, one of them is due to Andrea Sansovino himself.
Byzantine artists from Venice and Tuscan masters like Cimabue, Giotto’s mentor, contributed to the interior decoration: the mosaics with guilded background in factdate back in a period between 1266 and early the 14th century. The inlaid froor itself dates back in a period that goes from the 12th to the early 13th century.
And, next to the Baptistery, there’s the Cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, a masterpiece of the typical Italian gothic style, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, whose Dome project was realized about 70 years later by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The Baptistery, together with already the mentioned Dome and Giotto’s Bell tower are without any doubt the most strink views of Florence.
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