Pisa’s Baptistery is Italy’s biggest. It’s interesting for its pulpit and interior ambience, and especially great for its acoustics.
The building is 180 feet tall – John the Baptist on top is almost eye-to-eye with the tourists looking out from the nearly 200-foot Leaning Tower. Notice that the Baptistery leans nearly six feet to the north (the Tower leans 15 feet to the south). The building (begun in 1153) is modeled on the circular-domed Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, seen by Pisan Crusaders who occupied Jerusalem in 1099.
From the outside, you see three distinct sections, which reflect the changing tastes of the years spent building it: simple Romanesque blind arches at the base (1153) and ornate Gothic spires and pointed arches in the middle (1250). The roofing looks mismatched, but was intentionally designed with red clay tiles on the seaward side and lead tile (more prestigious but prone to corrosion) on the sheltered east side. The statues of the midsection are by Nicola Pisano (c. 1220-1278, Giovanni’s father), who sculpted the pulpit inside.
Inside, it’s simple, spacious and baptized with light. Tall arches atop thin column once again echo the Campo’s architecture theme of arches above blank spaces. The columns encircle just a few pieces of religious furniture.
In the center sits the beautiful marble octagonal font (1246). A statue of the first Baptist, John the Baptist, stretches ou this hand and says, “Welcome to my Baptistery.” The font contains plenty of space for baptizing adults by immersion (the medieval custom), plus four wells for dunking babies.
Baptismal fonts – where sinners symbolically die and are reborn – are traditionally octagons. The shape suggests a cross (symbolizing Christ’s death), and the eight sides represent the eight day of Christ’s ordeal, when he was resurrected. The font’s sides, carved with inlaid multicolored marble, feature circle-in-a square patterns, indicating the interlocking of heaven and earth. The circles are studded with interesting faces, both human and animal. Behind the font, the altar features similar inlaid-marble work.
On the left is the pulpit created by Nicola Pisano. Is this the world’s first Renaissance sculpture? It’s the first authenticated (signed) work by the “Giotto of sculpture,” working in what came to be called the Renaissance style. The freestanding sculpture has classical columns, realistic people and animals, and 3-D effects in the carved panels.
The 15-foot-tall, hexagonal pulpit is the earliest (1260) and simplest of the four pulpits by the Pisano father-and-son team. Nicola, born in southern Italy, settled in Pisa, where he found steady work. Ten-year-old Giovanni learned the art of pulpit-making here at the feet of his father.
The speaker’s platform stands on columns that rest on the backs of animals, representing Christianity’s triumph over paganism. The white Carrara-marble panels are framed by dark rose-colored marble, making a pleasant contrast.
Make a sound in here and it echoes for a good 10 seconds. A priest standing at the baptismal font could sing three tones within those 10 seconds – “Ave Maria” – and make a chord, singing haunting harmonies with himself.
You can climb 75 steps to the interior gallery (midway up) for an impressive view back down on the baptismal font. Try to be here when the guard sings.