Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Baptistry's Doors
Andrea Pisano executed the baptistry's southern doors in the 1330s, illustrating the life of
St John the Baptist. Lorenzo Ghiberti won a public competition in 1401 to design the
northern doors, which show the life of Christ. The doors are copies; the originals are be-
ing restored.
Baptistry's Porta del Paradiso
Ghiberti's gilded bronze doors at the eastern entrance were created between 1425 and
1450 and dubbed the
Porta del Paradiso
(Door of Paradise) by Michelangelo. The panels
illustrate scenes from the Old Testament. The doors are copies: the gleaming originals
take pride of place in Grande Museo del Duomo.
Baptistry's Mosaics
The baptistry's interior gleams with Byzantine-style mosaics. Covering the dome in five
horizontal tiers, they include scenes from the lives of St John the Baptist, Christ and
Joseph on one side, and a representation of the Last Judgement on the other. A choir of
angels surveys proceedings from the innermost tier.
Grande Museo del Duomo
Behind the
duomo,
this
museum
(Cathedral Museum;
www.operaduomo.firenze.it
;
Piazza del Duomo 9;
combined ticket to dome, baptistry, campanile, crypt and museum adult/child under 14 €10/free; 9am-6.50pm
Mon-Sat, 9am-1.05pm Sun)
is a repository of artistic treasures that once adorned the
duomo
and
baptistry. The original Gate of Paradise panels are here, as are the sculptures that origin-
ally adorned the
Porta della Mandorla
(Almond Door) on the
duomo
's north side.
Understand
Scaling Brunelleschi's Dome
The most distinctive feature of the
duomo
(cathedral) is an extraordinary feat of engineering only fully appreci-
ated by climbing its 463 steep interior stone steps.
Taking his inspiration from Rome's Pantheon, Brunelleschi arrived at an innovative engineering solution of a
distinctive octagonal shape of inner and outer concentric domes resting on the drum of the cathedral rather than
