Baptistery, Cremona

The Cremona Baptistery is a religious edifice in Cremona, northern Italy. It is annexed to the city's Cathedral. Built in 1167, it is characterized by an octagonal plan, a reference to the cult of St. Ambrose of Milan, symbolizing the Eight Day of Resurrection and, thenceforth, the Baptism. The edifice mixes Romanesque and Lombard-Gothic styles, the latter evident in the preference for bare brickwork walls. To the 16th century restorations belong the marble cover of some walls, the pavement and the baptismal font (1531) and the narthex (1588) of the entrance, in Romanesque style, work by Angelo Nani. The interior has a 14th-century Crucifix, over the St. John altar, and two wooden statues portraying "St. Philip Neri" and "St. John the Baptist" by Giovanni Bertesi. Over the ceiling is a 12th-century statue of the Archangel Gabriel. The exterior originally had three doors, but the south and east were closed in 1592 ; today only the northern one remains, overlooking the square, composed of a portico with two column-bearing lions, similar to the porch of the Cathedral. The roof is in marble, which incorporates the facade of the cathedral, but only on some sides, while on the others it is in exposed brick . In the upper section runs a gallery with small Roman arches, which always takes elements from the nearby cathedral. On the southern side are the city units fixed in 1388 . The light penetrates inside from a double series of overlapping mullioned windows and from the lamp at the top of the dome. On each wall are supported two columns, as a sober decoration on the brick background. Finally, a series of balconies all around open up. The baptistery houses a sixteenth-century baptismal font, which dominates the center of the interior with its large, octagonal cistern like the building's plan: it is a monolithic block of red marble from Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella near Verona , work of Lorenzo Trotti ( 1527 ). The source is crowned by a gilded wooden statue of the risen Christ . The interior is also adorned with a fourteenth-century crucifix, placed on the altar opposite the entrance by a confraternity in 1697 . On the sides there are two other altars, on the left with a Madonna Addolorata , attributed to Giacomo Bertesi , and the right one, dedicated to San Biagio , built by the town brotherhood of the wool carders between 1592 and 1599 . There are also two wooden statues depicting St. Philip Blacks and St. John the Baptist , works by Giovanni Bertesi , and other statues and fragments dating back to medieval times.

Luogo particolare in quanto esternamente non sembra particolarmente grande, mentre internamente si rimane esterrefatti dall'altezza vertiginosa della cupola. Povero di decorazioni in quanto lo stile è romanico, le uniche opere che vi sono all'interno sono due pale esaltate da cornici dorate molto vistose e la fonte battesimale al centro della costruzione.