Beelzebub in The Baptistry
Florence Baptistry
Battistero di San Giovanni
The architecture of Florence's beautiful Baptistry - the Battistero di San Giovanni - is clearly based on Rome's Pantheon. Beyond this, it contains fascinating iconographic glimpses into 11th century Christian ideology, amongst which is an entertaining image of the Devil devouring sinners. But there are also subtler design details scattered around the circular interior which are more intriguing for their iconological suggestions: an Ashoka-like wheel in the vault above the altar, an Adam and Eve, Sun and Moon couple presided over by what looks to be God the Father, numerous images of the baptistry's namesake John The Baptist, and even an oculus partially open to the elements (a raindrop made its way onto my face when I stood in the center of the church.
The thing that captured my attention the most, though, is the Knights of Malta-like emblem flanking the central cross behind the altar. To the left and to the right of the cross are beautiful Romanesque hourglass shaped design motifs with shiny circles in their centers.
Beelzebub in The Baptistry
Ashoka-like Wheel
Florence Baptistry
Jesus Christ
Florence Baptistry