The Lateran Baptistery (Italian: Battistero lateranense, also known as San Giovanni in Fonte or San Giovanni in Onda) stands apart from the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome, to which it has become joined by later construction. This baptistery was founded by Pope Sixtus III in 440, perhaps on an earlier structure, for a legend grew up that Constantine the Great had been baptized there and enriched the structure. However, it is more likely that if he was baptized it was in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire and possibly by an Arian bishop.[1] This baptistry was for many generations the only baptistery in Rome, and its domed octagonal structure, centered upon the large octagonal basin for full immersions, provided a model for others throughout Italy, and even an iconic motif of illuminated manuscripts, "The fountain of Life".
Around the central area, where is the basin of the font, an octagon is formed by eight porphyry columns, with marbleCorinthian capitals and entablature of classical form. On the ceiling of the Baptistry is the story of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312 AD). An ambulatory surrounds the font and outer walls form a larger octagon. Attached to one side, towards the Lateran Basilica, is a fine porch with two porphyry columns and richly carved capitals, bases and entablatures.
The Baptistery was subject to an elaborate restoration during the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII. While its interior architecture was consolidated and embellished after plans of Gian Lorenzo Bernini around 1633,[2] a fresco cycle with scenes from the life of Constantine was added by Andrea Sacchi on the walls of the ambulatory.
In the meantime the early Christian liturgy of Easter baptisms was reanimated by the Baroque popes, baptizing adult "turchi ed ebrei" ("Turks and Jews") in a public ceremony on Easter eve.[3]
Its plain brick exterior was embellished with a frieze designed by Francesco Borromini in the late 1650s or early 1660s, incorporating the arms of Pope Alexander VII.[4]
↑ Head, Thomas, Medieval Hagiography, p. 93, note, 19
↑ Benincampi, I. (2020, January 25). Bernini e San Giovanni in Fonte: Considerazioni a margine dell’Architettura del Battistero. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/41735820/Bernini_e_San_Giovanni_in_Fonte_considerazioni_a_margine_dell_architettura_del_battistero "A ogni modo, un contributo fondamentale all’opera di rinnovamento del battistero venne offerto dalla consulenza che vi prestò Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) il quale, coinvoltovi dal papa suo mecenate e sostenitore, fu delegato attorno al 1633 alla supervisione delle opere in corso di realizzazione22."
↑ Kirsten Lee Bierbaum: Die Ausstattung des Lateranbaptisteriums unter Urban VIII. Petersberg 2014
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli, was an Italian architect born in the modern Swiss canton of Ticino who, with his contemporaries Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.
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Scipione Borghese was an Italian cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legacy is the establishment of the art collection at the Villa Borghese in Rome.
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Galleria Nazionale di Arte, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 1637–1638. Marble.
Galleria Nazionale di Arte, Palazzo Barberini, Rome. Early 1640s. Marble. Largely the work of an assistant.
Louvre, Paris. 1640. Bronze.
Cathedral of Spoleto, 1642. Bronze.
Collection Principe Enrico Barberini. Early 1640s. Porphyry. Adapted from existing antique statue, largely by assistants.
Private Collection. 1658. Bronze
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