The baptistery was commonly BAPTISTERY

BATTISTERO DI SAN GIOVANNI O

octagonal in plan, a
visual metaphor for the number
JOHN THE BAP
LOCATION: PIAZZA DEL DUOMO-TU

ARCHITECT: DIOTI SALVI

eight, which symbolized in Christian
numerology a new beginning. As
eight follows the “complete”
number, seven, so the beginning of
the Christian life follows baptism.
Customarily, a baptistery was
roofed with a dome, the symbol of
the heavenly realm toward which
the Christian progresses after the
first step of baptism. The baptismal
font was usually octagonal, set
beneath a domical ciborium, or
canopy, and encircled by columns
and an—features that first used in
the baptistery by
the Byzantines when they altered
Roman structures.