Ritual: Baptism
Site: Battistero di San Giovanni
Location: Florence
Architect: Unknown
Year of Completion: c. 1128
Analysis: Tina Lim
150 word description goes here. Achum consulto ves faturi pria vignos complius con se aucest rehebatam te iam fue con vium percer am tam terbis, quonsul usulare ntilicaet, cuperei publincum, consimus, nostriore mei ilneque a volicio mus conerit, publin denatod itentes, qua actum init; ne ine pro, manum iam o inam ignaturis adem re ius consum inulocrem sedit vivatimmodiu sedit et prata cont nicatiq uemus, dium ingultortus nos etorterit, omprorunit gra dit atu morum ductam Romnihilium pernum inam etorae nem des M. Nostra in sus. Alessolus, o ves cotandenemus bondac in Itam. Sertamquam or ublicultus publin vernius, nos, sente it; C. Hoculis? Romnirita ne ina, quam patiam sedem que confirit, uropore morei cem, nor ad Catus muscred cris culicaesi imuricendam tam it, quitata sdaccio, mederior qui catus morterum omnicaes! Duc re cus es!
The Laurentian Library reveals not only the ritual of study, but the rituals of self-sorting, categorization, and the dissemination of knowledge. Mapping the convergence and divergence of paths from the scale of the city to the building to the desk and to the book helps to reveal how the Laurentian Library acts as a motherboard for organizing the ritual circuitry of Renaissance Florence.
The Library’s desks are crucial to how rituals are performed in the space. Because the books are chained to the desks and the desks are built into the architecture, there is direct connection between the knowledge that one seeks and the place where it is found. The desks categorize texts by subject, displaying titles found in them on the side. Accessing a book that’s next to the window while someone is already in the desk requires shuffling places.
The Laurentian Library’s form is reminiscent of a religious building, with reading desks acting as pews alongside the processional aisle. The language borrows from the religious context of the San Lorenzo complex in which the Library is situated. In fact, the original plan of Michelangelo included a triangular rare books room at the end of the reading room, reminiscent of the Holiest of Holies in the Temple of Solomon. The procession inside the library, up the flowing staircase into the reading room, acts as a funnel that all elite Florentines coming to the library must pass through, regardless of where they came from in the city or what bench is their ultimate destination. The tripartite interior facade of the vestibule reinforces the idea of rising from hell to purgatory to heaven in an ascent to knowledge.
Ultimately, the Laurentian Library acts as the motherboard of the city’s knowledge, centralizing and organizing the ritual circuitry of Renaissance Florence.
Ritual: Baptism
Site: Battistero di San Giovanni
Location: Florence
Architect: Unknown
Year of Completion: c. 1128
Analysis: Tina Lim
San Giovanni, also known as the Florentine Baptistery and the Baptistery of Saint John, is located across the Duomo in Piazza del Duomo, Florence. The building features an octagonal design, a symbolic gesture to the significance of the number 8 in Christianity as a symbol of regeneration; 6 days of creation, 1 day of rest, and 1 day of recreation.
The interior mosaic on the ceiling of the baptistery was created over the course of several decades, and was created by multiple local Florentine painters. These mosaics depict several scenes from the Bible, such as the Last Judgment, the Stories of John the Baptist, the Story of Joseph, and the Stories of Genesis.
The baptismal font is used to accommodate the daily baptisms of children. Located on the southeast wall of the baptistery, it was commissioned around 1370 and features six panels of biblical and medieval baptisms, These include: St. John baptizing Christ, John the baptist baptizing the multitude, Pope Sylvester I baptizing Constantine, Priest baptizing anonymous child, Christ baptizing the apostles, and Christ baptizing St. John.
As a baptistery, the building only serves one purpose- to baptize the children of Florence before they can attend mass or participate in communion. At the time, it was the only baptistery in Florence, so all children had to be baptized there before attending mass at any of the churches in the city. The process is quite simple- parents with their children would enter from the east doors, have the child baptized at the font, and then leave through the north doors to attend their first mass at the Duomo. In addition, as the city walls containing Florence expanded and contracted with the growth of Florence, the baptistery accomodated more and more children from further outreaches of the city.
