ABSTRACT
In Florence throughout the Middle Ages the most imposing object of visual beauty had been (and, for some, still remains) the Baptistery of St John. This great octagonal building was probably constructed on the ruins of a fourth- or fifth-century original. However, Florentine legend insisted that it had replaced a Roman Temple dedicated to Mars. The edifice served as a place of Christian worship but also as a forum for political activity. Charlemagne was received there in ad 786. And from an early date the Baptistery benefited from civil and mercantile patronage: the geometric design of the marble façade was sponsored, probably, by the Guild of Wool-Refiners around 1150. The interior is dominated by a mosaic standing some twenty-five feet high on the west face of its pyramidal vault that depicts Christ in Judgement (Fig. 39). This was completed around 1265.
