Altar

The picture shows the front face of the silver altar commissioned from the goldsmiths Leonardo di ser Giovanni and Betto di Geri by the Arte del Calimala for the Baptistery in Florence. Conceived on a lavish scale meant to demonstrate the guild’s economic power in the city, the altar was not finished until the sixteenth century. Rectangular reliefs depicting scenes from the life of St John the Baptist, to whom the building is dedicated, were set into the front and sides of the altar; the architectural frame is composed of numerous Gothic niches, each containing a small statuette.

The reliefs differ significantly from those on the same subject created by Andrea Pisano for the south doors of the Baptistery, their architectural backgrounds offer more illusionistic spaces for the action, all of which appears to take place behind the plane of the relief rather than in front. Taking advantage of the malleability of silver, the sculptors revel in the fine detail of armour, hair, and embroidered borders. Enamel evokes the deep blues, ochers, and greens of fine stained glass set in precisely detailed tracery. Clearly the artists must have closely studied contemporary architecture and narrative painting.

The central niche figure of St John the Baptist was added to the altar in 1452, the sculptor is Michelozzo di Bartolomeo.