The restoration of the baptismal font of the Siena cathedral was presented this morning by the Opera della Metropolitana of Siena and the archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d’Elsa-Montalcino. After three years, the extraordinary masterpiece in marble, gilded bronze and enamelled copper created by Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, Ghiberti and Giovanni di Turino shines again. The restoration is the result of a series of interventions of the highest and most innovative technical level, conducted by the staff of the Opera and the highly specialized staff of the Opificio delle pietra semire.
“For a Christian, new life is born with baptism – underlines the card. Augusto Paolo Lojudice, archbishop of Siena-Colle di Val d’Elsa-Montalcino – and the baptismal font of the Siena cathedral has seen many generations of famous and less famous Sienese ‘born to new life’, many common people, all linked in a indissoluble to this unique city. Today, the strong spiritual and religious connotation is added to the suggestion for the restitution to the world of an absolute masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance”. “The entire cathedral complex of our city – adds Lojudice – is a treasure chest that contains immense masterpieces of art that find their inspiration in the Christian tradition which in Siena and its territories has been able to transform itself into the keystone of the communities”.
Positioned at the center of the architectural structure of the baptistery, the baptismal font is one of the major masterpieces preserved within the monumental complex of the Siena cathedral. Extraordinary work in marble, bronze and enamelled copper created between 1417 and 1431 by the most important sculptors of the early Renaissance, the font consists of a hexagonal basin in which the six gilded bronze mirrors depicting the life of the Baptist are inserted, punctuated by statues of virtue, two of which, Faith and Hope, created by Donatello. Among the most representative episodes, the Baptism of Jesus by Lorenzo Ghiberti of 1427 takes on particular importance, an elegant and refined scene characterized by pictorialism and a sense of depth obtained thanks to a gradual reduction of the relief. The cycle ends with the famous Banquet of Herod by Donatello, the most touching scene due to the drama of the subject and the formal qualities.
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