(jazz music)
Dr. Zucker: We have walked from the Duomo
around to its back and at its back
is a very large building,
which is, in part, its baptistry.
Dr. Harris: Like the cathedral itself, this has a surface
of black and white striped stone
and different colored marble on the outside,
but also fresco on the ceilings and walls.
Dr. Zucker: The baptismal font stands in the middle
of the building itself.
It is quite large.
Dr. Harris: It's very classical in its form.
It's got six sides with six bronze reliefs at the base,
separated by angels and figures of virtues.
The top part of the font,
we see a very classical structure with niches,
with sculpted figures, surmounted also by frees
and pediments.
Dr. Zucker: The bronze plaques themselves
are 15th century and they are by a variety of artists.
Some are local Sienese artists, but there are at least
a couple of identifiable Florentines.
There's Ghiberti and the most famous image here
is by Donatello.
That's the Feast of Herod.
Dr. Harris: It's interesting to think about the city states
vying for the best artists and Siena inviting
the great Florentine artist Donatello to do a bronze panel
for this baptismal font.
Dr. Zucker: Some art historians have suggested
that Donatello was brought in to goad Ghiberti
into getting his work done.
Apparently, he had received a commission
and hadn't done the work.
Dr. Harris: This idea of setting up artists to compete
to get the best results and get them on time
was something that we see also in Florence.
Dr. Zucker: The image by Donatello is an amazing one.
The story is horrific.
It speaks of King Herod, who has ordered a henchman
and assassin to bring him the head of John the Baptist
on a plate.
Dr. Harris: He does that because of Salome.
Salome offers to dance for King Herod
if he will grant her a request and after she dances
for him, she requests the head of Saint John the Baptist.
Dr. Zucker: It's a salacious story, but also, of course,
for the Christian perspective, a really horrific one.
On the left, the head of John the Baptist on a platter
being presented by the assassin to King Herod himself,
who, with several children, look horrified.
They back away, his hands are up, a surprised revulsion
at the actual sight of this head.
Dr. Harris: Yeah, they turn away and almost move
outside of the bronze panel.
Dr. Zucker: On the right side,
you can see Salome herself and she's
in a sensuous s curve that really speaks to her dance.
Dr. Harris: And to Donatello, looking back
at ancient Greek and Roman sculpture,
she's very classicizing.
We have a continuous narrative here,
because in the distance we see the head
of Saint John the Baptist being brought
and in the foreground we see that head being presented
to King Herod.
In typical Donatello fashion, we have
an incredible illusion of space and Donatello using
high relief and very low relief to convey
a very convincing illusion of space.
Dr. Zucker: He's aided in the illusion of space
by the use of a linear perspective,
which is almost unheard of in relief carving,
but by parting the two groups of figures,
he's exposing the tile floor, which is giving us
clear indications of orthogonals moving back in space.
Dr. Harris: This panel dates to just about the time
that Masaccio was creating The Holy Trinity,
so both artists were utilizing Brunelleschi's discovery
of linear perspective to create an illusion of depth.
Dr. Zucker: This is just a few years, after all,
after Brunelleschi really develops or rediscovers
linear perspective and its principles.
Dr. Harris: We know that Donatello, if we look
at the figures at Orsanmichele, was really interested
in the human psyche and we really see that interest
in human emotion here and the drama, the narrative
of the story.
Dr. Zucker: Look at the figure just in back,
who holds that hand to the face, just can't even bear
this sight, it is so terrible.
This is a story that's appropriate in that it is of the death
of Saint John the Baptist, but we see actually,
a family coming in now with a baby and this is clearly
a joyous moment.
It's such a contrast with the image
that we're seeing here.
Oh, we're actually being asked to leave.
The baby is apparently going to be baptised.
(baby crying)
(jazz music)