The precious gothic building with its two-colored marble exterior is clearly tied to the Pistoian Romanesque tradition but it is known as in corte for its link with the Lombard curtis domini regis (vs4).
it was built in its present form just after the mid-fourteenth century. Nevertheless the first structure can be traced back to a previous era since as early as the twelfth century, there is documentation referring to a church of San Giovanni in front of the Cathedral (vs31). According to legend, just after the middle of the same century the Bishop Atto was buried here, the man who introduced to Pistoia the important worship of San Jacopo (vs 33). Although the original structure of the Baptistery is not known, it presumably had in keeping with the most widely known typology of these buildings - a central plan with a baptismal font at the center. In 1226 Lanfranco da Como(vi) made the font which can still be admired today. The date and signature can be read in the beautiful inscription in uncial lettering inside the basin. In the early 1 300s the City decided to rebuild the Baptistery but the project was postponed due to the war between Lucca and Florence that took place in Pistoia.
The work began after the first quarter of the fourteenth century, when the political crisis that had afflicted the city was over. When the time came to face the building in marble, the job was entrusted to Cellino di Nese, who had been the master builder of the Baptistery and the Cemetery in Pisa. Afterwards the building of San Giovanni proceeded regularly. The great roof was completed and in the second half of the fourteenth century the church could be considered finished. Thus Cellino di Nese was the master of the outdoor facing whose refined use of different colored marbles provides a special interpretation of Pistoia's Romanesque tradition. Cellino was probably also responsible for some of the sculptural decoration that enlivens the marble surface. instead the sculptures in the lunette over the main door, together with the architrave's low-reliefs, are by an artist working in the style of the more famous Giovanni d'Agosti (vs 32).
Ever since the first half of the seventeenth century, the Baptistery has housed the wooden altar, once the high altar of the basilica of the Madonna dell'Umiltà (vs 35).Over the course of centuries, the Baptistery has undergone many important restorations, among which the most important are those carried out in the mid 1800s and more recently. Although these restored Lanfranco's baptismal font to its original appearance (which had been hidden under the Late Baroque modifications made by the sculptor Andrea Vaccà), they transformed the ancient building into a simple, bare hall in brickwork. Today the Baptistery no longer has a liturgical function and is sometimes used to accomodate cultural events.

(n.) refers to the number o! the file-card (s.i.) means see information inside

The Wells in the Baptismal Font

Dante, in the XIX Canto of the Inferno (verses 14-21), rneets the simoniacs with their legs stuck in holes dug in the livida pietra (black rock) and he recalls the beautiful church of San Giovanni where he had been baptized as a child: i fori... non mi parean meno ampi né maggiori/ che quei che son nel mio bel San Giovanpi/ fatti per loco deì battezzatori.
The baptismal font in Pistoia has survived intact down to today un like the one in Florence which has been documented as square in shape with wells to the sides. Dante's verses would indicate the function of the side wells as presumably the space where the officiating priest stood. However, the dimensions of the Pistoian wells (80 cm. deep and 75 cm. in diameter) would seem to exclude such a hypothesis in favor of another: could they have been basins for holy water? Dante continues his recollection saying: l'un delli quali ancor non è molt'anni/ rupp'io per un che dentro v'annegava.
The great poet's memory confirms the use of the wells and suggests either that the Florentine font had larger wells than the one in Pistoia (which would be large enough to hold a child, at most) or, more likely, that in spite of some structural analogies, the wells had a different use altogether.

Chronology

1114 1153 1226 1303 1312 1339 1357 1361 1843 1965		The first mention of the church of San Giovanni. The burial of Bishop Atto. The baptismal font by Lanfranco da Como. The City of Pistoia decides to build a new baptistery. Several houses are demolished to make room for the new baptistery. Cellino di Nese is entrusted with the marble facing. The roof is covered. Completion of the works. Important restoration carried out on the exterior. The baptismal font is restored to its ancient form.