30 LaCitadeSancta
cathedral.^91 But then Faenza was a small commune, and its Mother Church
never enjoyed a monopoly on baptisms.
The architectural developments in baptistery construction during the
communal period are suggestive of the building’s growing civic importance.
The ancient arrangement, visible at Ravenna, had the baptistery flanking
the cathedral, with easy access to the sacristy. This made sense in antiquity,
when baptism was performed for unclothed adults. That rite was semipri-
vate. A handful of early communal baptisteries adhered to the old location.
At Milan, as well as Verona, the oldest communal construction placed the
baptistery off a north transept. At Lucca, the Paleo-Christian structure was
off the north transept of a special baptismal church, distinct from the duomo.
This position was preserved in the communal construction there. As time
progressed, the favored site for baptisteries was directly before the west fa-
cade of the duomo. This is the arrangement of Volterra’s lovely little baptis-
tery (fig. 15 ); the most famous example is Florence’s San Giovanni. Lost
communal baptisteries were positioned before the west portal at Siena, Bolo-
gna, and Reggio.^92 We see the same position at Piacenza, where a column
topped by a statue of the Blessed Virgin stands in an eight-sided flower bed
beyond the western facade of the duomo to mark the site of the communal
baptistery (destroyed in 1544 ) (fig. 16 ).^93 At Modena carvings over the doors
on the inside of the west front show that they too opened toward a baptis-
tery.^94 Dante’s baptistery of San Giovanni seems small today compared to
the late medieval duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore. But in the 1200 s the old
cathedral of Santa Reparata was a more humble structure, less than half the
size of Santa Maria. In the days of the commune, the baptistery was by far
the more impressive building, evidence of the structure’s civic importance.
Desire to highlight new baptismal rituals on Easter Saturday probably
urged the new positioning of the baptistery. By placing the new structures
directly in front of the cathedral, in a large open space, the Easter proces-
sions circumambulating the baptistery from the cathedral became public
spectacles. The carrying of newly baptized infants through the great west
portal during the Easter vigil made their incorporation into the worshiping
community far more impressive than the old route, which had slipped them
in through the sacristy or north transept. But this new location did obscure
the duomo’s facade. Not surprisingly, a number of cities repositioned their
baptisteries to the side of the piazza abutting the duomo. This kept the ritual
- Ennio Golfieri, ‘‘Topografia medioevale delle aree intorno al duomo di Faenza,’’Atti del convegno
di Parma ( 1976 ), 29. - On Siena: Brian Kempers, ‘‘Icons, Altarpieces, and Civic Ritual in Siena Cathedral, 1100 – 1530 ,’’
City and Spectacle in Medieval Europe,ed. Barbara A. Hanawalt and Kathryn L. Reyerson, Medieval Studies
at Minnesota, 6 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994 ), 95 ; on Bologna: Manzini,Cenni storici,
26 ; on Reggio Emilia: Vittorio Nironi, ‘‘La chiesa di san Giovanni Battista: Battistero di Reggio Emilia,’’
Atti del convegno di Parma ( 1976 ), 128 – 44. - Rossi, ‘‘Battistero,Atti del convegno di Parma ( 1976 ), 65 , pl. 4.
- Pistoni, ‘‘Battisteri,’’ 99 ; on the Modena baptistery generally, see ibid., 97 – 101.