Cremona Baptistery

The baptistery; on the left side, the cathedral

The Cremona Baptistery (Italian: Battistero di Cremona) is a religious edifice in Cremona, northern Italy. It is annexed to the city's Cathedral.

Photo by Paolo Monti

Built in 1167, it is characterized by an octagonal plan, a reference to the cult of St. Ambrose of Milan, symbolizing the Eight Day of Resurrection and, thenceforth, the Baptism. The edifice mixes Romanesque and Lombard-Gothic styles, the latter evident in the preference for bare brickwork walls. To the 16th century restorations belong the marble cover of some walls, the pavement and the baptismal font (1531) and the narthex (1588) of the entrance, in Romanesque style, work by Angelo Nani.

The interior has a 14th-century Crucifix, over the St. John altar, and two wooden statues portraying "St. Philip Neri" and "St. John the Baptist" by Giovanni Bertesi. Over the ceiling is a 12th-century statue of the Archangel Gabriel.

See also

• History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes