The Church of San Giovanni in Fonte

Saint John the Baptist stands on the banks of the Jordan and pours water over Christ’s head, while God the Father sends the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove from above. The same episode is carved in the front scene of the large baptismal font, extracted from a single block of red marble and masterfully sculpted by the Brioloto workshop in Verona around 1200. The large size of this basin – almost three metres wide – reminds us that baptism was originally performed by immersion, as emphasised by the four-lobed basin within, used to keep the priests dry during the ceremony. Immersion signified the death of the old self, who was then born anew on emerging from the water, and it also marked the beginning of eternal life, as symbolically alluded to by the octagonal shape of the font before us. This shape echoes that of late-antique mausoleums and it also points to the biblical symbolism associated with the number eight and the day of Christ’s resurrection. It was only during the Middle Ages that baptism began to be performed by pouring water over the head of the person, as is done today.