This building is the Baptistery of San Giovanni. It’s even older than the Duomo, dating back to the eleventh century. This is where every Florentine baby was baptized back in the day, including Dante, members of the Medici family, and generations of artists and thinkers. But the real stars here are the bronze doors. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Guild of Merchants in Florence called the Arte di Calimala, organized a competition to decide who would build the North Doors. Ghiberti won the commission for these doors after a dramatic public competition. He actually beat Brunelleschi, the same man who later built the Duomo’s dome. At that point Ghiberti was in his twenties and his work for the doors of this Baptistry took up most of his life. The North doors that you see before you comprise twenty-eight panels representing the New Testament. See if you can spot some of the most important events in Christ’s life from the adoration of the Magi to Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. The detail in bronze was an incredible feat at that point in time. Now you might be thinking that they don’t look very ancient. That’s because what you’re seeing are replicas. The originals are safely stored in a museum to protect them from further wear and environmental damage. Building these doors took decades as bronze was a very difficult metal to work with back in the day and at the end of it, Ghiberti was also given the commission for the East doors which far surpassed these in fame. But interestingly, these North doors and the techniques associated with them are considered to mark the beginning of the Renaissance in Florence. If you look carefully, you will be able to spot his self portrait. I’ve added a photo of it if you swipe on the photos. Giberti signed both sets of doors, which was unusual at the time, showing how artists were beginning to be seen as more than just craftsmen. Now head over to the doors directly facing the Duomo also called the doors of Paradise.