The bronze panels on the baptismal font illustrate stories from the life of Saint John the Baptist, a sort of ‘sculpted biography,’ as narrated in the Gospels.

I. Announcement to Zechariah of John’s coming birth The narrative begins with the panel in front of the altar, finished by Jacopo della Quercia in 1429. The scene shows the moment when the Archangel Gabriel announces to the elderly . . .