Baptism of Christ Sculptures above the Gate of Paradise of the Baptistery, Firenze

The two statues of Christ and Saint John the Baptist were started by Andrea Sansovino (1467-1529) who left them unfinished after he was summoned to Rome in 1504. The statues then lay forgotten for over sixty years until Vincenzo Danti, formerly apprenticed to Michelangelo, decided to complete them in 1569. However, he died in 1576 without having finished the job. The statues were then abandoned for over two hundred years until Innocenzo Spinazzi (1726-1798) finally completed them in 1792, introducing at the same time a third statue of an Angel in order to complete the group.  The statutes seen here are identical copies, the originals are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

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