faced angular pillars adorned with a meander motif on the upper part and small double festoons of acanthus separated by a rosette in the lower part. The base rests on a high pedestal, while the top is decorated by a trabeation with ovoli and palmettes. The six panels depicts scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist, which are subdivided into two groups. The first three scenes refer to the Forerunner’s boyhood and depict Saint John as a Child in the Desert, Saint John as a Child Meeting the Boy Jesus, and Saint John as a Child Taking Leave of His Parents. This iconography closely follows the Representation of Saint John in the Desert, a text written by Feo Belcari and Tommaso Benci around 1470, which was very well-known at the time. The successive scenes narrate the life of John the Baptist as an adult: the Preaching to the Masses, the Baptism of the People, and finally the Baptism of Christ, stolen at the beginning of the 20th century. The surface is entirely glazed with the addition of gilding and touches of cobalt and manganese to highlight some details like the eyelashes. Traditionally referred to the Della Robbia workshop, the font was restored to Benedetto Buglioni’s production by Gentilini who underscored the narrative tone and the more simplified compositions that interpreted the styles of Antonio Rossellino and Benedetto da Maiano in popular solutions. A structure similar to the Barberino font, also in terms of decorations, is found in the baptismal fonts created for the Churches of Santa
Maria Novella in Radda in Chianti, of San Giusto in Piazzanese in Prato and of the Immacolata Concezione in Rignano sull’Arno (Domestici 1998). Continuing to the right
Room 6 - Liturgical Furnishings and Vestments The patrimony of the churches was also comprised of candlesticks, reliquaries (sometimes standard models), chalices, pyxes, monstrances, and thuribles – all of varying quality and workmanship. The sacred vestments and hangings were indispensable to all churches, from the large parish church to the small country one. Together with the liturgical furnishings, they were kept in the sacristy. A part of a room in the museum has been furnished so as to give the visitor an idea of the religious meaning and atmosphere that was found in a sacristy until not long ago, displaying liturgical objects and vestments inside some pieces of furniture taken from ancient sacristies no longer in use. Right wall, above the cupboard 102. tuscan production Table Cross First half of the 17th century carved and painted wood, brass; 56 24 cm Parish Church of San Giovanni Maggiore, Panicaglia (inv. 1990 n. 6) english version
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