BAPTISTERY. 
Just and of the Wicked, the Orders and Powers of the 
Celestial Hierarchy, Prophets, Patriarchs, and the Bishops 
of Florence in the lowest range of the seven circles, en- 
rich, while they darken, the vault above. In these frescos 
appears the Lucifer of Dante with the soul “che ha mag 
gior pena” half in his mouth. Beneath, is a varied pave¬ 
ment (1200) of smalto; which, as at Lucca, is exactly of 
the same workmanship as that at Westminster Abbey. 
The patterns are very complicated and beautiful. 
The site, in the centre, of the demolished font is pa¬ 
ved with marble, and a portion of the pavement is occu- 
pied by a very remarkable memorial of ancient science, 
older than the mosaic, and ascribed to Strozzo Strozzi, 
the great astrologer, who died 1048. 
In the centre is the Sun, surrounded by the follow- 
ing verse, which may be read either way, and does not 
make much sense any way: 
"EN GIRO TORTE SOL CICLOS ET ROTOR IGNE. 
This is surrounded by a zodiac ornamented with ara¬ 
besques, the whole in low relief. In the centre of the 
sculptured Sun is a point; and it is supposed that when 
the stone was in its original position (for it has been 
moved), the rays of the Sun shone exactly upon that 
centre at 12 o’clock on Midsummer-day, on the feast of 
Saint John the Baptist. 
The principal altar (1732) contains a statue of Mary 
Magdalen, by Donatello, which is of wood, and smaller 
than life, and remarkable from its dissimilarity to the 
common conception of the character. The saint is re¬ 
presented as worn and exhausted by penance, with no 
luxury of attire, her beauty gone, and yet leaving its 
traces. Over another side altar, is a beautiful marble