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=Baptistery of Parma=



History
The Baptistery of Parma was built in 1196 when the City Council of Parma commissioned an entire building to be built for the "glory of God". It was commissioned to a man named Benedetto Antelami. Every aspect of the baptistery was thought out by Antelami. This one person created the design,the walls, and even chose the materials. At the time it was built Christian baptism only happened three times a year, so a large building had to be set aside for it.

Architecture
The Baptistery of Parma is octagonal and the outside is constructed of pink Verona Marble. The inside has sixteen arches which create sixteen alcoves that contain thirteenth and fourteenth century frescoes and paintings by Emilian artists like il Maestro di Gerardo Bianchi, il Maestro del Trionfo della Morte, Niccolò da Reggio, and Bertolino da Piacenza. But the original paintings started peeling off because they weren't real frescoes and had to be restored. Benedetto Antelami made the lunettes of three portals in the baptistery, on the outside showing the Adoration of the Magi, the Last Judgement, and an allegory of life, and on the inside the Flight into Egypt, the Presentation at the Temple and David playing a harp. The ceiling is one of the most outstanding parts of the baptistery, with a painting on it with rays that correspond to the arches. The building has four stories and eight small steeples, and the last story was added at the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth century. The baptistery is a great example of Romanesque architecture because of it’s many archways and its fairly simple design and decoration, with thick walls made of stone.

Benedetto Antelami
Benedetto Antelami was commissioned the Baptistery of Parma and he thought out every aspect of the building. But little is known about his actual life. Antelami was an Italian architect and sculptor. He was probably originally from Lombardi, and was most likely born in Val d’Intelvi. Antelami also worked on the Duomo of Parma, or the Parma Cathedral which is adjacent to the baptistery.

The City of Parma
Parma is a city located in northern Italy in the region Emilia-Romagna in Italy. It is famous for its architecture and is divided into two parts by a stream also named Parma, and has a long and complex history. It was most likely founded by the Etruscans because

[[image:ANT8.gif width="252" height="280" align="right" caption="The location of Parma in Italy."]]
Parma, from Latin, meant a circular shield, and their encampment there was circular. It was founded as a Roman colony in 183 BCE. Became the capital of a county when it was under Frankish rule in 774, and was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Parma fell under the control of Milan in 1341. It finally became independent under the Terzi family, but for only five years, from 1404 to 1409. It became part of the Kingdom of Italy, and when it lost its capital status, it’s economy suffered. Skipping ahead a little, Parma was a strong center of partisan resistance in World War II, and was liberated of German occupation on April 26, 1945.

Images Cited

 * 1) 1 - http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com/2007/02/baptistry-at-parma.html


 * 1) 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptistery_of_Parma


 * 1) 3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedetto_Antelami


 * 1) 4 - http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pickatrail.com/jupiter/location/europe/italy/map/parma.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.pickatrail.com/jupiter/location/europe/italy/parma.html&usg=__acp4JOaU3RYJROFgTBEUavDM6Bg=&h=515&w=432&sz=18&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=TL9FV7ezAue9vM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3DParma%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG