“My handsome St John”: such were the words of Dante in describing the baptistry dedicated to St John the Baptist, patron saint of the city. During the Middle Ages St John the Baptist's image featured on the famous gold florin coin. Clad in sombre white marble, this elegant octagonal building (11C) is quintessentially Florentine in its emphasis on proportion and harmony, its rigourous character and delicate purity. Of global renown are its bronze doors, embellished by magnificently carved panels.