The ingeniousness and culture of the great architect and sculptor Benedetto Antelami can be fully admired in the Baptistery he designed with an octagonal layout in pink Verona marble, three alternating portals with architraves and lunettes and a wealth of theological references and symbolical representations which are typical of the Medieval iconography.
The zoophorus runs all around the Baptistery: a series of panels in bas relief representing fantastic and realistic animals, symbols of the life and nature of the Middle Ages. The interior presents sixteen slender ribs reaching up to the ogival vault.
In the centre stands the large baptismal font for immersion dating back to the end of the XIII century. In the interior, the cycle of months and seasons and the signs of the zodiac were sculpted by Antelami. In the cupola, a magnificent cycle of tempera paintings dates back to the mid- XII century. The Baptistery stands adjacent to the Cathedral.