St John the Baptist, by Lorenzo Ghiberti is a bronze statue placed in the Orsanmichele church in the Florence city of Italy. This was Ghiberti’s first bronze sculpture and also his first large-scale figure that he completed in the period 1412-1416. The statue actually represents a saint (which saint) which shows the influence of Gothic style.In 1402, Ghiberti won the competition for the Baptistery’s door and was commissioned for three sculptures, one of which was St John the Baptist.

Arte di Calimala, a merchant guild, commissioned only one sculpture i.e. St John the Baptist. The council of the Florence City passed a law in 1406 which granted the guilds the power to use bronze. Bronze was much costly than the traditional used stones or marbles. After the bronze Baptistery doors were executed and seen by Calimala he found it very impressive. The Calimala guild was very eager to start another project, same as this one was.

The St John of Baptist was the largest statue in Florence which rose up to 2.55 meters. This sculpture of St John the Baptist was casted in single piece from clay as well as wax model. The statue was the only one of its kind in Italy, to be casted in one piece for many hundred years. Many tourists visit Florence for seeing Ghiberti’s bronze statue of St John the Baptist. St John was a masterful as well as a large sculpture made of bronze by Ghiberti and also one of his greatest challenges and triumphs. The St John the Baptist sculpture was the biggest size bronze sculpture ever made.