"Dignified by the fine sounding Greek term "Zoophorus", a synthesis of the Animal Kingdom, to which a medieval fondness for story telling added sirens, griffins and unicorns, runs like a necklace around the octagonal walls of Parma Baptistery: it represents Nature--bestial and sinful--at a stop on the threshold of the Sacred, the pagan Forest that believers must cross before being received into the Church and cleansed with redeeming water."

Photography by Daniele Broia and Floriano Finzi.

Language: English

ISSN: 0747-6388; OCLC: 10764669