Cathedral of Ragusa 15 Chapel of the Baptistery
The Baptistery frescoed by Salvatore Cascone from Ragusa (1954), restored in 2012, was used for the celebration of Baptism and preserves frescoes of rare beauty. At the center of the vault dominates the Eternal Father with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, from which seven luminous rays radiate, representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the corners we find four angels bearing the baptismal symbols: the vase with the oil of the catechumens, the lighted lamp, the white robe and the vase with the sacred chrism. In the spandrels are represented the three theological virtues and the cardinal Virtue of Justice, the latter holding a sword and scales in her hands. In the lunettes, on the left, the creation of Eve, the original sin, the expulsion from the earthly paradise; in the center the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Deposition; on the right The Nativity, the Immaculate Conception and the Annunciation. On the central wall: the mission of the Apostles and the baptism of St. Peter; on the right, the condition of man before Baptism (pinto, affliction, suffering and condition of slavery); on the left the human condition after Baptism, characterized by liberation from original sin (fraternal embrace, maternal love, joyful dance of the baptized). In the right Wall; the liberation from Egypt and the passage of the Red Sea towards the promised land. In the left Wall; the miraculous water made by Moses in the desert, symbol of the seven Sacraments. The marble baptismal font and the bronze group of Jesus in the act of receiving Baptism from his cousin Giovanni Battista, decorated with reliefs that still symbolize the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, by the Ragusan sculptor Carmelo Cappello (1955). The whole chapel is a catechesis on baptism, in its Old Testament prefigurations and in its spiritual fruits.
