San Giovanni baptistery's dome (Florence)

This is the dome of San Giovanni baptistery in Florence. The Baptistery is crowned by a magnificent mosaic ceiling. The earliest mosaics date from 1225. It was probably not completed until the fourteenth century. The mosaics are done in a Byzantine style, with iconic figures and a gold background. This mosaic cycle depicts the Last Judgement with a gigantic, majestic Christ and the Angels of Judgement at each side, the rewards of the saved leaving their tomb in joy (at Christ's right hand), and the punishments of the damned (at Christ's left hand). This last part is particularly famous: evil doers are burnt by fire, roasted on spits, crushed with stones, bit by snakes, chewed by hideous beasts. The other scenes on the ceiling depict different stories: (starting at the top) Choirs of Dominations, Powers, Archangels, Angels, Principalities, Virtues and Thrones; stories from the Book of Genesis; stories of Joseph; stories of Mary and the Christ and finally in the lower tier stories of Saint John the Baptist.