Orvieto Cathedral

Facade of the Duomo di Orvieto.

The Duomo di Orvieto is a large 14th century Roman Catholic cathedral situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. The building was constructed under the orders of Pope Urban IV to commemorate and provide a suitable home for the Corporal of Bolsena, a miracle which is said to have occurred in 1264 in the nearby town of Bolsena, when a traveling priest who had doubts about the truth of transubstantiation found that his Host was bleeding so much that it stained the altar cloth. The cloth is now stored in the Chapel of the Corporal inside the cathedral.

Situated in a position dominating the town of Orvieto which sits perched on a volcanic plug, the cathedral’s façade is a classic piece of religious construction, containing elements of design from the 14th to the 20th century, with a large rose window, golden mosaics and three huge bronze doors, whilst inside it contains two frescoed chapels decorated by some of the best Italian painters of the period with images of Judgement Day.

Construction

The flagstone of the cathedral was laid in 1290 by Pope Nicholas IV, and construction was entrusted to Fra Bevignate di Perugia using a design by Arnolfo di Cambio. Construction continued slowly until in 1309 the Sienese architect Lorenzo Maitani was commissioned to work on the church and solve several issues concerning the load-bearing capabilities of the building. He substantially changed the design and construction of the building, creating the current façade and much of the interior before his death in 1330 shortly before the completion of the duomo.

The façade

The most exciting and eye-catching part of the cathedral’s exterior is its golden frontage, which is decorated by large bas-reliefs and statues of the Evangelists created by Maitani. The reliefs depict biblical stories. Above this decoration are mosaics created in the fourteenth century after designs by artist Cesare Nebbia. These original pieces have been replaced and redesigned in the centuries since, particularly in 1713 and 1842. Central to the mosaics is the large rose window built by the artist Orcagna between 1354 and 1380. The newest part of the decoration are the three bronze doors which give access to the entrance of the cathedral. These were finished in 1970 by the Sicilian sculptor Emilio Greco depicting mercies from the life of Christ and are surmounted by a sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Andrea Pisano in 1347. The building's exterior walls, in contrast to the facade are more simply furnished with alternating layers of local white travertine and blue-grey basalt stone.

The interior

The interior.

The cathedral’s interior has deliberately been left uncluttered and spacious, with alabaster windows keeping the interior cool during the fierce Italian summer. The roof was decorated in the 1320s by Pietro di Lello and Vanuzzo di Mastro Pierno, and was heavily restored in the 1890s by Paolo Zampi and Paolo Coccheri to its current state. Near the left entrance is the baptisimal font, created in 1390 by Luca di Giovanni and expanded sixteen years later by Sano di Matteo. It is overlooked by a fresco of the Madonna with child painted by Gentile da Fabriano in 1425. Behind the altar are a series of damaged frescoes dedicated to the life of the Virgin Mary created by local artists Preto Ilario and Pietro di Puccino and restored every hundred years for several following centuries. Also in the apse is cathedral's large organ, containing 5,585 pipes and originally designed by Ippolito Scalza and Bernardino Benvenuti in the fifteenth century before being redesigned in 1913 and 1975. Scalza’s other major contribution to the church is the large Pietà he sculpted in 1579.

Chapel of the Corporal

Built to house the stained corporal of the miracle of Bolsena, the chapel is decorated with frescoes depicting miracles concerning the bleeding host throughout church history. Painted between 1357 and 1363, by Ugolino di Prete Ilaro, Domenico di Meo and Giovanni di Buccio Leonardelli and are noted in part for their anti-semitism which was experiencing an upsurge in Western Europe at the period. There is also a painting by Lippo Memmi of the Madonna dei Raccomandati. At the centre of the chapel is a large golden reliquary containing the bloodstained corporal, which was built by Ugolino di Vieri in 1339. It is from here that the corporal is transported for religious processions through the town on feast days.

Signorelli's Antichrist.

Chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio

A later addition to the cathedral, this chapel (also known as the Signorelli chapel) was started in 1397, but contractual arguments meant that it was nearly over a hundred years before the artist Luca Signorelli was commissioned to decorate it completely, taking over incomplete work by Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli painted decades before. The chapel is considered the most impressive work by Signorelli, who spent two years creating a series of frescoes concerning the day of judgment, including the rise of the antichrist, the end of the world and the separation of the damned from the blessed. Below this are smaller paintings of famous writers and philosophers watching the unfolding disaster above them with interest. Depicted here are Homer, Empedocles, Lucan, Horace, Ovid, Virgil and Dante along with images from their works and several medallions depicting local saints.

Palazzo dei Papi

The Papal Palace attached to the right of the cathedral was originally begun in the mid-13th century when the popes moved to Orvieto to escape conflict in Rome. Pope Urban IV and Pope Martin IV both lived in the town and probably oversaw construction of the initial stages of this building. Pope Boniface VIII extended the building, but it was left unfinished following the papal move to Avignon in 1309. It remained a papal residence until 1550, when it was passed to the ownership of the cathedral, who after using it as a residence for sometime redesigned it in 1896 as a museum, which it remains today. Inside is information and artifacts detailing the history of the cathedral and town. Disused works from the cathedral interior and pieces of original construction removed during later restoration can be seen in the museum, including paintings, reliquaries and the original plans for the cathedral’s construction.

The ground floor of the building also houses a museum dedicated to the Sicilian artist Emilio Greco who constructed the cathedral’s bronze doors in 1970. The museum contains a wide selection of his works, as well as preparatory papers and sculptures of other large pieces, including several which are housed at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Palazzo dell'Opera del Duomo

Opposite the cathedral is a large grand building constructed in 1359 to house the cathedral’s administrative offices and enlarged in 1857 to create a museum on the ground floor housing Etruscan artifacts discovered around the city, which was once a major Etruscan capital. Next door to this building is the Claudio Faina museum, which houses the substantial collection of Etruscan art collected in the nineteenth century by Count Mauro Faina and bequeathed to the city.

External links

• Historical Information and photos
• Orvieto Duomo Photo Pages
• Orvieto Duomo Detailed description