Orvieto Italy Cathedral Central Facade
by Joan Carroll
Title
Orvieto Italy Cathedral Central Facade
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Photography And Digital Art
Description
The detail, craftsmanship, and symbolism in the construction of cathedrals never ceases to amaze, and this is true of the 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. The construction of the cathedral lasted almost three centuries, time enough for the design to evolve from Romanesque to Gothic. The façade is awash in glittering golden mosaics, most representing scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. The "Coronation of the Virgin Mary" is in the topmost gable. Central to the mosaics is the large rose window built between 1354 and 1380. In the niches above the rose window stand the twelve apostles, while in niches on both sides twelve Old Testament prophets are represented in pairs. The Gothic façade of the Orvieto Cathedral is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Late Middle Ages. The church was constructed to commemorate a miracle said to have occurred nearby in 1263 and to provide a suitable home for a relic of that miracle. A priest had doubts about the belief held by the Catholic church that the bread and wine consecrated during the Mass actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As he celebrated a mass, the host began bleeding so much that it stained the altar cloth. This altar cloth is now housed in a side chapel of the cathedral.
FEATURED PHOTO, Churches group, 2/23/18
Joan carroll, old, religion, monument, medieval, landmark, marble, religious, renaissance, travel, town, tourist, tourism, italian, historical, christian, architecture, art, decorative, famous, exterior, europe, detail, Duomo
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February 23rd, 2018
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