Cremona Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Cremona, ''Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta''), dedicated to the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
, is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
cathedral in
Cremona, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is the seat of the
Bishop of Cremona
The Diocese of Cremona ( la, Dioecesis Cremonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan. ...
. Its bell tower is the famous
Torrazzo, symbol of the city and tallest pre-modern tower in Italy.
Also adjoining is the
baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
, another important medieval monument.
History
Originally built in
Romanesque style, the cathedral has been restored and extended several times, with
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
and
Baroque elements. Construction began in 1107, but the works were damaged and halted after an
earthquake in 1117. Construction resumed in 1129, and the building was probably finished in 1160-1170. The main altar, dedicated to the city's patron saints
Archelaus and
Himerius
Himerius ( grc-gre, Ἱμέριος; c. 315 AD – c. 386 AD) was a Greek sophist and rhetorician. 24 of his orations have reached us complete, and fragments of 12 others survive.
Life and works
Himerius was born at Prusias ad Hypium in ...
, was consecrated in 1196.
The current façade was probably built in the 13th and the early 14th century. In the same period the arms of the
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...
were also added: the northern in 1288 and the southern in 1348.
Exterior
The main façade, together with the adjoining baptistery, is one of the most important monuments of Romanesque art in Europe. It has a portico with a
narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
in the middle, to which a Renaissance
loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
with three niches was added in 1491. This is surmounted by a large
rose window, flanked by two orders of ''loggette'' ("small loggias").
The
portal is probably from the early 12th century. On its side are the figures of the
Four Major Prophets, each bearing a roll with the text of their prophecies. The narthex was made by masters from
Campione in the following century: it incorporates an older
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
portraying the
Labours of the Months (late 12th century, inspired by that in the
Baptistery of Parma
The Baptistery of Parma ( it, Battistero di Parma) is a religious edifice in Parma, northern Italy. Architecturally, the baptistery of Parma Cathedral marks a transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles, and it is considered to be amon ...
). The four statues on the upper loggia, portraying the ''Madonna with Child'' and two bishops, are of the Tuscan school (1310). The columns of the narthex stand on two lions in Verona marble. The left one is holding a dragon, symbol of Evil, in his paws, while the right one is holding a bear, which in turn is biting a bird's neck.
On the façade are also two tombs: the more recent one (mid-14th century) is by
Bonino da Campione
Bonino da Campione was an Italian sculptor in the Gothic style, active between 1350 and 1390.
His name indicates that he was born in - or into a family originating in - Campione d'Italia, a Lombardy town in an enclave within Switzerland. His wor ...
.
The façade of the northern arm of the transept (late 13th century) also has a narthex; and its columns also have two lions at the base. It is characterized by a sequence of
mullioned window
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s and rose windows. The façade of the southern arm of the transept dates from 1342, and is in
brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...
, as is typical in Lombard Gothic architecture. Its structure is similar to the northern arm, but has slightly more detailed decoration.
The three apses are all surmounted by loggias with small columns, each having a human face stretching out from the capital. The central apse is much higher than the flanking ones.
Interior
The interior houses important works of art.
The oldest are the
frescoes of the ''Stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph'' in the southern and northern transept vaults (late 14th-early 15th century). Also from the Renaissance are the arch of the ''Stories of the Martyrs
Marius and Marta, Audifax and Habakkuk'', martyrs in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
(best known as ''Arch of the Persian Martyrs'', 1482), and the relief of
Saint Himerius (1481-1484), both works by
Giovanni Antonio Amadeo
260px, Amadeo, Milan Cathedral
260px, The Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo.
Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (c. 1447 – 27 or 28 August 1522) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor of the Early Renaissance, architect, and engineer.
Biography
Amadeo was born ...
. Also notable is the urn of Saints
Marcellinus and Peter
Saints Marcellinus and Peter (sometimes called ''Petrus Exorcista'' - Peter the Exorcist;Alban Butler, Kathleen Jones, Paul Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' (Continuum International Publishing Group, 1997), 14. it, Marcellino e Pietro) are ...
, sculpted mostly by
Benedetto Briosco (1506-1513), in the crypt.
The wooden choir, with inlay work by
Platina
Platina is a municipality ''( município)'' in the state of São Paulo in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and ...
(1482-1490), and the contemporary large altar cross in silver and gold, by Ambrogio Pozzi and
Agostino Sacchi (1478), in the right aisle of the northern transept, are also notable.
The most important figurative complex of the cathedral is the fresco decoration on the side walls of the nave (early 16th century), portraying the ''Life of Mary and Christ''. Different painters collaborated to its execution: the first was
Boccaccio Boccaccino
Boccaccio Boccaccino (c. 1467 – c. 1525) was a painter of the early Italian Renaissance, belonging to the Emilian school. He is profiled in Vasari's '' Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori'' (or, in English, ' ...
(with ''Annunciation to Joachim'' and ''Jesus with the Doctors''), who, in 1506, had already painted a ''Redemeer with Cremona's Patron Saints'' in the apse vault. He was succeeded by
Giovan Francesco Bembo (''Epiphany'' and ''Presentation at the Temple'') and
Altobello Melone
Altobello Melone ( 1490–1491 – before 3 May 1543) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
Biography
Melone was born in Cremona. His work merges Lombard and Mannerist styles. In Cremona, he encountered the elder Girolamo Romanino. H ...
(''Flight to Egypt'', ''Massacre of the Innocents'' and the first four panels of the ''Passion of Christ''), who both adopted a less classicist style. Next came
Girolamo Romanino, author of the scenes from ''Jesus before Pilatus'' to ''Ecce Homo'', who painted some of his masterworks here.
The last scenes of the ''Passion'' were executed by
Il Pordenone
Pordenone, Il Pordenone in Italian, is the byname of Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis (c. 1484 – 14 January 1539), an Italian Mannerist painter, loosely of the Venetian school. Vasari, his main biographer, wrongly identifies him as Giovann ...
, who was also responsible of the large ''Crucifixion'' (1521), the ''Deposition'' (1521, counterfaçade) and the ''Schizzi Altarpiece'' (before 1523, on the first altar in the right aisles), the latter inspired by
Giorgione
Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...
's style. The complex was completed by
Bernardino Gatti
Bernardino Gatti (c.1495 – 22 February 1576) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma and Cremona. He is also commonly called il Sojaro.
He was born in or near Pavia or Cremona. His early apprenticeship is unclear, ...
with the ''Resurrection'' (1529).
Other frescoes were added in the mid-16th century by Mannerist painters, including Gatti himself,
Bernardino Campi and others. In the 17th century
Il Genovesino added the ''Life of St. Roch'' in the northern transept.
See also
*
Bertolino Bragerio
References
External links
Page about the CathedralDiocese of Cremona page
{{Authority control
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy
Cathedrals in Lombardy
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
Romanesque architecture in Lombardy
12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Churches completed in 1170