Week 5 – Reportage 2

 

Sets of three elements spire skyward supporting mosaics of Mary, baby Jesus and saints haloed in the afternoon sun.  Bleachers assembled for the celebration of the miracle that occurred in 1263.   A priest who was unsure of the truth about the host turning into the body of Christ, found his Host to be bleeding so profusely that it stained the altar cloth and his vestments.  The Cathedral of Orvieto is the suitable home for the Corporal of Bolsena and is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.  It took three centuries to complete construction.  Starting in the late 1200’s, the original design was Romanesque like the cathedral in Florence, but later was formed into Siennese Gothic.  Reliefs on the left bottom depict the Book of Genesis and work through the Old and New Testaments ending with The Last Judgment of Revelations on the right.  A rose window holds center stage on the front façade.  In the mid to late 1300’s, statues of twelve apostles stand in niches above the rose.  The frame surrounding the rose with the head of Jesus Christ in the center, holds 52 carved heads.  The sides of the church are horizontal stripes of white travertine and blue-grey basalt stone.  Cruciform construction overall, the cathedral is a majestic work of art.  Gothic sculptures, colorful mosaics, and bass relief are all combined with spires pointing heavenward.