Duomo di Orvieto

Also known as Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

Year

1591

Style

Gothic

Type

cathedral

The cathedral at Orvieto was begun in 1290 with the foundation stone laid in the presence of Pope Nicholas IV. The walls follow the local convention of alternating bands of dark basalt and travertine, and an elongated choir and transept…

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Timeline

1290-1591
Foundation and construction
Pope Nicholas IV laid the foundation stone on 13 November 1290, initiating a building campaign that would continue for three centuries. Lorenzo Maitani's appointment as capomaestro around 1310 shifted the design from Romanesque to Gothic…
1310-1330
Facade campaign
Maitani directed the marble west front with its four sculpted piers, bronze evangelist symbols, and mosaic tympanum.
Lorenzo Maitani
1358
Rose window
Orcagna designed the rose window above the central portal, set within a square frame of sculpted prophet and apostle heads.
Andrea Orcagna
1499-1504
San Brizio frescoes
Signorelli completed the fresco cycle in the Cappella Nuova that Fra Angelico had begun in 1447, painting the Antichrist, the Resurrection of the Flesh, and the Last Judgment.
Luca Signorelli