Orvieto's Cathedral and The Chapel of Saint Brizio
Orvieto's Cathedral and The Chapel of Saint Brizio
Famed for its marvelous frescoes by Beato Angelico, Benzolo Bozzoli, and Luca Signorelli, the chapel is unique within Italian renaissance art.
The chapel of Saint Brizio, or cappella Nova (‘New chapel'), can be found in the right transept of the Duomo of Orvieto. The chapel constitutes one of the most significant instances of Italian renaissance painting thanks to its innovative spatial and iconographic model, and to the high artistic profile of its fresco decoration by Beato Angelico, Benzolo Bozzoli, and Luca Signorelli.
The spatial layout of the chapel is structured into two large vaulted spans fanning out into eight ogives separated by gothic style frames, some of which are enriched by plant motifs.
The chapel's vault features a number of important frescoes. The one depicting Christ sat in judgement surrounded by the angels, and the one showing the sixteen prophets, occupying respectively two of the eight ogives, are attributed to Beato Angelico and his helpers (1447). The master Beato Angelico himself is thought to have personally authored the figure of Christ, now quite damaged, a group of angels to the left, and some of the sitting prophets.
The decorative bordures featuring human heads are instead attributed to Benozzo Bozzoli. One of the heads is thought to be a self-portrait of the artist.
from: www.umbriatourism.it
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