Description

The facade is gabled and is traversed by three orders of loggias with blind arcades, the last of which, instead of being horizontal like the first two, follows the course of the roof. It also has a prothyrum ( a small portico that protects and covers the entrance to Romanesque churches), an aedicule placed above the latter, and three portals, two lateral and one central, sculpted by Luchino Bianchino in the years 1493-1494. The present bell tower (ordered by Bishop Obizzo Sanvitale) dates from the late 13th century, is about 65 meters high and bears on its top a copy of the Golden Angel, a statue made of gilded copper, more than a meter high, which is kept in the cathedral. The cathedral inside has a Latin cross plan and is divided into three naves. The chancel and transept are raised. It features: cross vaults, a high dome, women's gallery, crypt, bundled pillars and side chapels. In the nave is a religious cycle by Lattanzio Gambara, composed of episodes from the life of Jesus and events from the Old Testament, ending with the Ascension of Christ in the counterfacade. The altar, located under the dome, is supported by a predominantly red marble ark from the 12th-13th centuries, which holds the relics of several martyrs. Among the best-known works in the cathedral is the Deposition made in marble by sculptor Benedetto Antelami in 1178 and the Assumption of the Virgin, a fresco painted on the dome by Correggio between 1526 and 1530. That fresco depicts at the base of the dome the apostles and children leaning against a parapet, intent on watching the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. The Madonna is surrounded by saints and angels, who almost push her toward the center of the dome where an unidentified figure is placed, which could represent either Jesus Christ or the Archangel Gabriel. Four saints are depicted in the pendentives: St. Joseph, St. Hilary, St. Bernard and St. John. The cathedral also preserves a large number of sculptural works and paintings by such renowned artists as Antelani, Correggio, Anselmi, Rondani, Araldi, Gambara and others.