Ferrara Cathedral is a basilica in Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

, Northern Italy

Northern Italy

Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...

, the largest religious edifice in the city. It is dedicated to Saint George

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

, the patron saint of Ferrara.

It is located in the city centre, not far from the Palazzo Comunale and the famous Castello Estense and is connected to the Archbishop's Palace by a covered passage.

History

The basilica was begun in 12th century, when the city was extending towards the left bank of the Po River

Po River

The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...

. The former Cathedral, also dedicated to St. George, still stands on the right bank of the river. The new edifice was consecrated in 1135.

Description

The original Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 design is manifest in the façade, resembling those of Modena and Parma: it is in white marble, with three cusps and a series of loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

s, small arcades and rose window

Rose window

A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

s, statues and numerous bas-reliefs. On the right side is a statue of Alberto d'Este

Alberto d'Este

Alberto d'Este was lord of Ferrara and Modena from 1388 until his death.He was associated in the lordship of the House of Este by his brother Niccolò in 1361, becoming the sole ruler of Ferrara and Modena after the latter's death in 1388...

 while on the side is a bronze bust of Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...

, over an inscription in memory of the capture of the city by that Pope.

In the centre of the façade is the porch

Porch

A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...

, supported by two columns with telamons seated on lions at the bases. It is decorated by a Final Judgement by an unknown master, a loggia with an "Our Lady with Child" (a late Gothic

Gothic art

Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...

 addition). The portal is the work of the sculptor Nicholaus, a pupil of Wiligelmus. The lunette shows St. George, Patron Saint of Ferrara, slaying the dragon; scenes from the Life of Christ appear on the lintel. The jambs framing the entrance are embellished with figures depicting the Annunciation and the four prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. According to a now-destroyed inscription, Nicholaus was responsible for the design of the original building. The two side portals on the west facade are also his work, as is the lower loggia here and on the south side of the building. A second portal by Nicholaus with additions by Benedetto Antellami was present on the south side, but it was demolished during the 18th century restorations. Some of the sculpture swhich decorated it are now on the piazza in front of the building (the supporting griffins) in the narthex and in the Cathedral Museum. The portal was used by pilgrims directed to Rome. Also on the southern side is the unfinished Renaissance bell tower, in white and pink marble, attributed to Leon Battista Alberti and built in 1451-1493. The apse, in brickwork, has arches and marble capitals, and was designed by the Ferrarese architect Biagio Rossetti

Biagio Rossetti

Biagio Rossetti was an Italian architect and urbanist from Ferrara. A military engineer since 1483, and the ducal architect of Ercole I d'Este, in 1492 Rossetti was assigned the project of enlarging the city of Ferrara....

.

The interior, entirely remade in Baroque style after a fire in the 18th century, has a nave and two aisles. It houses the bronze statues of "Crucifixion", by Niccolò Baroncelli, and "Ss. George and Maurelius", by Domenico di Paris (15th century), as well as a Martyrdom of St. Lawrence by Guercino (17th century). In the side chapels are a Madonna Enthroned with Saints by Il Garofalo, an Incoronation of the Virgin by Francesco Francia and a Virgin in Glory by Bastianino, who also painted the Last Judgement in the apse choir (1577-1581).

The Cathedral Museum, housed in the former church of San Romano across the square, houses two works by Cosmè Tura (Annunciation and St. George and the Dragon), the Madonna della melagrana by Jacopo della Quercia

Jacopo della Quercia

Jacopo della Quercia was an Italian sculptor of the Italian Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of Michelangelo.-Biography:...

and eight tapestries with stories of the two patron saints of Ferrara based on cartoons by Garofalo and Camillo Filippi.

External links

• Page on medioevo.org