The exhibition is organized by the Municipality in collaboration with the Parish of Spilimbergo.

Venue: Central hall of Palazzo La Loggia in piazza Duomo 1.

Dates: from December 2nd 2023 to March 3rd 2024

Project: curated by Federico Lovison with the scientific collaboration of Maurizio d’Arcano Grattoni and the photos by Stefano Ciol.

 

The exhibition provides an insight into various artists who, over the centuries, have contributed to the creation and embellishment of the unique monumental complex of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore. It also allows visitors to follow various events and curiosities related to the sacred building and the works contained therein.

Following the muffled rhythm of the verses of Gent da la Grava (People of the Tagliamento river), the evocative poem by Novella Aurora Cantarutti, one perceives that sounds and colours seem to merge in tuna lûs verda di aga (a green light of water), that of the Tagliamento river, which gurgles at the foot of the city in an icy bed of polychrome stones that already foreshadow the terrazzo floor and the mosaic. Everything is as if bathed in a soft light and the visitor is gradually confronted with works that are emotions.

In the corridor leading to the hall, high-resolution images allow visitors to admire the details of the masterpieces housed in the cathedral.

At the entrance to the large hall, on the right, are the paintings and works related to the early Renaissance music chapel, consisting of the organ, wooden choir and illuminated manuscripts (more on this later).

The visit starts with the Flight to Egypt, a 16th century fresco by Girolamo Stefanelli (panel no. 1). Continuing on, we come to the Penitent Saint Jerome by Antonio Carneo (1637-1692), an admirable oil on canvas. The half-open book alludes to the ‘vulgata’, i.e. the translation of the Bible into Latin, of which Jerome was the author (panel no. 2).

The angels of the Cappella del Carmine, sculpted in 1498 by the stonemason Giovanni Antonio Pilacorte, one of the many Comacini masters working in Friuli, who also created the baptismal font in 1492 (panel no. 3), are a further attraction.

Then we come across the admirable illuminated codices. Worthy of note is Gradual No. 1, which is part of the six choir books, five graduals and an antiphonary, conserved in the parish archives of Spilimbergo and illuminated between 1494 and 1507 by the Udine painter Giovanni de Cramariis (panel no. 4). Also on display is Gradual No. 3 with valuable illuminated initial letters and a full-page frieze (panel no. 5).

Next to it are the panels with the Paggi reggistemma (coats of arms of Zuccola and Trussio) made in 1524 by Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis known as Pordenone (panel no. 6).

The eye is then drawn to the wooden choir, with its attached lectern, carved, inlaid and gilded by Marco Cozzi in 1475/1477, formerly in the cathedral and now housed in the Church of Saints Joseph and Pantaleone, popularly known as the Church of the Friars (panel no. 7).

Here are pictures of the organ doors, tempera on canvas, painted by Pordenone in 1524 (panel no. 8). They represent the Fall of Simon the Magician and the Conversion of Saul (when open) and the Assumption of the Virgin (when closed).

The visitor, immersed in such wonder, cannot fail to be enchanted by the frescoes of the Vitalesque school that decorate the apse of the Cathedral. They represent one of the most significant examples of 14th-century painting in Friuli (panel no. 9).

The triple lancet window of the hall offers a privileged view of the Cathedral in all its fascinating beauty, with the portal by Zenone da Campione, the Romanesque-Gothic arches of the attic, the chapel of St Michael and the majestic St Christopher, patron saint of travellers and pilgrims. To the east, just behind the apse, one can see the small church of St Cecilia, the oldest religious building in the town (panel no. 10).

Beautiful gold and silver jewellery (chalices, monstrances, patens, shrines, reliquaries) in gold and silver, preciously chiselled and decorated, coming from all over the world, especially from Venice are on also display (panels 11 and 15).

Next we find the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (around 1503), a panel by Giovanni Martini in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary  (panel no. 12).

The liturgical vestments (chasubles, tunicelles, copes) made of lampas and brocaded taffetas are, to say the least, astonishing in the meticulous workmanship and the dedication of so many industrious hands. They are kept in the Rectory House (panel no. 13).

Next we see St. John the Evangelist, an oil on canvas attributed by some to Gasparo Narvesa (1558-1639), depicted with the classic little book (his Gospel) and the chalice from which, according to a well-established apocryphal source, a greenish snake emerges (panel no. 14).