PINTORICCHIO IN UMBRIA
Spoleto, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza Duomo

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built circa 1175 on the site of the church previously destroyed in 1155, was consecrated by Pope Innocenzo III in 1198 and completed between 1216 and 1227. Within the church is an extraordinary series of masterpieces, such as the frescoes painted on the apse by Felippo Lippi. In 1497 the Bishop Constanino Eroli commissioned Pintoricchio to decorate the Cappella di San Leonardo. In the small basin of the apse, outlined by an elaborate cornice designed and sculpted by Ambrogio Barocci. Pintoricchio painted the Eterno benedicente tra cherubini ed angeli above and the Madonna col Figlio tra i santi Giovanni Battista e Leonardo below; on the front of the simple altar is the fresco Cristo in Pietà. Of the complex series of decorations only one of the four Sibille remains, in addition to the monochrome illustration of the Trionfo di Constantino. In spite of the damage caused by humidity that has partially compromised the vision of the works, the Eroli frescoes continue to provide a fascinating testimony to the fortunes of Pintoricchio and his links with the Pontificate.