Gables mosaics of Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena) - Siena, Italy
Posted by: 
vraatja
N 43° 19.050 E 011° 19.720
32T E 688828 N 4798706
Three mosaics on upper gables of the famous Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena) by Alessandro Franchi and Luigi Mussini (1877) / I Mosaici del Duomo di Siena .
Waymark Code: WMZCZ6
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 10/21/2018
Views: 6
Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Large in scale and ornately decorated inside and out, Siena's cathedral is one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic architecture.
:Siena's Duomo was built between 1215 and 1263 and designed in part by Gothic master Nicola Pisano. His son, Giovanni, drew up the plans for the lower half of the facade, begun in 1285. The facade's upper half was added in the 14th century.
The 14th century was a time of great wealth and power for Siena, and plans were made to expand the cathedral into a great church that would dwarf even St. Peter's in Rome. The already-large Duomo would form just the transept of this huge cathedral.
Expansion got underway in 1339 with construction on a new nave off the Duomo's right transept. But in 1348, the Black Death swept through the city and killed 4/5 of Siena's population. The giant cathedral was never completed, and the half-finished walls of the Duomo Nuovo (New Cathedral) survive as a monument to Siena's ambition and one-time wealth.
In the 19th century, the cathedral was extensively restored, including the addition of golden mosaics on the facade."
Cited from (
visit link)
During the 19th century restoration three large mosaics were added on the gables of the west façade of the cathedral. They were made in Venice in 1878. The large central mosaic, "The Coronation of the Virgin", is the work of Luigi Mussini. The smaller mosaics on each side, "Nativity of Jesus" and "Presentation of Mary in the Temple", were made by Alessandro Franchi.