DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0637
chap, xxix.] THE CATHEDRAL. 529
or tradition, for no sepulchres remain open in the slopes
around the town, nor are there any Etruscan relics
preserved there, as far as I could learn.1
Orvieto is a city of six or seven thousand inhabitants,
and is neater and cleaner than most towns in this part
of the Papal State. The inn, called L' Aquila Bianca,
has tolerable pretensions to comfort. The two great lions
are the Duomo, and the Well of San Patrizio. Of the
latter with its strange corkscrew descent, I have nothing
to say; but how can I be silent on the Duomo 1
It is foreign to the purpose of this work, or I could
expatiate on the glories of this Cathedral. Willingly
would I descant on its matchless facade, similar in style,
but more chaste and elegant than that of Siena—on
the graces of its Lombard architecture—on its fretted
arches and open galleries—its columns varied in hue
and form—its aspiring pediments—its marigold window
with the circling guard of saints and angels—its quaint
bas-reliefs—its many-hued marbles—its mosaics gilding,
warming and enriching the whole, yet imparting no
meretricious gaudiness, — the entire facade being the
petrifaction of an illuminated missal — a triumphant
Maze of beauty obtained by the union and tasteful
1831, pp. 33—37 ; 1832, p. 216; 1833, By these roads he evidently means the
p. Sietseq.—Bunsen; Ann. Instit. 1834, rock-hewn sewers, which existed here,
p. 83.—Bunsen. as visual on Etruscan sites in the
1 Similar evidences of Etruscan anti- volcanic district, though none are now
quity were discovered ages since on this to be seen, opening in the cliffs. The
site. Monaldo Monaldeschi of Cervara, caves were probably tombs in the slopes
who in 1584 wrote Historical Commen- beneath the walls. For he elsewhere
taries on Orvieto, states that "on the (lib. I. p. 3) states that "many sepul-
rock of the city there are quarries of chres are found continually, of pagans
sand and pozzolcma, and likewise sub- and Greeks (i. e. Etruscans), with vases
terranean roads hewn in the rock in of black earth fashioned in sundry ways,
ancient times, which lead from one part and with divers figures, and other beau-
of the city to another. Caves also, tiful things, whereof many are to be
running under ground, where wine is seen in the Archivio of the city."
preserved most fresh " (lib. II. p. 15).
VOL. I. • MM
or tradition, for no sepulchres remain open in the slopes
around the town, nor are there any Etruscan relics
preserved there, as far as I could learn.1
Orvieto is a city of six or seven thousand inhabitants,
and is neater and cleaner than most towns in this part
of the Papal State. The inn, called L' Aquila Bianca,
has tolerable pretensions to comfort. The two great lions
are the Duomo, and the Well of San Patrizio. Of the
latter with its strange corkscrew descent, I have nothing
to say; but how can I be silent on the Duomo 1
It is foreign to the purpose of this work, or I could
expatiate on the glories of this Cathedral. Willingly
would I descant on its matchless facade, similar in style,
but more chaste and elegant than that of Siena—on
the graces of its Lombard architecture—on its fretted
arches and open galleries—its columns varied in hue
and form—its aspiring pediments—its marigold window
with the circling guard of saints and angels—its quaint
bas-reliefs—its many-hued marbles—its mosaics gilding,
warming and enriching the whole, yet imparting no
meretricious gaudiness, — the entire facade being the
petrifaction of an illuminated missal — a triumphant
Maze of beauty obtained by the union and tasteful
1831, pp. 33—37 ; 1832, p. 216; 1833, By these roads he evidently means the
p. Sietseq.—Bunsen; Ann. Instit. 1834, rock-hewn sewers, which existed here,
p. 83.—Bunsen. as visual on Etruscan sites in the
1 Similar evidences of Etruscan anti- volcanic district, though none are now
quity were discovered ages since on this to be seen, opening in the cliffs. The
site. Monaldo Monaldeschi of Cervara, caves were probably tombs in the slopes
who in 1584 wrote Historical Commen- beneath the walls. For he elsewhere
taries on Orvieto, states that "on the (lib. I. p. 3) states that "many sepul-
rock of the city there are quarries of chres are found continually, of pagans
sand and pozzolcma, and likewise sub- and Greeks (i. e. Etruscans), with vases
terranean roads hewn in the rock in of black earth fashioned in sundry ways,
ancient times, which lead from one part and with divers figures, and other beau-
of the city to another. Caves also, tiful things, whereof many are to be
running under ground, where wine is seen in the Archivio of the city."
preserved most fresh " (lib. II. p. 15).
VOL. I. • MM