The Volto Santo and Jacopo della Quercia's sleeping young wife
The cathedral of San Martino has an asymmetrical Romanesque façade, squeezed against its bell tower, with three tiers of arcaded loggias and columns each carved differently. Under the portico, a labyrinth carved in the stone recalls the path of the soul.
Inside, a small marble temple by Matteo Civitali houses the Volto Santo, a large wooden crucifix that legend says was carved by Nicodemus and arrived in Lucca miraculously; every 13 September the city honours it with the candlelit Luminara procession. In the sacristy lies the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto, sculpted by Jacopo della Quercia in 1406: the young wife of Paolo Guinigi sleeps with her little dog at her feet, a symbol of fidelity, one of the most moving works of early Renaissance sculpture.
Tip: the cathedral museum and the nearby church of Santi Giovanni e Reparata, with its archaeological excavations, can be visited with a combined ticket.
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