The frescoes of Filippo Lippi
Descending a long, scenic staircase from the upper town, you suddenly see one of the most beautiful sights in Umbria: the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta of Spoleto, at the end of a large sloping square, framed by hills. Its Romanesque façade, of the twelfth century, is decorated with eight rose windows, the largest of which is surrounded by the symbols of the evangelists, and with a large golden mosaic of 1207, signed by the artist Solsternus, depicting Christ blessing between the Virgin and Saint John; in front of it, an elegant Renaissance portico was added in the fifteenth century. Next to the façade rises the tall bell tower, built with reused Roman materials.
The interior, rebuilt in baroque style in the seventeenth century, preserves its greatest treasure in the apse: the cycle of frescoes of the Stories of the Virgin, painted between 1467 and 1469 by the great Florentine master Filippo Lippi, with the help of his son Filippino and other collaborators: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Dormition of the Virgin and, in the vault, a splendid Coronation of the Virgin, surrounded by angels and saints in a sky of light, one of the masterpieces of fifteenth century painting. Filippo Lippi died in Spoleto during the work, and his tomb, commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici, is in the cathedral. The church also preserves a precious autograph letter of Saint Francis, written to Brother Leo, a chapel frescoed by Pinturicchio, a Byzantine icon and a Cosmatesque floor. In the evening, the square in front of the cathedral is the setting for the final concert of the Festival dei Due Mondi.
Tip: enjoy the view of the cathedral from the top of the staircase; illuminate Lippi's frescoes to see the details.
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