The large cathedral (duomo) at Orvieto was built over three centuries between 1290 and 1591, though alterations continued to be made to it up to the 20th century. The cathedral's facade made use of substantial quantities of white marble stripped from Roman buildings in Rome and Ostia. More
The cathedral is included as a case study in this database because close analysis of the bas reliefs decorating its facade provides an insight into how the supply of material and the carving of large-scale reliefs worked in practice, even though this building is not ancient. The artists responsible for these reliefs are not known but they seem to date to the 14th and 15th centuries and were probably laid out under the direction of Lorenzo Maitani, the Sienese architect and sculptor responsible for work from 1309.
Fumi, L. and Riccetti, L. (2002). Statuti e regesti dell'Opera di Santa Maria di Orvieto: il Duomo di Orvieto e i suoi restauri (Collezione dell'Opera del Duomo di Orvieto 1; Fonti per la storia dell'Umbria 28). Orvieto.
Martellotti, G. and Rockwell, P. (1988). ‘Osservazioni sugli strumenti della scultura nei rilievi della facciata’, in L. Riccetti (eds). Il Duomo di Orvieto. Bari: 101–22.
Moskowitz, A. F. (2009). The façade reliefs of Orvieto cathedral. London.
