ORVIETO
332-
ORVIETO
Jesus", and thero are several sculptures by Soalza
(ir)72), amoiis; tliem the fjioup of the Piota, chiselled
from a single Idock of niarhle. The chapol on Ihi- op-
posite side, called "of the Corporal", contains the
large reliquary in which is preserved the corporal
of the miracle of Holseiia (see below). This recepta-
cle was made b^■ order
of Hishop IVrtrand
(lei Monaldesclii. by
tlu'SiiMiese rudlinodi
Ma'stro Vieri (13o7);
it is of silver, adoriieil
with enanielliiiftsthat
represent the Passion
of Jesus and the mir-
acle; the frescoes of
the walls, by Ugolino
(1357-64), also repre-
sent the miracle. In
the palace of the
popes, built by Boni-
face VIII, is the civic
museum, which con-
tains Etruscan antiq-
uities and works of
art that are, for the
greater part, from the
cathedral. Among
the other notable
churches of Orvieto
are San Giovenale,
which contains rem-
Papal Pala
Erected by Pope Bonif,
over it; while, in 1377, the town was sacked by the
adventiner llawkwood (.Acuto). On the l.shmd of
Martana, in the lake near by, Anialasunta, daughter
of Theodoricus and wife of Thcodatus, was slr.iiit;lcil.
To this island, in the sixth (•(•ntury, was transferred
Ihi^ body of St. Christina, a virgin and m;utvr of
HoLseiia (21(7?), but
it was later returned
to the city ; tlie church
of this saint contains
a reclining statue of
her by Luca doUa
Jiubljia; annexed to
the church is an an-
cient Christian ceme-
tery, and ancient
Christian inscriptions
are numerous at Bol-
sena. Three bishops
of \'olsinii are known:
Caudentius (499),
Candidus (liOl), who,
it a])pears, is not the
Bishop of Orvieto of
that name, and Ag-
nellus (t)80).
The M iracle of Bolscna is not sup- ported by strong his- torical evidence, and its tradition is not altogether consistent;
VUI (1294-1303)
nants of ancient frescoes, and San Andrea, which for in the first place Urban IV makes no mention
has a dodecagon tower; in 1220 Pierre d'Artois was of it in the Bull by which lie established the feast
consecrated King of Jerusalem by Honorius III in this of Corpus Christi, although the miracle is said to
church. have taken place in his day and to have determined
The first known Bishop of Orvieto was John (about him in his purpose of establishing that feast; likewise,
590), and in 591 appears a Bishop Candidus; among the two biographers of Pope Urban impugn the truth
its other prelates were Coa
stantino Medici, O.P., sent by
Alexander IV in 1255 to
Greece, where he died; Fran-
cesco Monaldeschi (12S0), who
did much for the construction
of the cathedral. In 1.528
Clement VII sought refuge at
Orvieto, and while there or-
dered the construction of the
"Pozzo di San Patrizio" (the
well of St. Patrick), by San-
gallo. Bishop Sebastiano Vanzi
(1562) distinguished himself
at the Council of Trent and
built the seminary, which was
enlarged afterwards by Car-
dinal Fausto Polo (1645) and
by Giacomo Silvestri, the lat^
ter of whom gave to it the col-
lege and other property of the
Jesuits (1773); Cardinal Paolo
Antamori (1780) caused the
history of the cathedral of Or-
vieto to be written by Gug-
lielmo dclla Valle; and lastly
G. B. Lambruschini (1807).
With the Sec of Orvieto has been united from time imme- morial that of Bolsena (the ancient Volsinii), of the ruins
of this tradition by their silence,
i. e. Wuratori, "Rerum Itali-
carum scriptorcs". III, pt. I,
400 sq. ; and especially Thier-
ricus Vallicoloris, who, in his
life of the pope in Latin verse,
describes in detail all the acts
of the pontiff during the latter's
stay at Orvieto, referring else-
where also to the devotion of
Urban in celebrating the Mass,
and to the institution of the
Yeasi of Corpus Christi, with-
out at any time making allu-
sion to the miracle at Bolscna.
The latter is related in the in-
scription on a slab of red mar-
ble in the church of St. Chri.s-
liiia, and is of later date than
1 he canonization of St. Thomas
A(iuinas (1328). The oldest
historical record of the miracle
is contained in the enamel ' ' his-
tories" that adorn the front
of the reliquary (1337-39). It
is to be noted that in the nar-
ratives of the miracle cited by
Fumi (II Santuario, 73) the re-
liquary only is called "taber-
naculum D.N.J.C.", or "tab
. pro D.N.J.C." or, again.
Designed by Lorenzo Maitani (1275-1330)
of which th(^re are still the remnants of the tem- "tabernacolo del Corpo di Xpo."
pie of Nortia, of the "Thermte", or hot baths, of In 1344 Clement VI, referring to this matter in a
Sejanus, of the mausoleum of L. Canuelius, etc. Ac- Brief, uses only the words "propter miraculum ali-
cording to Pliny, 2000 statues were taken to Rome quod" (Pennazzi, 367); Gregory XI, in a Brief of 25
from Vol.sinii, when the latter was destroyed in 2.54 June, 1337, gives a short account of the miracle; and
B c. In the Middle Ages, Bolsena had much to suffer abundant reference to it is found later on (1435), in
from the neighbouring lords (Vico, BLsenzo, Cerbara, the sermons of the Dominican preacher Leonardo
etc.), and from the Orvietans, who claimed dominion Mattel of Udine ("In festo Corp. Christi", xiv, ed.
