Stumbling Upon a Deja-Vu Moment

Due to a missed train, Saturday I was able to explore the town Folignio while awaiting the arrival of a bus to continue my journey to the beach. While there, we stumbled upon a gorgeous church amidst a bunch of modern clothing shops. It was the Folignio cathedral that is also known as the Cathedral of San Feliciano. As we walked inside, the thing I immediately thought was that it bore a striking resemblance to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. There was a mosaic on the outside that mirrored that of the one that was inside the basilica in Rome. One of the things that was really parallel to that of Vatican City’s cathedral was the altar piece (or the baldachin.) It appeared to be an exact replica of the one that is above Peter’s tomb. The one in Folignio even had the bees on the posts which was symbolic of the Barberini family. It was obviously not as large as the one in Rome, but it mirrored it quite closely. Another thing I noticed about this cathedral was the use of the same sculptures as in the roman cathedral. The sculptures of the saints that acted as the pillars for the relics and dome in St. Peter’s Basilica were also a part of the architecture of the Folignio Cathedral. They were located at the top in the dome. From what I could see, which were only two of the figures; they were Saint Helena and Saint Veronica. They were not the exact replicas as the ones in Rome but I was able to tell who they were based on the items they were carrying. One was holding a piece of cloth; Saint Veronica and the other was holding a cross; Saint Helena. One of the major differences between the two churches, I think, was the dedication to Mary. This church in Folignio had a fresco on the ceiling of the last judgment. It was similar in content to the ones we saw in the Sistine Chapel and the Saint Francis Church in Assisi except for one major thing. Instead of placing Jesus or God in the center of the painting, the Virgin Mary was there. She was the central focus of this church which is an added emphasis on the belief of Mary as the essential mediator. The meaning of having her in the center shows that she does have power as the Queen of Heaven and that she has the ability to decide your fate when the day comes. The church also had a plan for a rose window. I do not know if it was lying to the side because the window was destroyed or if they are planning on installing one. The rose window is also a symbol of Mary. It was her flower. Most of the Notre Dame cathedrals in France have them because they are the churches of “Our Lady” (Mary). I find that Mary is a very important figure of the early Renaissance and later. I am surprised at the amount of art that her presence is seen. I think that, in a religious sense, that this shift of importance could be used as one of the identifiers of the Renaissance period. Michelangelo’s Pieta and Giotto’s pieces all have that hierarchy of importance based on size and Mary is the largest in most of these works. Having the representation of Mary in so many locations and in different ways is definitely representative of the faith of the time and how religion was not just focused on what the bible says but about emotional connections as well. The Christians appealed to Mary for their sins because she was Jesus’s mother so they recognized the bond between the son and mother as something that impacts everyone – even the holy.