Cappella di San Brizio, Renaissance chapel in Orvieto Cathedral, Italy
The Cappella di San Brizio is a chapel within Orvieto Cathedral featuring wall paintings that depict biblical narratives. The works display human figures in religious scenes executed with advanced Renaissance painting methods.
Begun in 1396 under a bequest from Tommaso di Micheluccio, who wanted a chapel dedicated to the Crowned Virgin, the chapel was built into Lorenzo Maitani's 13th-century structure and finished in 1425. In 1447 Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli painted two vault sails with Christ Judge, Angels and Prophets in fifteen weeks. Luca Signorelli, chosen on 5 April 1499 over Perugino for his lower price, finished the whole cycle by 1502.
The chapel takes its name from a painting of the Madonna di San Brizio: the image of the saint was added beside the Virgin in 1464, later removed, and the venerated Maestà della Tavola was moved here in 1622. The frescoes draw on the Apocalypse of John, the Golden Legend and the Revelations of Saint Bridget, printed in Lübeck in 1492.
Access to the chapel is through the cathedral, where visitor tickets are available. The interior can be reached year-round, though lighting conditions vary depending on the time of day.
The chapel was long called "Nova" because it was the last built after the Corporal Chapel; the name San Brizio came from a venerated image of the Madonna, believed to be by Saint Luke, moved here in 1622, to which a figure of the saint was added in 1464 and later removed.
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