Craftsmen of Arnolfo di Cambio, Architrave of the main door of the Cathedral

Author
Craftsmen of Arnolfo di Cambio
Collocation
Sala dei frammenti
Dimensions
Height: 79,5 cm; Length: 412 cm; Thickness: 8,5 cm;

Architrave decorated with mosaics of geometric flower patterns in glass and stone from the medieval facade of the Cathedral. The panel and other fragments were probably part of the original Cathedral facade, which Arnolfo worked on from 1294 until his death in around 1310. This facade was dismantled in 1587, but it was recorded in an accurate drawing, attributed to Bernardo Poccetti, which Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici commissioned to document the monument. Poccetti's drawing has been lost, but a copy of it was made by Alessandro Nani, currently preserved in the historical Archive of the Opera del Duomo. From this we see that there were both niches containing statues and blind lancet and mullioned windows divided by tiled mosaics in the lower part of the façade. This architrave mosaic was among the fragments found, and is thought to have decorated one of these windows. 

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Sala dei frammenti