Fish-Mouth Complex

Siena- Il Duomo

When I consider the world that Dante and his contemporaries lived in, the streets they walked, the buildings they entered, and the fact that it is likely that I am visiting those same places, I am struck with what I've decided to call "fish-mouth."  It's that opening and closing of my lips in such a way that I look much like a fish out of water-- and that's exactly what I am--a small, unprepared rainbow trout plucked from the South Holston Lake in Tennessee and shipped to Siena, Italy.

As I tiptoed through the Duomo (cathedral) of Siena this afternoon, I found myself suffering from fish-mouth, and I was too distracted to see if anyone else was suffering the condition with me or if they were watching me with pent up giggles.


The facade as you see to the right is inspired by French Gothic; there are dozens of small statues of saints and animals.  Each column, in fact, is covered in designs (no simple spiral columns for these builders). The main "tower" is striped black and white, the doors are carved wood, and not one inch seems to be left without decoration or ornamentation.

I love the striped building and tower (though it does make me want to shout Beetlejuice.)

A close-up of some of the saints

The interior of the duomo is also striped, and the ceilings are painted in intricate designs. There is so much to look at, so many designs for the eye to be drawn to! And in case you decide to chat during mass, the ceilings are lined with the busts of the popes.  (If you follow the columns up to the ceiling, you can see the row of heads tilted down, eyes staring at those below.)

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  The interior of the central dome.

A close up of a few of the busts. I admit, they are kind of scary. 

As you walk down the nave (the central aisle of the cathedral), you are guided by the lights from angels stationed on each column.

The pavimento (floors) are covered in 47 mosaic pictures.  The Gruppo Dante spent time at a few important ones to discuss the relevance to our readings.

This is the "Siena design", featuring the sons of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf  and surrounded by animals to represent the different neighboring cities

A few of the statues in the church were carved by Michaelangelo, such as this one below.

There were many other statues in the church; my favorite was this one of Saint Jerome cradling a crucified Christ to his face.  The expression speaks of both love and pain.

Before we left the classroom for our visit, we were able to listen to Mrs. Christie Stephanie present a lecture on the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  She explained much about the pulpit, not only its artist, but the symbolism of each of the panels.  They tell the story of Christ, from his birth to his resurrection.  

Holding up the pulpit are numerous lions; the one below is both feeding her cubs and eating a leg of lamb as well.

 Though all of these moments gave me fish-mouth, the one that truly took my breath away was the Library room.  I did not know what to expect when I entered the seemingly unimportant door, and nothing prepared me for the sight that greeted me.

This is the ceiling of the library.

Surrounding the room were the duomo's song books in their original form (on animal skin).  The illustrations were beautifully colored.

This was a panel of the ceiling.

I also took a short video of the library, as I knew words would not do it justice.  I can't figure out how to flip the image, so you may have to tilt the computer or your head-- I know, I've lost it!

 As I did in Sant Antimo, I lit a candle and said a prayer for my Mom-- to her prosperity, her good health, and to give thanks for her support and love. I also lit a candle for my friends and family!

Tomorrow morning, I leave for Rome for the weekend.  I promise to update on Sunday (I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures).  We will be visiting the Vatican, a few museums, and many places mentioned by Dante in the Commedia.