Pilgrimage Within the Orvieto Cathedral: How Direction and Movement of Structure and Ornament Provide a Guide to Catholicism

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course Eschatology in Art, this paper examines the ways in which the Christian eschatological imagination is expressed in Luca Signorelli’s Capella Nuova fresco cycle at the Cathedral of Orvieto. This cathedral exemplifies how architects and artists used structure and ornament to enhance Catholic teachings. My research, enhanced by a site visit to the cathedral, synthesizes Hans Balthasar’s theoretical ideas of vertical and horizontal time with the three-dimensional physicality of sacred architecture and two-dimenstional paintings.