On certain bright sunny days, visitor look speechless at the wide stairway that leads up to the Urbino Cathedral and at the perfection Man’s work can accomplish. The church, dedicated to St. Mary in Heaven, is in the historic heart of the city, beside the Ducal Palace. On the imposing white façade, which contrasts with the brick colour of the surrounding buildings, seven majestic statues represent the theological virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity), the saints John Chrysostom, Augustine, the patron Crescentino and his co-patron the blessed Mainardo. A few words deserve two other marvels of Urbino’s cultural panorama, the Oratorio of St. John and the Oratorio of St. Joseph. The former, residents call “a little Sistine Chapel”, guards a work by the Salimbeni brothers, Lorenzo and Jacopo. It is a cycle of frescos dating from 1416 which after more than six centuries still keep their splendour and bright colours. The Crucifixion and the Story of St. John Baptist are real masterpieces: even the more inattentive observer is touched by the representation of pain, by the expression of Mary’s face, by the accuracy of the way colours fade one into another. The Oratorio of St. Joseph guards instead a spectacular stucco Nativity scene, dating from 1560, by Federico Brandani. In the work, unique of its kind, characters have quite natural features; the meticulous care for details joins the effects produced by the light coming from the ceiling. At the end of the day the light sources converge on the Child, make him bright and fully create the magic only Nativity scenes can produce.
Urbino