Mosaic floor from the early Christian cathedral.
The small but recently renovated Museo Diocesano of Cremona is located right next to the cathedral of the city. In a limited number of rooms visitors learn more about the history and spiritual life in the diocese. That history starts well before that of the current cathedral, as in the first room we find a piece of a mosaic floor which comes from the early Christian cathedral of Cremona. Whereas the construction of the current Duomo started in 1107, this beautiful piece of floor is dated to the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century. The multi-coloured mosaic shows us geometrical patterns, including the famous Solomon’s knots.
In the museum we may admire various works of art that come from churches in and around Cremona. Sometimes these have been replaced with copies in the churches themselves. This for instance seems to be the case with three large statues that adorn the façade of the cathedral. The statues represent a Madonna and Child, the Umbrian bishop Himerius (died 560) and Saint Homobonus (Omobono Tucenghi), a local cloth merchant who was canonised in 1199 because of his piety. Another original statue from the cathedral is that of an ox (twelfth century), the symbol of Saint Luke the Evangelist. However, what the museum does not possess is the original foundation stone of the cathedral. The original item, which features the prophets Enoch and Elijah, is still kept in the sacristy of the cathedral itself, while the museum only has a plaster cast. I had, by the way, found that plaster cast in the Baptistery several years ago, so it looks like the objects are moved around from time to time.
Madonna and Child, Saint Himerius and Saint Homobonus of Cremona – Marco Romano.
From the Baptistery comes the statue of the archangel Gabriel, which I had also previously seen in the Baptistery itself. The statue dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century, but it was placed on top of the lantern of the Baptistery in 1370. In another room we find the portraits of Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) and his wife Bianca Maria Visconti (1425-1468). These frescoes, painted by Bonifacio Bembo (ca. 1420-1480), once adorned a chapel in the church of Sant’Agostino in Cremona. From the church of Sant’Agata comes a panel painted on both sides that is known as the Tavola di Sant’Agata. This small wooden panel measures 112 by 69 centimetres and was painted by an anonymous master at the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. The painter may have been a miniaturist, i.e. an artist who also illuminated manuscripts. On one side of the panel we see the Madonna and Child with an image of the Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The other side has stories from the life of Saint Agatha. Since I also saw the Tavola di Sant’Agata in the church itself, I assume that panel was a replica.
Of the large canvases in the Museo Diocesano, I especially liked those of Altobello Melone (ca. 1485-1543) and Marcantonio Mainardi (ca. 1570-1629). Altobello Melone was a local painter, who was also responsible for part of the frescoes in the nave of the Duomo. His Christ in Limbo comes from the cathedral as well. We see Christ descending into the antechamber of Hell, where the people reside who have led virtuous lives, but have died before the coming of Christ and have therefore never been baptised. Christ is accompanied by the good thief, one of the two men who were crucified alongside him. The Messiah has come to save the souls of those in Limbo, so that they may enter Heaven after all. Among them we recognise Adam and Eve, dressed in undergarments made of fig leaves, and Saint John the Baptist. Marcantonio Mainardi was also born in Cremona. The museum has a dramatic Conversion of Saint Paul by him, which comes from the village of Zanengo west of Cremona.
Christ in Limbo – Altobello Melone.
In a corridor of the museum (room 10) we find the collection of the local Fondazione Arvedi Buschini. It mostly consists of late medieval works, for instance by Lorenzo di Bicci (ca. 1350-1427), his son Bicci di Lorenzo (1373-1452) or Giovanni del Biondo (active until the end of the fourteenth century). An intriguing object is a procession standard, painted on two sides. It dates from ca. 1465-1470 and is attributed to the mysterious Maestro di Staffolo. He was a fifteenth-century painter from the school of Fabriano in the Marche. On one side of the standard he painted a Madonna della Misericordia, on the other three saints. The saint on the left is clearly Saint Sebastian, his body riddled with arrows. The bishop in the centre is, according to the museum, Saint Venantius (of Luni?) and the saint on the right one Marianus.
Website of the museum: MDC | Museo Diocesano or Museo Diocesano – Cremona Musei