The Cloister

Description

The cloister at the heart of the Cathedral district counts among the most important cultural sights in South Tyrol. With the cathedral to the north, the courtyard to the east, the cathedral school and St. John’s church to the south and the Liebfrauen church to the west, the inner courtyard of the cloister is almost square and is framed by four arcade passageways. The twenty round arches are decorated with fifteen frescoes from the late Gothic period. The stone death lamp dating from 1500 has been at the centre of the inner courtyard since 1928. The cloister, last resting place of many canons and members of the clergy, used to be a place of religious contemplation, where processions and devotions were held. Only under the arcades 16 to 20 were merchants allowed to offer their tax-free goods and students of the cathedral school dwelled between lessons.

Architectural history

Originally a Romanic complex, the first cloister dates back to the 12th century, and was transformed in the Gothic style in the late 14th century. Characteristic of most sacral buildings of the time, the arcade was built with a groined vault. Today the pre-Romanic structure is combined with Romanic round arches and Gothic elements.

The frescoes

The cloister had been embellished with Romanic and early Gothic painting even before the groined vault was built and small fragments of this period are still visible today. Most ofthe frescoes however originate from the late 14th to the early 16th century and are an excellent documentation of the development of late Gothic painting. Illustrating mostly passages from the Old and New Testament, they served as a Bible for those who could not read it and taught allegoric and ancient scenes. Numerous members of the clergy and wealthy citizens sponsored the paintings in the arcades; therefore, rather than following a logically sequenced order, they randomly portray popular scenes such as the birth of Christ. Many of those patrons are buried in the cloister and the commissioned frescoes have become their own sepulchral monuments. It is only the profane arcades 16 to 20 that have remained unpainted over the course of time.

Interesting details

The existence of a cloister has not been proved for the earliest period of the building but it seems more than likely. Although the arcades are numbered consecutively starting from the first painted arcade in the south wing, this does not correspond to the order in which they were created as the work was carried out by numerous artists at different times. The arcade numbered 13 marks the tomb of a certain master Utz(o), whose burial monument in the wall is embellished with an inscription and the emblem of stonemasons; this has led to the conclusion that he was a leading figure in the course of the Gothic restoration works.