Central dome

Musician Angels

The Valencia Cathedral started to be built in the Gothic style in 1262. On 21st May 1462, during a performance of the descent of the Holy Spirit under the form of a “Dove” at the top of the lantern tower, a fallen sparkler ignited the riddles which surrounded the precious altarpiece made of wood and silver. Thence, all the decoration of the apse was lost, as well as the Fresco paintings of its vault.

History

One of the Bishops of Valencia was the Valencian Mr Roderic Borgia, who later became Pope Alejandro VI. When he arrived to this city, he tried to make the Cathedral shine with the splendour of the emerging Italian art of that period. In order to get it, he called out two painters: the Neapolitan Francesco Pagano and Paolo da San Leocadio from Reggio, in Lombardy. When they arrived, they signed the contract with the Cardinal and the Chapter of this Cathedral on 26th July 1472.

The Contract

Nowadays, the contract is kept in the archive of the Cathedral. In the clauses, we can find that the artists committed to do a Fresco painting with an angel in each bracket’s stretch of the Gothic vault of the chancel. The period to finish the project was six years.

Disappearance

This work might be one of the wonders of the first Renaissance and it disappeared in the 17th century. In 1674, while the Archbishop of Valencia was Mr Luis Alonso de los Cameros a project to restore all the chapel was developed. Juan Pérez Castiel, was in charge of the work, which was done in Baroque style. It was finished seven years later.