The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is a notable example of Venetian-Byzantine architecture, one of the most ancient religious edifices in the Veneto. According to an ancient inscription, it was founded by the exarch Isaac of Ravenna in 639.
Basilica Santa Maria Assunta Pictures
Mosaic of the Last Judgement in the Basilica of Torcello
On the counterfaçade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello we can see the wonderful Veneto-Byzantine mosaic of the Last Judgement.
The mosaic, dating from between the 11th and 12th centuries, depicts the Last Judgement. It is located at the exit of the temple, as it served as a reminder to the faithful of what awaited them at the end of time. The scene is divided into six bands and summarises the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the culmination of the Last Judgement.
Christ Crucified between the Virgin and Saint John
From top to bottom, in the upper band, with a triangular shape caused by the gabled roof, the Crucifixion appears, with Christ on the cross flanked by the Virgin Mary, on the right, and Saint John the Evangelist on the left, with his hand on his face in an expression of lament for the death of the Lord.
Anastasis: The Resurrection of Christ
The following represents Christ's descent into Hell, his redemptive victory over death and the salvation of humanity affected by original sin. Christ, after his death, descended into the hell of the just, where the unbaptized awaited resurrection, to conquer death and take them with him. The event took place before the Resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ which takes place on the third day after the crucifixion.
The mosaic depicts Christ the Victor, in great size, holding a cross in his left hand while trampling the devil. At his feet, the broken gates of hell with their keys on the ground. To the right, Saint John the Baptist points to him as the Saviour. To the left, Christ takes Adam by the hand, while Eve begs him to take them out of Limbo and take them with her to the Last Judgement. Next to Adam and Eve appear David and Solomon, prefigurations of Christ in the Old Testament and allegories of royalty and wisdom. Behind Saint John the Baptist are the prophets, those who revealed that Christ was the last of them. Other souls await to be rescued from the infernal chambers. At the ends appear, in disproportionate size, the archangels Michael and Gabriel dressed as imperial messengers from Byzantium.
Limbo, where Adam and Eve remained, is the temporary place where the souls of Christian believers who died before the Resurrection of Christ were and the permanent place of the unbaptized who die at a young age without having committed sin, but who have not been freed from original sin by baptism.
Christ in Glory with the Virgin and the 12 Apostles
The third strip of the mosaic depicts Christ in Majesty, a symbol of his divine nature, showing the wounds of the Passion and flanked by the Virgin and again by Saint John the Baptist. The apostles and angels are distributed horizontally throughout the space.
The call to the Last Judgement and resurrection of the dead
In the next strip there is an empty throne, a symbolic representation of the expectation of the coming of Christ. Next to the throne, a cross with a crown of thorns, a lance and a stick with a sponge, instruments of the Passion. On the cloth of the throne, the book closed by the seals that will be opened at the Last Judgement. Two seraphim and two archangels guard the throne, while at its feet we see Adam and Eve kneeling in an attitude of adoration. On the sides, angels announce the arrival of the Last Judgement by blowing their trumpets to awaken the dead from their long slumber. Meanwhile, at the ends, the dead are emerging from the earth, represented by land animals, or from the sea, represented by fish and marine beings. To the right of the throne we see another angel, who is rolling up the starry sky, a sign that the Universe has come to an end.
The Last Judgement: Chosen and Damned
The last two sections show the Last Judgement itself. Just above the door, the archangel St. Michael is weighing souls to determine their degree of goodness while demons try to cheat to tip the scales in their favor. The saved, dressed to preserve their honorability, are on the left divided into four groups: ecclesiastics, martyrs, monks and pious women. On the right we see two angels pushing the damned to deliver them to the eternal fire, where a terrifying white-haired character, Satan, awaits them with the Antichrist on his lap. The fallen angels inflict all kinds of torture on them while pushing them towards the devil.
Heaven and Hell
In the lower section, on the left, in the middle of a lush garden, the gates of Heaven are depicted guarded by a cherub. On the right, St. Peter with the keys to Heaven and the archangel St. Michael in his task of accompanying souls to the afterlife. On the left, the good thief, who reaches Paradise after repentance. Further to the left, the Virgin as intercessor before her Son and Abraham surrounded by souls already saved.
To the right of the lower band we have the condemned, naked, representing the seven deadly sins. Lust, with men surrounded by flames up to their waists, gluttony, with men biting their hands, anger, with men sinking into icy waters to appease their rage, pride, envy, with skulls from which snakes emerge, greed, with jeweled heads emerging from the flames, and sloth, represented by dismembered skeletons.
Tympanum: The Virgin Mary in a praying attitude
The tympanum of the door shows the Virgin Mary in a praying attitude, in an attitude of interceding for men before Christ the Judge.
Torcello Island
The Torcello Island is a quiet and sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon. It is considered the oldest continuously populated region of Venice. Torcello is worth a visit: A magnificent Byzantine-Italian cathedral dating back to 639 A.D., the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, looms over the island with the Bell Tower and Church of Santa Fosca alongside.
Allow 45 minutes or an hour to visit the religious buildings around the central piazza, which is a short walk along a canal from the Actv stop. Tickets are sold individually for the Basilica, the Bell Tower, and the small Archaeological Museum, but the best deal is a combination ticket that includes all three plus the use of an audioguide in the Basilica (still called the Cathedral by many, and still in use for weddings and religious festivals.
