Description
The Basilica of San Zeno is one of the great Romanesque churches of northern Italy, in the neighborhood that bears the name of Verona's patron saint. Outside, the golden tuff and the bronze portal stand out; inside, a wooden ceiling shaped like a ship's keel and a crypt full of columns.
On the facade, the rose window, known as the Wheel of Fortune, is the work of Brioloto: six carved figures rise and fall along its rim, to show how fate changes. Below, the porch by Master Niccolò rests on two lions that hold two intruders under their paws.
The bronze portal is a book to leaf through: 73 panels cast by different masters, in different eras, fixed to the wood with no apparent symmetry. They tell scenes from the Old and New Testaments and the miracles of Saint Zeno.
On either side of the portal, 18 stone high reliefs show Genesis, the life of Christ and even Theodoric, the Gothic king, who ends up among the damned.
Inside, the wooden ceiling shaped like a ship's keel dates from 1385-1389. Then you climb up to the presbytery, where in the small left apse stands the Laughing San Zeno, a 12th-century statue that is an icon for the Veronese. On the high altar is Andrea Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece, a masterpiece of the Renaissance.
Below the presbytery you go down into the crypt, a forest of 49 columns, each with a carved capital different from the others, supporting 54 cross vaults. At the far end rests Saint Zeno, dressed as a bishop, his face covered by a silver mask.
Zeno was the eighth bishop of Verona and died between 372 and 380. A first church rose over his tomb, and at least five have followed since. Today's was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117, and by around 1138 most of the present church was finished.
Napoleon's troops carried off Mantegna's altarpiece in 1797: the upper part was recovered after years, the predella stayed in France and the church holds a copy. In the corner of the left aisle, instead, stands a large red porphyry basin, more than two meters wide, that comes from the city's Roman baths.
The basilica has inspired poets such as Dante, Carducci, Heine and D'Annunzio. Next to the church remain the cloister, the shrine of San Benedetto and the bell tower, begun in 1045 and finished around 1178.
Don't miss
• The bronze portal.
• Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece.
• The Laughing San Zeno.
• The crypt.
Did you know?
• According to legend, the great porphyry basin was brought from Syria by the devil, defeated by Saint Zeno: the scratches would be his claws.
• To enter you climb a few steps and then go down some others: the first symbolize detachment from worldly things, the second humility.
On the facade, the rose window, known as the Wheel of Fortune, is the work of Brioloto: six carved figures rise and fall along its rim, to show how fate changes. Below, the porch by Master Niccolò rests on two lions that hold two intruders under their paws.
The bronze portal is a book to leaf through: 73 panels cast by different masters, in different eras, fixed to the wood with no apparent symmetry. They tell scenes from the Old and New Testaments and the miracles of Saint Zeno.
On either side of the portal, 18 stone high reliefs show Genesis, the life of Christ and even Theodoric, the Gothic king, who ends up among the damned.
Inside, the wooden ceiling shaped like a ship's keel dates from 1385-1389. Then you climb up to the presbytery, where in the small left apse stands the Laughing San Zeno, a 12th-century statue that is an icon for the Veronese. On the high altar is Andrea Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece, a masterpiece of the Renaissance.
Below the presbytery you go down into the crypt, a forest of 49 columns, each with a carved capital different from the others, supporting 54 cross vaults. At the far end rests Saint Zeno, dressed as a bishop, his face covered by a silver mask.
Zeno was the eighth bishop of Verona and died between 372 and 380. A first church rose over his tomb, and at least five have followed since. Today's was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117, and by around 1138 most of the present church was finished.
Napoleon's troops carried off Mantegna's altarpiece in 1797: the upper part was recovered after years, the predella stayed in France and the church holds a copy. In the corner of the left aisle, instead, stands a large red porphyry basin, more than two meters wide, that comes from the city's Roman baths.
The basilica has inspired poets such as Dante, Carducci, Heine and D'Annunzio. Next to the church remain the cloister, the shrine of San Benedetto and the bell tower, begun in 1045 and finished around 1178.
Don't miss
• The bronze portal.
• Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece.
• The Laughing San Zeno.
• The crypt.
Did you know?
• According to legend, the great porphyry basin was brought from Syria by the devil, defeated by Saint Zeno: the scratches would be his claws.
• To enter you climb a few steps and then go down some others: the first symbolize detachment from worldly things, the second humility.