Trento Cathedral

Foundation

Archaeological excavations conducted since the mid-20th century have revealed that the area where the cathedral stands, just outside the walls of ancient Tridentum near the Porta Veronensis (located at the Torre Civica), was urbanized between the 1st and 2nd century with primarily commercial structures. By the late 3rd century, these were largely abandoned, and in the following century, parts were repurposed for the construction of the first basilica on the site.^[4][7]

According to the Passio Sancti Vigilii (composed between the late 7th century and early 8th century), Vigilius, Bishop of Trento, built the basilica to house the remains of the martyrs of Anaunia, killed in 397, and was himself buried there upon his death in 400 or 405. At the time, another church, located at the site of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, served as the cathedral, while the present cathedral was established as a cemetery church. It is estimated that between the 5th and 6th century, over 200 floor burials with inscriptions existed, of which approximately 80 have been uncovered.^[4][7][8][9] Some sources suggest the church founded by Vigilius was dedicated to Saints Gervasius and Protasius.^[10] The dedication to Saint Vigilius likely occurred during the episcopate of Eugippius (6th century).^[11]

The original structure consisted of a large nave 14 meters wide and over 43 meters long, terminating in an apse of indeterminate shape. The facade, built on a Roman wall, featured a large central portal, possibly flanked by two smaller ones. In front, there was a pronaos and a walled atrium, initially paved with clay and later with stone slabs. By the 6th century, the presbytery was raised by one step and accessed via two lateral gates located about 32.5 meters from the facade.^[4]

From the second half of the 6th century, likely under Bishop Eugippius, burials continued only outside the church, and internal tombs were covered by a new floor, partially decorated with mosaic. Simultaneously, a podium extending about two meters into the nave was added to the presbytery, enclosed by a barrier with carved slabs and pillars and a central access. Flanking the presbytery were two identical sacella, square in plan with semicircular apses, each containing an altar and a colonnaded niche housing a sarcophagus. The southern sacellum’s sarcophagus, from the Lombard period (late 7th to early 8th century), is still intact.^[4][9]

From the 8th to the 12th century

The height difference between the nave and presbytery was leveled between the late 8th and 9th century with a new stone slab floor, and the interior was likely divided into multiple naves. The facade was modified by sealing the lateral portals and erecting an avant-corps with three arches supported by pillars, possibly sustaining a loggia. These changes may have been promoted by Iltigarius, the first Franco-Germanic bishop of Trento, who is credited with erecting a new altar in the church.^[4][9] Between the 9th and 10th century, a new episcopal residence (now the Castelletto del Palazzo Pretorio) was built between the Porta Veronensis and the basilica, which then became the cathedral of the diocese.^[4][8][13]

Further modifications occurred in the first half of the 11th century under Bishop Udalric II (1022–1055). The nave was divided into three sections by pairs of pillars and pilasters, with square bays in the main nave and rectangular ones in the side naves. The two sacella were incorporated into the nave by demolishing the wall separating them from the presbytery, transforming them into transept arms. A raised presbytery with frontal staircases was constructed, with a crypt beneath accessible by lateral stairs.^[4] All areas were repaved, leveling the height difference between the interior and exterior, which had increased over centuries due to sediment from the nearby Fersina stream.^[10]

In the 12th century, Bishop Altemanno made further changes. The terminal part of the structure was rebuilt with three apses, which, together with the two former sacella in the transept, totaled five. The crypt was also rebuilt, enlarged, and given a cross-shaped plan with a central hall divided into three small vaulted naves and two apsed lateral wings. On 18 November 1145, the basilica was reconsecrated by the Patriarch of Aquileia Pellegrinus and the Bishop of Concordia Gervico.^[4] Altemanno dedicated the crypt to Saint Maxentia, believed to be Saint Vigilius’s mother, transferring her relics from Maiano (now Santa Massenza, a hamlet of Vallelaghi).^[9][10]

From the 13th to the 16th century: Vanga’s reconstruction and the Council

Less than a century later, Prince-Bishop Federico Vanga, appointed in 1207, decided to completely rebuild the cathedral, entrusting the project to the Comacine master Adamo d’Arogno from Ticino. The cornerstone was laid on 29 February 1212, though the exact completion date and subsequent consecration are unknown, as construction spanned over a century. Vanga died in the Holy Land in 1218 during the Fifth Crusade, leaving the project to his successors, which slowed progress significantly.^[4][14][15]

Construction began with the apse area, progressing toward the facade without initially demolishing the older structure. Construction was likely mostly finished by the early 1230s.^[4][7][8] Around 1236, Adamo d’Arogno died, and his descendants, including his son Enrico and grandsons Zanibono and Adamo, took over.^[4][16] From the second half of the 13th century, fresco decoration of the interior began, continuing into the next century, with contributions from artists primarily from Verona, Bologna, and Lombardy.^[4]

The construction saw numerous design changes. Under Egidio da Campione (documented as construction manager from 1305) and Bishop Heinrich III. von Metz (1310–1336), the architectural style shifted from Adamo’s Lombard approach to a Carolingian-inspired Gothic, creating a contrast between the cathedral’s front and apse areas. Egidio completed the south flank, the facade up to the rose window, and the lower part of the bell tower. The patronage of Guglielmo da Castelbarco was notable in the facade work.^[4][15] The cathedral was planned with twin bell towers, but only the northern one was completed; the southern tower remained unfinished due to structural, economic, and stylistic reasons, leaving only the lower part of its shaft.^[15]

The upper facade and the vault of the first bay were likely completed under Bishop Georg Hack (1446–1465). The 15th century also saw the raising of two additional levels of the bell tower and the construction of a wall concealing the northern apse to enhance its decorum and align with the Castelletto. A starry sky motif may have decorated the vaults during this period.^[4]

In 1490, Domenico di Taio was hired to rebuild the central nave roof, and Bernardo Frisoni da Laino was tasked with constructing the lantern, completed in 1515 under Bishop Bernardo Clesio (hence called the “Clesian dome”).^[4] During Clesio’s era, the northern prothyrum was also rebuilt.^[17] The 16th century saw the construction of the organ (1506–09), lead roof covering (1515), and further elevation of the bell tower (1521), which barely exceeded the roofline. These works were so problematic that, in 1523, the canons arrested two of the three responsible masters. They released the masters only after taking their children hostage to ensure the works were completed. The bell tower was depicted with a four-pitched roof in a 1562–63 map by Vavassore.^[4][15]

The 16th century marked two significant events in the cathedral. On 4 February 1508, Maximilian I, en route to Rome for his imperial coronation, was blocked by Venetians and crowned in the cathedral by Cardinal Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, the first papal-approved imperial coronation not performed by the pope.^[18][19] More significantly, between 1545 and 1563, the cathedral hosted solemn sessions of the Council of Trent, convened by Pope Paul III to address the Protestant Reformation. The first eight sessions, including the opening on 13 December 1545, took place in the choir and sometimes the main nave. After the eighth session on 10 March 1547, the Council was suspended and moved to Bologna due to fears of an epidemic. The eleventh session was held in the cathedral’s choir on 30 April 1551, but the Council was interrupted again on 28 April 1552. Sessions resumed on 18 January 1561, primarily at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, except for the final two sessions (24th and 25th) on 11 November and 3 December 1563.^[20]

From the 17th to the 19th century

The 17th century began with the relocation of lateral altars in 1618 and the high altar in 1629, ordered by Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo, followed by the demolition (1660–73) of a three-arched rood screen between the canons’ choir and the main nave. The most significant intervention was the construction of the Chapel of the Crucifix, or Alberti Chapel, annexed to the southern flank and completed in 1687. Its cornerstone was laid on 6 April 1682 with the blessing of Bishop Francesco Alberti Poja, intended as his funerary chapel.^[4]

In the 18th century, a major decorative campaign was undertaken in fulfillment of a vow made by the population during the 1703 siege of Trento. The nave walls and vaults were frescoed by Louis Dorigny, Giuseppe Antonio Caccioli, and Gaspare Antonio Baroni, with modifications to the dome. The wooden choir of the Holy Angels was built in the main apse, and the grand baldachin high altar required lowering the presbytery by about four meters, demolishing the 13th-century crypt (its remains are now part of the Paleochristian basilica’s archaeological area). By 1717, the bell tower’s pyramidal roof was replaced with an onion-shaped one.^[4]

The 19th century saw modifications around the cathedral. In 1828, excavations uncovered the buried perimeter molding. In 1835, the 17th-century Madonna chapel between the northern prothyrum and the transept corner was demolished. Between 1840 and 1842, the pavement of Piazza della Legna (now Piazza d’Arogno) was lowered, and a staircase to Via Borgonuovo (now Via Garibaldi) was added.^[4] In 1888, 14th-century Gothic houses facing the cathedral’s facade were demolished, expanding the parvis toward present-day Via Verdi.^[4][15] The dome, restored in 1817, was rebuilt from 1824 to around 1845, along with other roofing. In 1844–1845, Bishop Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer zu Gleifheim restored the Chapel of the Crucifix.^[4][8]

In 1858, Viennese architect August Essenwein was commissioned for a comprehensive restoration, proposing a radical transformation, including reinstating the crypt, removing the dome, altering the bell tower, and completing the unfinished twin tower. Only the stained glass of the rose window and the wooden panels of the main doors (created by Tommaso Campi in 1863) were completed.^[4]

The cathedral required urgent repairs, leading to the closure of the main nave in 1878–1879. In 1882, renovations began under Enrico Nordio’s design and direction. Baroque frescoes in the naves were removed, replaced with starry sky decorations by Giuseppe Lona, and the lantern and dome were rebuilt, with the roof changed to a two-pitched design. Nordio left Trento in 1888 under unclear circumstances, and Ludwig Pulsator took over in 1889,^{[note 1]} overseeing the decoration of the semi-dome, choir, crossing, and dome by Luigi Spreafico until completion in 1890. In 1893, Bishop Valussi replaced the floor, removing tombstones, and in 1896, the minor naves’ roofing was redone.^[4]

Early 20th century

Between 1903 and 1906, Natale Tommasi directed the restoration of the tympana, galleries, facades, and bell tower base. In 1910, the frescoes in the transept were restored, revealing those that had been hidden by bishops' tombstones against the walls.^[4]

During World War I, the cathedral’s copper roofs were removed in 1915 for reuse, with the conseil de fabrique compensated with 1,700 kronen in war bonds. They were replaced with poor-quality zinc-plated iron sheets painted to resemble copper, causing water leaks until their later removal.^[4] Nearly all bells were requisitioned.^[21]

Between 1918 and 1938, under Giuseppe Gerola’s superintendence, various interventions occurred: restoration of the bell chamber (1919), casting of six new bells (1920), partial restoration of the Chapel of the Crucifix’s stuccoes by Camillo Bernardi (1924), roof maintenance (1928 and 1939), installation of a new Mascioni [it] organ, and excavation in the former Saint John chapel under the reliquary sacristy, lowering its level by over a meter and destroying ancient floors (1931).^[4]

As World War II approached, in 1941, Superintendent Rusconi implemented air-raid protections and safeguarded artworks. During a severe bombing of Trento on 13 May 1944,^[22] a bomb struck the cathedral, destroying the central nave’s roof, damaging the underlying vault, and affecting the bell tower’s roof and chamber. Urgent repairs were conducted in 1946–48, alongside the replacement of stained glass by Scipione Ballardini.^[4]

Late 20th century

In the 1950s, Superintendent Guiotto oversaw various works: restoration of the Chapel of the Crucifix (1950–52), replacement of roofing with copper sheets (1952), replastering of interior and exterior walls (1954), replacement of the bell tower framework and electrification of bells (1954–56), liturgical rearrangement of the presbytery with two new stone and bronze ambons (1955), and restoration of the Saint Julian frescoes (1959).^[4]

In 1963, Archbishop Alessandro Maria Gottardi initiated a restoration campaign based on prior commission recommendations. The lateral apses’ windows were reopened, their altars removed, enhancing 13th-century reliefs and uncovering late medieval fresco fragments. The entrance near the Chapel of the Crucifix, sealed since its construction, was reopened, and the presbytery’s furnishings, lighting, and sound systems were reorganized (the latter fully renovated in 1964).^[4]

In 1964, sacristies were refurbished, pillars and walls cleaned, vestibules and confessionals replaced, and the Stations of the Cross removed. The 19th-century vault and apse paintings were whitewashed.^[4] In 1965, exterior restorations continued, during which the western rose window’s stained glass, designed by Essenwein, was replaced and lost.^[4]

Archaeological studies began concurrently. Initial surveys in the choir area led to excavations in the presbytery and transept by 1966, lowering the floor to restore crypt access and rebuilding the presbytery staircase. Excavations resumed in 1973 in the southern transept arm, concluding in 1975 in the central nave. In 1976, the presbytery underwent liturgical retrofit. On 24 June 1977, a funeral Mass was held for the exhumed bishops, whose remains were reinterred in the Paleochristian basilica. Additional restorations, including frescoes in 1981 and exterior sculptures between 1986 and 1998, occurred in the last two decades of the century.^[4]

Since 2000

In preparation for the Great Jubilee, the archdiocese launched a comprehensive restoration, entrusted to Maria Antonietta Crippa in 1998, preceded by thorough geological and structural analyses. The first phase, completed in 2008, covered the roofing, all facades except the eastern one, and the Chapel of the Crucifix’s interior. Minor internal interventions occurred between 2011 and 2015.^[4] From 2017 to 2022, a complete restoration and cleaning of the interior, stained glass, organ, and wooden choir furnishings uncovered previously hidden frescoes.^[23] In October 2016, new bronze Stations of the Cross by Gardenese artist Paul Moroder were installed.^[24]

Urban context and style

The cathedral, oriented eastward with a slightly asymmetrical Latin cross plan, is constructed from local ammonitic stone, with roofs of wooden frameworks covered in copper sheeting. It is located in the southern part of Trento’s historic center, just outside the Roman Tridentum walls. The facade faces Via Giuseppe Verdi toward the Adige River, framed tightly by rows of houses and dominated by a large rose window and the towering bell tower on the left.^[7] On the right side lies Piazza Adamo d’Arogno, with old clergy houses along its southern edge, where a 1933 bronze statue of Saint Vigilius by Stefano Zuech stands in a flowerbed.^[7][25]

The cathedral’s left flank, facing the older and more prestigious part of the city, is its most monumental side, forming the southern boundary of Piazza Duomo. At its eastern end, it connects to the Palazzo Pretorio (former Bishop’s Palace) via the Castelletto, forming a single structure.^[7] Via Giuseppe Garibaldi runs behind the cathedral and palace, linking Piazza Duomo and Piazza d’Arogno.^[9][26]

The cathedral’s architectural style is complex and debated, classified as late Romanesque, Gothic, or a transitional hybrid.^[2] In Romanesque plans, multi-nave churches typically had a square-based presbytery, replicated in the choir and transept arms, with the main nave comprising three such squares and side naves having rectangular or double-square bays supported by an intermediate pillar. In Vanga’s cathedral, this scheme is followed in the older choir, presbytery, and transept, while the naves, built nearly a century later, are distinctly Gothic, with rectangular bays in the main nave and square ones in the side naves. The arches, though not pointed, reflect the Gothic’s slender elevation, as do sculptural elements such as crochet capitals and vegetal decorations.^[1][2] The cathedral also incorporates non-Italian influences: the tripartite exterior wall of the main apse derives from Rhenish architecture, while gemmed capitals draw from French Gothic.^[27]

Exterior

Facade

The cathedral features a tall, narrow gable facade, designed for close viewing, as the parvis was limited by houses until their demolition in the mid-19th century. The main portal is deeply splayed and adorned with vine-scroll bas-reliefs^{[note 2]} on the architrave.^[4][26] Above is a blind lunette with a mid-14th-century fresco depicting the Madonna Enthroned with the Child, two saints (possibly Saint Vigilius and Saint Anthony the Abbot), and a kneeling patron, likely a high-ranking layperson given the image’s prominent position.^[28]

The tympanum, rebuilt in the late 19th century, is decorated with a small perforated oculus in a rosette pattern and crowned by a passable arcade following the gable’s slopes, with nine round arches on paired columns. The central, deeply splayed rose window in white stone, crafted by Egidio da Campione in the early 14th century, features sixteen rays with varied tracery at the center and ends, and five sculptures along the outer ring depicting the Christ Pantocrator and the four tetramorph symbols of the Evangelists.^{[4][26][29][30]}

Bell tower

Vanga’s cathedral was designed with twin bell towers, but the southern one was never completed, leaving only the base of its shaft, which, along with the northern tower, visually compresses the facade. A 1309 epigraph on the upper part praises Guglielmo da Castelbarco’s generosity. Economic factors aside, the southern tower’s incompletion was due to structural changes in the interior and evolving stylistic preferences; by the Renaissance, a medieval tower near the cemetery was no longer desirable.^[15][26]

The northern bell tower, the only one completed (excluding the San Romedio tower of Palazzo Pretorio), rises from the first bay of the minor nave, supported by two arches without a distinct base. It is marked by four horizontal cornices indicating subsequent elevations. The octagonal bell chamber is lit by narrow biforas with central columns, echoing the triforas of the demolished “Clesian dome.” The roof is onion-shaped, topped with a globe, weather vane, and cross.^[4][15][26]

Two splayed monoforas adorn the shaft: one high on the west side and another low on the north, the latter featuring animal and human sculptures supporting the arches, crafted by Egidio da Campione in the early 14th century.^[4][26] These include Christ’s face, the Lamb of God, a rabbit and a hen preyed upon by a griffin and a fox, lions (two sharing a head at a capital’s corner), and eagles, all with allegorical significance.^[31]

The cathedral's bells have a notable history. The largest, “Il Vigilio,” was commissioned in 1426 by Bishop Alexander of Masovia to founders from Brixen, recast multiple times in the 17th century and again in 1752 by Pietro Maffei. In the 19th century, additional bells by Trento’s Chiappani foundry were requisitioned during the war. "Il Vigilio" was spared, but it was withdrawn after the war due to tuning difficulties. It was placed at the entrance of the minor seminary.^[21]

In 1920, Luigi Colbacchini of Trento cast a new set of six bells, funded partly by Mantua’s Beneficentia committee. Decorated by Angelo Campi and Stefano Zuech, they were named “Vigilio” (the largest), “Anselmina” (in homage to Mantua and its patron saint, Saint Anselm), “Santissimo” (after a 19th-century bell funded by the Holy Sacrament confraternity), “Addolorata,” “Celestina” (in homage to Bishop Celestino Endrici), and “Ave Maria.” In the 1950s, two more bells were added, using metal from the 18th-century “Vigilio,” cast by Luigi Cavadini and dedicated in 1955 to Saint Charles Borromeo and the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus.^[21] This results in a concert of eight bells in the major diatonic scale of A♭2: the six older bells (A♭2, B♭2, C3, E♭3, F3, A♭3) and two newer ones (D♭3, G3).^[32]

Left flank

The cathedral’s left flank, prominently visible in Piazza Duomo, shows only a portion of the choir’s gallery, as the rest, from the minor apse onward, is concealed by the Palazzo Pretorio’s Castelletto and a 15th-century wall built to complement the facade. This wall features two rows of pointed arch monoforas and a small architraved portal accessing the passage to the sacristy, topped by a blind lunette with a fragmentary early 15th-century fresco, possibly a Vesperbild, showing the Sorrowful Virgin’s face and parts of flanking angels.^[33] The wall also houses a 1460–70 fresco in a niche between the lower monoforas, depicting Saint Vigilius blessing a kneeling figure, possibly a bishop, likely commemorating Johannes Hinderbach’s 1466 investiture.^[34]

Beyond the wall, the north transept arm emerges with a two-pitched roof, framed by corner pilasters and two central low pilasters, forming a pseudo-facade dominated by the large rose window with the Wheel of Fortune, a topos of medieval art, possibly inspired by the Basilica of San Zeno in Verona. At its center, Fortune turns an inner ring adorned with vine-scrolls^{[note 2]} of leaves and grapes. Twelve rays, symbolizing the hours or months, extend from the wheel, with twelve human figures on the outer rim moving counterclockwise, rising or falling with Fortune’s whims: the top figure is enthroned, crowned, and holding two cups. The figures, of modest quality, were likely crafted by an assistant of the anonymous master who sculpted the telamons and lion of the southeast prothyrum. Above the rose window, a walkable gallery with Romanesque paired columns forming round arches extends from the choir to the bell tower. At the base of the wall, several units of length used in trade are engraved, such as the pertica, the pace, and the braccio.^[26][35][36]

To the right of the transept is a pointed niche topped by a monofora, containing the arcosolium altar of the Madonna of the Drowned (the statue is a copy; the original has been inside since 1979).^[4] This is followed by the elegant northern entrance, the “bishop’s door,” used by episcopal processions from the Buonconsiglio via Via Belenzani. It features a prothyrum, reassembled in the 16th century with reused materials, with a round frontal arch and pointed lateral arches supported by three pairs of columns, the front ones resting on column-bearing lions, and Saint Vigilius sculpted in the tympanum.^{[4][26][36][37]} The splayed portal is topped by a lunette with a Maiestas Domini sculptural group—Christ Pantocrator and the Evangelists’ symbols—with traces of polychrome paint. Crafted by Adamo d’Arogno’s workshop, the figures are arranged in an unusually concentric pattern, possibly due to reassembly in the 16th century or relocation from another site, such as the internal rood screen.^[37][38]

The remaining minor nave wall is punctuated by six pilasters, not all aligning with internal bays, likely remnants of an abandoned design due to window insertions. Besides the monofora above the Madonna niche, there are two other splayed round monoforas interrupting pilasters and a splayed oculus.^[4][26] Three Roman-era sculpted stones with friezes, including a trident, were reused in this wall. The walkable gallery continues above the windows, stopping at the bell tower on the right.^[26] The central nave’s wall, emerging from the gable, is more regular, divided into six sections with Lombard bands and each featuring a monofora.^[4]

Main altar

The main altar is located at the center of the presbytery, between the two transept arms: it is an imposing 18th-century Baroque structure, one of the few remaining testimonies of the expansion undertaken to fulfill the public vow made during the siege of 1703. Cristoforo Benedetti of Castione designed the altar, which was clearly inspired by St. Peter's Baldachin and drew details from other works by Bernini. However, during the process, Don Francesco Sartori managed to secure the commission for his family. The work was thus carried out by Domenico and Antonio Sartori, assisted by various relatives, and Benedetti was not even mentioned in the inscription within the baldacchin’s entablature.^[48]

The altar table, raised on five red stone steps, contains the casket with the relics of Saint Vigilius; it is symmetrical, allowing the celebrant, even at the time, to face the congregation.^[12][48] The centerpiece of the altar is the baldacchin, for which the presbytery’s floor level was lowered by demolishing the ancient crypt. The base consists of four plinths at the corners of the staircase, each with a golden eagle affixed to the outermost face: the eagles bear inscriptions on their chests: D.O.M. / IN HON. BBMM / VIGILII / ET / ADELPRETI / EPP. TRID. (northwest); OB URBEM / CONTRA / GALLOS / SERVATAM / AN. MDCCIII (northeast); VOTUM / PUB. / SOLVIT / LUBENS / MERITO (southwest); S.P.Q. / TRIDENT. / ANNO / DOMINI / MDCCXLIII (southeast).^{[note 3]} From the plinths rise Solomonic columns with Corinthian capitals; atop them rests the entablature, framed in gilded copper, and, facing west, the Eagle of Saint Wenceslas, symbol of Trento, sculpted by Francesco Oradini. Above the cornice, the baldacchin’s top rises with dolphin-back arches ending in curls, adorned with gilded wooden palm branches, united at the top by a curvilinear element with a sphere and cross. The baldacchin is decorated with various sculptures of angels holding episcopal insignia and putti bearing the symbols of Saint Vigilius and Blessed Adelpreto; these statues are by Oradini, except for the two eastern putti, crafted by Giovan Battista Fattori.^[48]

Side altars

The two lateral naves house four altars and various funerary monuments. In the second bay of the southern nave stands the majestic 18th-century altar of Our Lady of Sorrows, also a work of the Sartori brothers, a replacement for a pre-existing wooden altar commissioned by Canon Bartolomeo Bortolazzi. With a style that straddles the Baroque and Neoclassical, the structure is crowned by a broken pediment adorned with golden rays and sculptures of putti. Above the altar table is a marble urn that housed the relics of the Martyrs of Anaunia, Saint Maxentia, and Saints Claudianus and Magorianus from 1739 until their relocation; in the niche stands a wooden statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, dressed in richly decorated garments and accompanied by two additional putti.^[12][49]

Opposite, in the northern nave, is the altar of Saint Anthony, with a 19th-century altarpiece by Domenico Udine depicting the saint with the Child Jesus. An altar dedicated to the saint is mentioned as early as 1382, but in 1572 it was decommissioned and merged with another dedicated to the Holy Trinity; the current altar, another Baroque marble work by the Sartori brothers, was brought to the cathedral from the Church of San Lorenzo (where it was dedicated to Saint Vincent).^[12][50]

In the fifth bay of the southern nave is the altar of Saint Anne, about which little historical information exists; built between the first and second quarters of the 17th century, possibly by Mattia Carneri, it is first mentioned in 1673. Later, two coats of arms of the Manci family were affixed to the column bases, certainly after 1770 (the reason for this addition is unknown). The altarpiece contains an early 16th-century painting attributed to Fogolino, depicting Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child between Saint Nicholas and Saint Vigilius.^[12][51]

Opposite the altar of Saint Anne is the Altar of the Assumption, dated 1695, commissioned by provost Carlo Ferdinando Lodron to Cristoforo Benedetti. It is crowned by a marble drapery with putti holding a cross and chalice, flanked by statues of Saint Charles and Saint Ferdinand. The altarpiece, by Nicolò Dorigati, depicts the Assumption with numerous saints, including Simon at the head of the Holy Innocents, John the Baptist, Mark, Saint Vigilius, Rupert, Saint Peter, Henry, Leopold III, and Saint Fulgentius.^[12][47]

Southern transept

In the southern transept arm, on the main wall, three different depictions of Saint Christopher are found, linked to the former presence of a door in that position and possibly an altar dedicated to the saint. The most visible, to the left above the Lodron funerary monument, is a striking image from around 1290, in Veronese style: the saint, with a pearl-bordered halo and the Child Jesus on his shoulder, wears a robe with a concentric circle pattern, holding the martyr’s palm and a golden cross. It is framed by two bands with vegetal rinceaux on the sides and two with colorful three-dimensional geometric motifs above; near the palm, a small haloed figure is visible, possibly a sketch of an earlier design covered by a layer of paint that later fell off. Just to the right of the Lodron monument, a small fragment (part of the saint’s beardless face and part of the Child) of another Saint Christopher from the mid-13th century, the oldest fresco in the cathedral, is comparable to other Romanesque works from the South Tyrol area. Both frescoes were covered by a third late-14th-century panel, also depicting Saint Christopher and presumably other saints; much of it, along with parts of the underlying frescoes, was destroyed with the placement of the Lodron monument.^[54] Higher up, in the left corner, is a square panel with the mystic marriage of Saint Catherine, by a Lombard artist, from around 1370.^[55]

On the other two walls of the southern transept, votive images abound, linked to the presence of family tombs and cenotaphs. On the western wall, only fragmentary frescoes survive, many illegible; the best-preserved, by a Veronese painter from around 1340, is a Madonna and Child enthroned, with kneeling donors at their feet and four saints on the sides: to the left, a woman with a book in monastic attire (possibly Saint Clare or Saint Monica) and Saint Julian of Anazarbus, naked and covered with snakes, and to the right, now unrecognizable, a figure with a book and another with a book or box.^[56] Above Roberto Sanseverino’s tombstone appears a fragment of Saint Andrew, from the second half of the 14th century.^[55]

On the eastern wall, above the apsidal chapel, a series of late-14th-century images in the Venetian style stand out: first, a large fresco of the Madonna of Mercy, with donors under her mantle and eight saints, four on the right (John the Baptist, Peter, Catherine, and Anthony the Abbot) and four on the left (only the one closest to her, Saint Vigilius, is recognizable). Next is a Crucifixion with Mary, Saint John, Saint Vigilius, and Anthony the Abbot; in the lower register, two unidentified saintesses with the donor’s figure. Finally, older and likely by a Lombard artist, two panels depict Anthony the Abbot and Anthony of Padua with the kneeling donor at the former’s feet.^[55]

Northern transept

In the northern transept arm, many frescoes cluster around a sepulchral ark: dating to the early 13th century, it predates the frescoes, but its placement date there is unknown, and the surrounding images, though appearing to follow its outline, are slightly eroded. In the upper band is painted the cathedral’s most famous cycle, the legend of Saint Julian, a mid-14th-century work by Monte di Bologna, an obscure artist who was possibly a follower of Vitale da Bologna. It is articulated in seven scenes, including the ominous prophecy at the saint’s birth, the farewell to his mother, the meeting with the king, the marriage to the princess, the temptation by the devil, and the killing of his parents. The figures, dressed in colorful garments rich in detail, move against a backdrop of castles and urban landscapes.^[12][56]

Below, to the left of the ark, are a rather degraded Beheading of John the Baptist, a Nursing Madonna, and a Thronum Gratiae, interspersed with a large empty space. These images result from successive interventions over an original fresco likely depicting a group of saints, of which only fragments of feet and cloaks and a Cosmati-style frieze framing the current group remain. The Nursing Madonna (1330–40, reusing part of an earlier figure, as evident from the distinct appearance of her lower cloak) was painted first, followed immediately by the Beheading and then the Trinity, dated to around 1360.^[56] Between the ark’s two brackets are the mystic marriage of Saint Catherine and the Noli me tangere, the appearance of the risen Jesus to Mary Magdalene. To the right of the ark, in a Veronese and Giottesque style, are scenes of the Nativity of Jesus (including the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Child’s first bath) and the Death of the Virgin, the only survivors of a broader cycle of Mary’s life.^[12][54] Higher up on the right, a final image by a Lombard artist from 1340-1350 shows two saintly bishops: possibly Saint Nicholas on the left, in a blessing pose with an ivory pastoral staff, and a youthful Saint Vigilius on the right, holding a book.^[55]

Some frescoes are also present in the apsidal chapel: at the center, by a Venetian painter from the late 13th century and heavily degraded, a group depicts the Crucifixion, Saint John, and a crowned figure, possibly Saint Helena or an allegory of the Church. This was covered by another 14th-century Veronese Crucifixion (with Mary, John, the Magdalene, and four other praying saints), detached and now preserved in the canons’ sacristy. On the right side, in early 13th-century Veronese style, is Saint Catherine with another saintess.^[12][54]

Other frescoes

The other walls of the church are less richly decorated. On the left wall of the choir is a 15th-century Giottesque fragment depicting the Madonna and Child. Another Giottesque fresco, possibly by a Paduan artist from around 1320, is located at the end of the left nave: only part of it was visible, hidden behind Bernardo Clesio’s cenotaph,^[12][54] but after the tomb’s relocation and the 2022 restoration, the entire Madonna enthroned with the Child emerged (except for the upper right corner, which is lost), along with the full figure of another saint on the left.^[23][57]

On the counterfacade, a heavily damaged image in a Nordic style, created in the early 15th century under the episcopate of George of Liechtenstein, depicts a bishop in glory, likely Saint Vigilius, surrounded by four angels, with a detailed architectural church section in the background.^[58]

With the start of the 15th century, “the great season of Gothic mural painting in Trento’s cathedral came to a close”.^[58] Perhaps during the century, the vaults were painted for the first time with a starry sky, but aside from this, no new frescoes were added until the 18th century, when a major Baroque decorative campaign began to fulfill the vow made during the siege of 1703.^[4] The Parisian Louis Dorigny worked on the presbytery and the central nave’s vault (with images of Saint Vigilius’s life and diocesan saints), the Bolognese Giuseppe Antonio Caccioli on the lateral naves’ vaults (with stories from the Old and New Testaments), and the Trentine Kaspar Anton von Baroni-Cavalcabo on the dome. Completed by the mid-18th century, these frescoes were almost entirely destroyed during the late 19th-century Baroque purge, when the cathedral was restored to its “Romanesque purity”.^[59][60] Nicolò Rasmo remarked with regret that “[the] decoration was not at all aggressive and even respected the cathedral’s architectural lines, enriching it with a coloristic element now missed. The destruction was not due to 'disturbing the harmony of austere Romanesque forms,' but rather because the fear of the Gothic style had given way to the fear of the Baroque style, causing the frescoes of Dorigny and Baroni to fall victim. [...] We must regret that at the time of demolition, no one in Trento bothered to preserve, at least in photographs or drawings, a record of what was lost forever”.^[61]

The starry sky, created by Giuseppe Lona, returned to the nave vaults, while Luigi Spreafico frescoed the choir, apse, and dome vaults, but these works were whitewashed in the 1960s.^[4] During restorations in the early 2010s, a Caccioli fresco emerged in a vault of the fourth southern bay, depicting Christ in the house of Martha and Mary.^[59][60] Others were recovered in the northern nave in 2017,^[62] covering the vaults of three bays entirely.

Naves

In the arcosolium at the southern corner of the counterfacade is the sarcophagus of the Trentine jurist Calepino Calepini (d. 1495), commissioned by his brother Donato in 1485. The slanted lid features the deceased sculpted on his deathbed, framed by palmettes and rinceaux. The base has a frontal frieze depicting a phoenix at the center (symbolizing resurrection) and two putti holding family crests (Calepini and possibly Bortolasi), framed by a dentil motif and two rectangular columns adorned with candelabra. Nearby, just to the left of the vestibule, is the funerary monument of the botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577), court physician to Bernardo Clesio, erected by his sons forty years after his death and possibly crafted by Paolo Carneri.^{[note 4]} Above a base with a brief Latin inscription stands a large slab with a double frame (red stone and white stone with touchstone inserts), featuring a bas-relief of the deceased and a large plaque with a funerary eulogy. The top includes a band with an inscription praising Mattioli’s profession and a broken pediment with the Mattioli and Varmo (his wife Girolama’s family, d. 1569) crests repeated twice. The bas-relief of Mattioli is highly detailed: the botanist, in a toga, sits at his study desk, writing his work on Dioscorides (with a fern drawing visible on the pages); around his neck is a medallion with the effigy of a bearded man, possibly a Habsburg.^[65]

To the right of the vestibule stands the funerary monument of Count Leonardo Nogarola (d. 1543-1552), advisor to Ferdinand IV. Crafted in white stone, it is designed as an aedicule with two Ionic columns on plinths bearing skulls, topped by a disproportionate Doric architrave with a high molded cornice. Flanked by the columns, the central slab bears the Nogarola crest and a cartouche with an inscription, framed in pink stone with paterae and lozenges in touchstone.^[12][65]

In the left nave, before the altar, is one of the oldest surviving tombs in the cathedral, possibly from the early 13th century, adorned only with an unidentified crest that Rasmo linked to the Bortolasi family. Between the two altars in the left nave are the funerary monuments of Giulio Alessandrini (1506-1590, Habsburg court physician), Liduino Piccolomini (1611-1680, provost and canon), and Girolamo Roccabruna (1525-1599, archdeacon). The first is an aedicule in white and black stone with Doric columns and a triangular pediment, with the family crest at the center. The second follows the typical Venetian monument style of the period (a square topped by a triangle) and may be the work of Paul Strudel, who was working on the Chapel of the Crucifix at the time: at the center are three touchstone panels with inscriptions; above, two putti pull back a curtain, starting from two curls and a mascaron, revealing a niche with the deceased’s bust in canonical attire holding a breviary; at the top is the Piccolomini crest with fruiting branches and a comital crown. The third, in white stone, modeled on a Roman tombstone, consists of a marble altar with the inscription topped by a slab with the Roccabruna crest and an angel at the top.^[65]

In the last bay of the left nave is the funerary monument of Bernardo Clesio (1485-1539), created at least forty years after his death: resting on two animal feet, the base supports two Ionic pilasters, on which a pediment with the cardinal’s crest is mounted. Encased within and further framed by white stone with spindles and corner leaves is a touchstone slab bearing an incorrect death date (two days before the actual date of 1 August 1539). Inspired by Clesio’s tombstone but simpler is that of Canon Giovanni Battista Melchiorri (1564-1639), affixed in the third bay of the right nave: the touchstone inscription is framed in white stone, topped by an entablature with the family crest, and a triangular pediment with a cross at the apex. In the seventh bay of the right nave is the small tombstone of Canon and Dean Carlo Costanzo Trapp (1680-1741): a simple plaque with an epitaph, topped by a skull representing Vanitas, two putti with an hourglass and an inverted torch (symbolizing the passage of time and the end of life), and a cartouche with the serpent biting its tail (eternity), a trumpet, and wings (fame).^[65]

Transept

In the southern transept arm, several funerary monuments are found. The first, in the southeastern corner, is a rough ammonitic stone sarcophagus, resting on two brackets, which until 1977 contained the body of Blessed Adelpreto (later moved to a new tomb in the Paleochristian basilica). Killed in 1172 by Aldrighetto di Castelbarco and immediately acclaimed as a martyr, he was buried in the ancient basilica and transferred to this sarcophagus only in the 16th century. Next is the imposing cenotaph of Ludovico II Lodron, captain in the Holy League, commissioned by himself in 1600 for himself and his wife Susanna Beatrice, possibly crafted by Paolo Carneri.^{[note 4]} Designed like an altar and made of white and black marble, the main body is divided into three segments by two lateral pilasters and two more advanced inner columns, all resting on rectangular plinths with Corinthian capitals. The central segment houses a Castione marble urn at the base; above is an oval panel with the funerary inscription, framed with scrolls, flaming vases, and a leonine protome, and a niche with a conch (whose contents, if any, are unknown) framed by cartouches. The narrower lateral segments house two niches with statues, possibly personifications of Victory and Prudence. The upper part, resting on the columns’ entablature and a touchstone bearing, is a wide pediment with the Lodron family crest surrounded by warlike imagery. Further right is the tombstone of Ernesto Wolkenstein (1552-1616), dean of the cathedral from 1608: a simple white and black monument with a central inscription framed by egg-and-dart and cartouche motifs, flanked by Ionic columns; at the base is an angel’s face with vegetal friezes, and at the top, a broken pediment with a conch containing a small bust of the deceased.^[65]

Next is the tombstone of Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona, a condottiero in Venetian service who fought against Sigismund of Austria’s troops and drowned in the Adige during the Battle of Calliano of 1487. His body, recovered by the Trentine opponents, was triumphantly brought to Trento and buried with pomp in a tomb topped by an equestrian statue wearing his armor (now in Vienna). In 1493, his remains were transferred to a sarcophagus commissioned and paid for by Emperor Maximilian, but only five years later, they were returned to his sons and buried in the Church of San Francesco Grande in Milan. Nothing remains of the first tomb, while the second sarcophagus’s lid and two ends in red ammonitic stone survive, now arranged vertically with the lid in the center. Crafted by Lucas Maurus of Kempten, the lid depicts the deceased at full scale in armor, with his personal crest at the bottom right: Sanseverino stands with his left hand on his sword and the right holding a staff with the Venetian banner. Despite the proud pose, the depiction subtly mocks the defeated enemy, exalting his victors: the staff’s top is broken, letting the flag droop to the ground, with the Lion of Saint Mark ignominiously upside down. The lid’s frame bears an elegant German inscription in Gothic script, and here too, the names of the Venetians (Venediger) and the deceased (senior Robert) fall under his feet, with “Robert” almost covered by them. Further inscriptions run on the foot slab, while the head slab honors the victors, bearing five crests of Austria, Tyrol, Trentino, the Prince-Bishopric of Trent, and Prince-Bishop Udalrico Frundsberg.^[65][66]

To the right of Sanseverino’s tombstone are two others, one above the other: the lower one is for Count Simone Thun (d. 1584), dean of the cathedral and canon of Salzburg, containing only the Thun crest held by two putti and a rectangular cartouche now without an inscription; the upper one is for Canon Giovanni Paolo Ciurletti (1584-1640), and like Melchiorri’s tombstone (likely by the same artist), it echoes Clesio’s form. The touchstone epitaph is framed by a white molded band, with a broken pediment containing a black-and-white cross and the crest on the intermediate band.^[65]

Against the western wall of the southern transept is the only intact episcopal tomb, the sarcophagus of Prince-Bishop Udalrico Lichtenstein (d. 1505).^[67] Two Gothic lions support a molded red ammonitic stone frame, on which rests a Renaissance-style light stone ark with central touchstone elements, corner columns with vegetal scrolls,^{[note 2]} and a top border with a twisted motif. The right face bears a Latin inscription; the slanted tombstone depicts the bishop framed in an arch, topped by two cusped aedicules with half-busts of Saints Vigilius and Ulrich, while below are the crests of the Prince-Bishopric and the Lichtenstein family. On the wall beside the sarcophagus is the tombstone of Giulia Crotta, who died during the plague epidemic of 1574-1575, transferred here from the cemetery and inspired by Roman funerary steles: within a round arch are the busts of the woman and, in the background, her still-living husband Giovanni Battista a Coredo, with a cherub’s head atop a heavily deteriorated inscribed cartouche.^[65]

In the northern transept arm, suspended on two brackets among the frescoes, is a pink marble ark without seals, dating to the early 13th century: it likely held the remains of Prince-Bishop Bartolomeo II Querini (d. 1307) or his successor Heinrich III. von Metz (d. 1336), later transferred to the Paleochristian basilica. The sarcophagus is made of local red stone, bordered at the top with acanthus leaves and poppy capsules symbolizing Hypnos, and angled by twisted columns with Corinthian capitals, with underlying dentil friezes. In the tomb beneath the Madonna of the Drowned statue rest the remains of Blessed Bishop Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer zu Gleifheim (1777-1860).^[12][56][65]