HISTORY
On April 30, 1106, the relics of San Gimignano, the 4th-century Bishop and patron of Modena, were translated to the crypt of the new city Cathedral, dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin. On October 7 of the same year, Pope Pasqual II arrived in the city to bless the saint’s remains and to consecrate the altar. The ceremony was attended by Countess Matilda of Canossa, the Bishop, nobles, and members of the middle class, in other words, the whole city assembly, which had unanimously agreed to the construction of the building, substituting the earlier Duomo, whose structural instability posed a serious danger. The first stone of the new temple was laid on June 9, 1099, a date we know from an inscription held by two sculpted figures: the patriarch Enoch and the prophet Elijah. The couplet concluding the inscription contains a eulogy to the façade’s sculptor, Wiligelmo. A second inscription, on the outside the main apse, records the architect, Lanfranco. Notwithstanding the first prolific phases of construction, the building was not completed for a few more decades. Another inscription on the south side, commemorates the consecration ceremony of July 12, 1184 by Pope Lucius III. The last stages of labor were carried out by new workshops from Campione, which took over for the Comacine masters led by Lanfranco starting in the mid-12th century.

EXTERIOR
Two powerful buttresses break up the façade into three parts, corresponding to the three aisles inside. The slopes of the façade cable also suggest the lower height of the aisles with respect to the nave. A portal corresponds to each aisle, the central of which contains a monumental porch, surmounted by a loggia. The column-bearing lions are from the 1st century C.E., representing a classic example of the reuse of ancient material within medieval workshops. Among the most important sculptural work of the façade are Wiligelmo’s reliefs from the Book of Genesis. The scenes include the Creation of the world, the Creation of Adam and Original sin; the expulsion from the Garden, condemnation to work; Cain and Abel’s sacrifices, the murder of Abel, Lamech killing Cain, and the Flood.