Cortona | Must-see places

The Via Crucis made by the famous artist Gino Severini

The “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) is a devotional path made by Gino Severini, the famous artist from Cortona. It is a devotional route that develops along Via Santa Margherita. This path starts from Porta Berarda (the door from which Santa Margherita, the patron saint of Cortona came into the city in 1272). The Via Crucis was commissioned to Gino Severini by the bishop of Cortona, who wanted to thank Santa Margherita saving the city from the wartime destructions. He started working at the Via Crucis making drawing on the cardboards, that later he would have used as base for the mosaics of the fourteen stations. The cardboards today are kept in the Diocesan Museum. He worked on the mosaic in Rome in 1944. In 1961 these stations were completed with the big mosaic on the façade of the church of San Marco. On the mosaic there is the picture of Saint Mark the Evangelist, represented with the lion that is his biblical symbol. The stations of the Via Crucis were preceded by the fifteenth station, dedicated to Santa Margherita who prayed in front of the Cross. Severini said that he liked to represent Margherita, as a truly Saint from Cortona and of people from Cortona. In fact, on the mosaic of the Saint there is the silhouette of the city, with the roofs of the houses, the doors, the churches, the towers, the domes, the sanctuary nestled on the slope of the hill and the fortress of Girifalco. The scenes of the Via Crucis are simple, and they focus on the main characters. The style of the paintings is interpreted cubism. On the mosaics there are some golden leaves that create a surprising effect of bright punctuation. The stations follow along all the avenue, with the mosaics put under the aedicula with sloping roof and they are protected by a glass.
Frances Mayes, the famous American writer, talks about the Via Crucis, on her famous book “Under the Tuscan Sun”.
The access to the Via Crucis is free, and if you come to Cortona, you definitely have to visit this work of art, and follow all the path, up to the top of the hill.