Cremona, Italy, 2025

I read an essay recently that talked about an American visiting Europe, and frequenting churches and cathedrals, as a secular experience, for the Art and History. I understand that. I do that, and on our recent trip to Italy saw some smaller communities punch above their weight class with their edifice, and the volume and quality of artwork.

Cremona, birthplace of the modern violin and viola, is like that; only a population of about 72,000, but the city can be dated back to B.C.E. times, and was an early northern Roman outpost. The Cathedral on the main plaza is predominantly Romanesque, built in the 1100s, with some later styles showing up in renovations. The interior work is so extensive, and lush, it reminded me of when the Sistine Chapel was cleaned some years ago and the colors were so bright and vibrant, almost cartoonish, people thought they were wrong, but not.

In making my last shot (bottom right) I was mainly using Barbara (small white dot in lower middle) for a scale reference in the vast church setting. I didn’t see the giant tonsured friar, from the back, cowl down, arms raised to greet the crowd in the plaza with a benediction, until editing later.

For more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index.