Portale Gotico

Although now closed, the 1368 Gothic portal is still visible from the Piazza Novana. Its most notable feature is the composition: it is made of three different materials, travertine, sandstone, and terracotta, which suggest a construction with elements reclaimed from pre-existing structures. The two octagonal columns and the little column-bearing lions are of travertine, the ashlars are of sandstone, and the arch is of terracotta. On the terracotta keystone displays in high relief a hooked cross, above which is a sphere sided by two five-pointed daisies, one upright and the other upside-down, interspersed with small trefoil arches. Above the keystone is a sandstone inscribed in Gothic characters, in the center of which is the lamb of St. John the Baptist, who was Montedinove’s first patron saint. Further up is an icon representing St. John, of which only the face remains. The symbolism of the portal is currently under intense study: it may be in the style of the Knights Templar and of the Order of St. John, perhaps intentionally contrasted.