# Reliefs on pier 1 [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MAITANI, Lorenzo]() - Date: 1301-1350 - Technique: Marble ## Commentary The Gothic façade of the Orvieto Cathedral is one of the great masterpieces of the Late Middle Ages. The bas-reliefs on the piers depict biblical stories from the Old and New Testament. They are considered among the most famous of all 14th-century sculpture. The first pier contains 13 scenes from the Book of Genesis. They depict from bottom left to top right: <ul> <li>Scene 1: Creation of the water, plants and birds.</li> <li>Scene 2: Creation of the animals.</li> <li>Scene 3: Creation of Adam.</li> <li>Scene 4: God infuses life into Adam and God takes a rib from Adam as he sleeps.</li> <li>Scene 5: Creation of Eve.</li> <li>Scene 6: God gives instructions on the Tree of Life.</li> <li>Scene 7: The Original Sin.</li> <li>Scene 8: Expulsion from Paradise.</li> <li>Scene 9: Work of the ancestors.</li> <li>Scene 10: Cain and Abel making offerings to God.</li> <li>Scene 11: Killing of Abel.</li> <li>Scene 12: Naomi teaches to read, Jubal discover music.</li> <li>Scene 13: A son of Adam with compass.</li> </ul> ## Related artworks - [Central portal of west façade]() - [Façade of the Cathedral]() - [Façade of the Cathedral]() - [Interior view]() - [Interior view]() - [Interior view]() - [Interior view]() - [Reliefs on pier 1]() - [Reliefs on pier 1: Scene 1 \(detail\)]() - [Reliefs on pier 1: Scene 1]() - [Reliefs on pier 1: Scene 10 \(detail\)]() - [Reliefs on pier 1: Scene 10]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()