Fidenza, cathedral (Cathedral of San Donnino):“The Prophet Ezekiel” by Benedetto Antelami.The prophet holds a scroll that refers to the meaning of the church as the “Gate of Heaven”; it reads: Ezechiel Propheta; vidi portam in domo Domini clausam (Ezekiel Prophet; I saw the door closed in the house of the Lord).In the dome of the niche is a bas-relief depicting a Madonna and Child surrounded by bunches of flowers and fruit surmounted by an inscription that explains its theological meaning.On the sides of the niche, always symmetrical with the left part of the façade, we see two small panels depicting a harpy and a centaur striking a deer, and, higher up, the figure of an Angel presumably intent on indicating the road of the Via Francigena to a family of poor pilgrims.Above a band decorated with geometric motifs is the bas-relief of the “Miracle of the pregnant woman”.
