Behind a pane of glass, in a small painted chapel full of trompe-l'oeil frescoes, hangs Christ on his cross - gaunt, pale and crowned with thorns. His knees are scraped raw, his side pierced, and his chest is bruised and flayed. Above him floats a cherub, impassive to his agony. Stat crux dum volvitur orbis.
The adjoining sacristy contains a bizarre collection of reliquaries, including three outstretched arms pointing heavenwards. Below the wrist, a glass panel slotted into each displays some bit of saint or splinter from the True Cross - it was hard to tell.
The Founder's Chapel, however, is of dazzling opulence - richly gilded and draped with the large canvases of old masters.
The Carthusians were not a poor Order.
Pictured above is the Great Cloister of the Charterhouse in Padula - the largest cloister in the world.
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