Vitalis, along with Agricola, it’s a martyr to which the roots of the Bolognese church are owed. Saint Vitalis was unknown until 392, when a bolognese bishop found remains of his body in a jew cemetery nearby Bologna; he gave him a proper burial with a christian funeral rite, to which Ambrogio too assisted, to him is owed the spreading of Saint Vitali’s belief in the West. In any case we know few about his life, apart from the fact that Vitalis was a christian citizien of Bologna and servant of Agricola. Vitalis followed his master even in the faith, and he was the first to go towards the martrydom: after being led towards the Arena he was tortured until death. Agricola too was tortured and martorized, being inspired by the brave act of his servant.

The tales of the statue in Dome’s building site:

Even if a precise date has yet to be found in to the archive’s documents, the original statue representing Saint Vitalis was carved by the artist Donato Carabelli probably towards the start of the 800 and today it can be seen atop one of the front spires, near the one dedicated to Saint Agricola, eternal testimony of the bond between the two saints. Moreover it’s present an inscryption at the base of the statue, visible thanks to images that arrived to us from the photo gallery of the Veneranda Fabbrica, that confirms to use the identity of the saint.