/Abstract / The narrative cycle that adorns the cen- their metamorphosis from body to icon, and, fi- tral nave in the Basilica di S. Piero a Grado in Pisa nally, witness, reveal, and affirm their status as (ca. 1302) comprises various episodes from the a true icon. lives of Sts Peter and Paul drawn from biblical and apocryphal sources and local legend and fashioned / Keywords / Trecento painting , Late medieval vi­ after the portico frescos in Old St. Peter ’s Basilica s­ual culture, Image theory, Icon, Byzantine The­ in Rome. While previous studies have engaged ology, Petrus cult, Martyrdom and body, Sermons mainly with the chronology and circumstances of of Federico Visconti, Donatio Constantini, Santi the edifice’s construction, the iconography and po- Quattro Coronati, Pisa -Rome. litical implication of the frescos, which are a unique compilation of the narrative, have gone unnoticed. Assaf Pinkus By analyzing the cycle from within the medieval Tel Aviv University notion of icon and image -making, this article pro- Art History Department poses that the painted narrative evokes a theological The Yolanda and David Katz argument concerning the sacredness of the image Faculty of the Arts and the power it possesses. It demonstrates that pinkusas @ post.tau.ac.il the fragmented narratives chosen for the murals are organized in three thematic groups, revealing Michal Ozeri the process by which the saints’ real, corporeal Tel Aviv University bodies become transformed into icons. Function- Art History Department ing as a visualized theology that advocates the cult The Yolanda and David Katz of images, the cycle allows the faithful viewer to Faculty of the Arts identify the saints, compare the various stages of michalo 4 @ post.tau.ac.il

118 From Body to Icon The Life of St s Peter and Paul in the Murals of S. Piero a Grado ( Pisa) Assaf Pinkus and Michal Ozeri

The murals of S. Piero a Grado, ca. 1302, consti­tute murals were executed between 1300 –1302, see Mauro Ronzani, “San one of the most elaborate pre - Giottesque narrative Piero a Grado nelle vicende della chiesa pisana del secoli XIII e XIV ”, in Nel Segno di Pietro: la basilica di San Piero a Grado da luogo della prima cycles to have survived1. Commissioned probably evangelizzazione a meta di pellegrinaggio medievale, Stefano Sodi, Maria by the papal delegate Benedetto di Odone Gaetani, Luisa Ceccarelli Lemut eds, Pisa 2003, pp. 27– 81, sp. p. 51. 2 While D’Achiardi divided the frescos into thirty scenes, Mariagiulia nephew of Pope Boniface VIII (1294 –1303), they fea- Burresi identified an additional one, at the end of the cycle showing ture thirty scenes from the lives of the two Princes of Sylvester defeating the dragon beneath the Capitol Hill, see Mariagi- ulia Burresi, “L’edificio”, inLa Basilica di San Piero a Grado, Stefano Sodi the Apostles, Sts Peter and Paul, culminating in their and Mariagiulia Burresi eds, Pisa 2010, pp. 35 – 69, sp. p. 64. martyrdom and iconisation 2, supposedly fashioned 3 The first to study the relations between the frescos of Old St. Peter in Rome and the murals at S. Piero a Grado was D’Achiardi, who after the fresco cycle of the portico at Old St. Peter compared the frescoes with seventeenth - century illustrations of the in Rome 3. While pictorial representations dedicat- portico that survived in the Codex Barber., XXXIV, 50, c. 140 a, by Ja- ed to these saints – and especially to St. Peter – are copo Grimaldi who recorded the architecture and decoration of Old St. Peter before its demolition. See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero relatively frequent in medieval Italy 4, the murals a Grado” (n. 1), pp. 244 – 252; moreover, D’Achiardi tried to identify the in S. Piero a Grado are exceptional in their narra- pope who had commissioned the portico’s murals, coming up with a large number of documents referring to preservation and renovation tive expansion, as well as in their being a visual of the portico, but he could not find any evidence that indicates clearly compilation of various textual and visual sources. a certain date, a pope, or even a century, see Ibidem, pp. 258 – 263. 4 See Herbert L. Kessler and Johanna Zacharias, Rome 1300 : On the Path Encapsulating the events as recounted in the scrip- of the Pilgrim, New Haven 2000, pp. 158 – 227; as well as Herbert L. Kes- tures, they introduce unique episodes drawn from sler, “‘Caput et speculum omnium ecclesiarum’: Old St. Peter’s and Church Decoration in Medieval Latium”, in Italian Church Decoration local contemporary legends known from Federico of the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance: Functions, Forms, and Regional Visconti’s (1253 –1277 ) sermons 5 and the Donatio Traditions, William Tronzo ed. ( Villa Spelman Colloquia, vol. I ), Bolo- Constantini 6, resulting in several incomplete and gna 1989, pp. 121–145; and Herbert L. Kessler, “ The Meeting of Peter and Paul in Rome: An Emblematic Narrative of Spiritual Brotherhood”, in Studies on Art and Archeology in Honor of Ernst Kitzinger on his Seventy- 1 This is true in general, and of Peter iconography in particular. The Fifth Birthday, William Tronzo and Irving Lavin eds, Dumbarton Oaks dating of the murals to between 1300 and 1312 was suggested by Papers, XLI ( 1987 ), pp. 265 – 275. Pietro D’Achiardi, who relied on four aspects of the decoration : the 5 See Federico Visconti, Les sermons et la visite pastorale de Federico representation of Benedetto di Odone Gaetani and Pope BonifaceV III’s Visconti : archevêque de Pise (1253 –1277), Nicole Bériou, Isabelle le Masne family stemma in one of the scenes ; the identification of popes in the de Chermont eds, Rome 2001, pp. 591– 594, and 599 – 605. lower register, ending with that of Boniface VIII ; the year in which 6 See Jacobus De Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, Gaetani died (1312) ; he assesses it by the paleographic characteristics William G. Ryan trans., Princeton 1993, vol. I, pp. 64 – 65. of the inscriptions, see Pietro D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado presso Pisa e quelli già esistenti nel portico della Basilica Vaticana”, in Atti del Congresso Internazionale di Scienze Storiche VII : storia dell’arte ( Roma 1 – 9 aprile), Tipografia della Reale Accademia dei Lincei eds, Roma 1905, pp. 193 – 285, sp. pp. 268 – 276. However, since Gaetani probably left Pisa in 1302, most later scholars believe that the 119 fragmentary narratives which do not converge to comprise the entire vita of either of the saints 7. Previous studies have tended mainly to engage with four aspects of the basilica : the archaeologi- cal findings, chronology and circumstances of the edifice’s construction and decoration; 8 the local ven- eration and cult of St. Peter 9 the artistic and political relation to Rome and the struggle between the Pisa archbishoprics and the curia in regard to the income that followed the pilgrimage to the site 10; and the iconographical and palaeographical identification of the scenes 11. The iconography of the murals was first studied by Pietro D’Achiardi and later and more thoroughly by Jens T. Wollesen12, and was under- stood in general terms as reflecting thevita apostolica. Nevertheless, the motivation behind the assem- blage of the specific episodes in S. Piero a Grado as D’Achiardi and Maria Luisa Ceccarelli noted 13, still remains unclear. This essay attempts to fill this la- cuna and investigate the visual narrative from the perspective of late medieval theological argument­ ation on the production, use, and sacredness of im- ages. It will argue that in the lack of relics of the saints at the site of S. Piero a Grado, the murals be­­come a visual argumentation for the cult of the saints’ pseudo - icons as these appear on the nave’s walls. Following Hans Belting’s triangular model of picture – medium – body as our springboard14, we will show that peculiar fragmented narratives cho- sen for the murals reveal the processes by which the real corporeal bodies of the martyrs become trans- formed into an icon, a transformation consisting of three stages : the first demonstrates the miracles performed by the saints in the name of God, high- lighting their function as His living bodily vessels ; the second illustrates the miraculous powers of the saints transferred from the dead physical body to a new medium – a painted image – by means of bodily touching and imprinting ; and finally, the third stage, the validation and recognition of the images as a true icon through visual affirmation, embodiment, and likeness. This metamorphosis, from body to icon, reveals the uninterrupted flow of the divinity from the once living bodies of the martyrs to their representation by visual means. Although many scholarly efforts have been invested in the past few decades in image theo- ry and the notions of imago, similitude, and like- ness in the Latin west 15, as far as the use of icons 1 / Deodato Orlandi, Peter Healing is concerned, Rome still tends to be conceived as the Sick with his Shadow, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302 a Byzantine “province”; and although this article engages with a cycle that was created after the Great 2 / Deodato Orlandi, The Martyrdom of Schism, the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers Peter, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

7 These will be discussed below. For a general introduction to the legends and sources that animated the cycle, see Francessco Polese, S. Piero a Grado e la sua leggenda, Livorno 1905; For the Petruscian culture in S. Piero a Grado, see Maria Luisa Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero a Grado e il Culto Petrino nella Diocesi di Pisa”, in Nel Segno di Pietro: la basilica di San Piero a Grado da luogo della prima evangelizza- zione a meta di pellegrinaggio medievale, Stefano Sodi and Maria Luisa Ceccarelli Lemut eds, Pisa 2003, pp. 19 – 27. 8 See Stefano Sodi, La Basilica di San Piero a Grado, Pisa 1996. 9 On the construction, see D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Gra- do” (n. 1), pp. 193 – 285; on the decoration Ceccarelli Lemut, “il Culto Petrino” (n. 7 ), pp. 22 – 26. 10 See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), pp. 244 – 259; Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero a Grado e il Culto Petrino” (n. 7), pp. 22 – 23; Ronzani, “S. Piero a Grado nelle vicende della chiesa pi- sana” (n. 1), p. 33 – 54. 11 See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), pp. 202 – 269. 12 See Jens T. Wollesen, Die Fresken von S. Piero a Grado bei Pisa, Bad Oeynhausen 1977. Wollesen is concerned with mapping the frescoes within iconographical tradition on the one hand, and the narrative of Tuscan painting, on the other hand. Consequently, he first compares the iconography of each panel with its precedents and, at times, with its “sequel”. He begins with Early C hristian art, as for example in Ravenna or the walls of Old St. Peter, and then continues with Byzantine examples, eleventh – thirteenth century western art such as in Santa Maria in the Capitol in Cologne or the Bible moralisée, Duecento and Trecento painting, and even fifteenth – sixteenth century cases. He continues with a stylistic study and a conclusion with tenta- tive dating. This offers a meticulous and exemplary study and most iconographical identification in this essay relies on his observations. 13 See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), pp. 239 – 243; Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero a Grado e il Culto Petrino” (n. 7), p. 19 – 27. 14 See Hans Belting, “Image, Medium, Body: A New Approach to Iconol- ogy”, Critical Inquiry, XXXI (2005), pp. 302 – 319 and note 41 below. 15 For example, Perkinson’s discussion on portraire and contrefais al vif. He understands physiognomic references as the product of the image-makers, who felt the need to demonstrate their loyal memory of the ruler and thus devotion to their benefactor, see Stephen Perkin- son, The Likeness of the King: A Prehistory of Portraiture in Late Medieval France, Chicago 2009, pp. 19 – 26. It is beyond the scope of the present article, however, to discuss the wide literature on the western notion of imago. We refer here to several seminal studies in which extensive discussions and bibliographies can be found; Kurt Bauch, “Imago”, in Beiträge zu Philosophie und Wissenschaft: Wilhelm Szilasi zum 70. Geburtstag, Helmut Höfling ed., Munich 1960, pp. 9 – 28; Robert Jave- let, Image et ressemblance au douzième siècle, de saint Anselme à Alain de Lille, Paris 1967, vol. II; Raimund Daut, Imago: Untersuchungen zum Bilderbegriff der Römer, Heidelberg 1975; Gerhart B. Ladner, Ad imaginem Dei: The Image of Man in Mediaeval Art, Pennsylvania 1965; Bernard Mc Ginn, “ The Human Person as Image of God, II: Western C hristianity”, in C hristian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth century, Bernard Mc Ginn, John Meyendorff and Jean Leclercq eds, New York 1985, pp. 312 – 330; Jean-Claude Schmitt, “L’Occident, Nicée II et les images du VIII e au XIII e siècle”, in Nicée II, 787–1987: Douze siècles d’images religieuses, Actes du Colloque International Nicée II, tenu au Collège de France (Paris les 2, 3, 4 octobre 1986), François Boespflug and Nicholas Lossky eds, Paris 1987, pp. 271– 300; Jean Wirth, “Structure et fonctions de l’image chez saint Thomas d’Aquin”, in L’image : fonc- tions et usages des images dans l’Occident médiéval, actes du 6 e “Interna- tional Workshop on Medieval Societies”, Jérome Baschet, Jean-Claude Schmitt eds, Paris 1996, pp. 39 – 57; Idem, L’image à la fin du Moyen Age, Paris 2011; Jeffrey F. Hamburger,St. John the Divine: The Deified Evangelist in Medieval Art and Theology, Berkeley 2002, pp. 1– 20 and pp. 185 – 201. For a recent critical overview on medieval notions of verisimilitude and portrait, see Daniel Spanke, Porträt, Ikone, Kunst, Munich 2004, pp. 45 – 67; Thomas E. A. Dale, “Romanesque Sculpted Portraits : Convention, Vision, and Real Presence”, Gesta, XLVI / II (2007), pp. 101–119; Assaf Pinkus, Sculpting Simulacra in Medieval Germany, 1250–1380, Burlington 2014, pp. 1– 28. 3 / Deodato Orlandi, The Martyrdom of Paul, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

4 / Deodato Orlandi, The Burial of Peter, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

5 / Deodato Orlandi, The Burial of Paul, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

6 / Deodato Orlandi, The Death of Nero, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa) , ca. 1302

remain the most influential source for the concep- the chronicler Goffredo da Viterbo (1125 –1195), who tualization of the sacred icon16. In the medieval west, accompanied Friedrich Barbarossa on his visit to Pisa as noted by Gerhard Wolf, it was only Rome that and Lucca in 1178, during the altar’s inauguration by acknowledged and assimilated the Byzantine cult of Clement I, (92 – 99), a few drops of blood flowed from icons17. Moreover, most martyrdom representations the Pope’s nose onto the stone slab, where they re- in Duecento and Trecento paintings in Rome, as well mained until Goffredo’s day 23. While for the modern as those discussed here, were influenced by Byzan- historians this is no more than a prosaic fabrication tine manuscripts and adopted their visual syntax and of Goffredo’sMemoria seculorum, this eye -witnessing logic 18. Bearing in mind that the remains and icons of event played a major role in the local cult 24. The cha- Sts Peter and Paul, among other Byzantine reliquaries pel that was built above the altar was soon replaced and several objects from Constantinople, were kept by a fourth - century basilica, where Peter ’s cult con- in the papal Sancta Sanctorum at the Patriarchium and tinued to be celebrated uninterruptedly, culminating were conceived as an acheiropoieta 19, and that the cycle in the prospering twelfth to fourteenth-century pil- at S. Piero a Grado is derived from the Roman proto- grimage 25. In the second half of the thirteenth century, type, the discussion will mostly follow the Byzantine Federico Visconti (1253 –1277 ), later Archbishop of tenets of the icon. Pisa, mentioned several times this constituent legend during his preaching in order to promote the political The cult of St. Peter in Pisa and and spiritual status of Pisa, by referring to S. Piero a the construction of the basilica Grado as the apostolic first landing point 26. In his study on the legend of S. Piero a Grado, The cornerstone of the current edifice at S. Piero Francesco Polese noted that from the thirteenth cen- a Grado was laid in 1046, but it was not until the tury on, the myth of Peter ’s arrival at S. Piero a Grado consecration in 1279 that the church reached its became central to local religious life. Polese men- current state 20. The basilica is located close to the tions a chronicle of the fourteenth century report- Tirrenian shore and serves as a monumental com- ing that the blood- drop reliquary of Clement I was memoration of Peter ’s first arrival on Italian soil. As presented to the devotees during a procession on the eighth-century legend has it 21, upon his sailing November 23, the feast day of St. Clement 27. Analy­ from Antioch to Rome the apostle was caught in a z­ing various versions of the legend, Polese points storm and thrown onto the porto pisano, from where out the three basic tenets of the local myth : Peter he walked till reaching the site of S. Piero a Grado, founded the basilica; he build the first stone altar where he built a stone altar for celebration of the on Italian soil; and Pope Clement I inaugurated the mass. His walk (and eventual martyrdom in Rome) earliest church (no longer a chapel, and not only makes him almost a cephalophore saint, thus sanc- the altar), and the blood that flowed from his nos- 122 tifying the site of S. Piero a Grado 22. According to trils can still be seen on the altar 28. In 1921, Nello Toscanelli examined the factuality and the Four Modes of Violence”, in Death, Torture and the Broken of the legends vis - à - vis the archeological findings in Body in European Art, 1300 –1650, John Decker, Mitzi Kirkland-Ives eds, Aldershot 2014, pp. 24 – 43. S. Piero a Grado, on the one hand, and the culture 19 On the reliquaries kept in the Sancta Sanctorum and their Byzantine that developed around the saint on the other hand. origin and some observations on their relation to the Eastern Church writers, see Kessler and Zacharias, Rome 1300 (n. 4), pp. 49 – 63. He observed that the account of Peter ’s arrival at Pi- 20 See Stefano Sodi, “San Piero a Grado e la Via Maritima dell’Evan- sa’s port corresponded to the mid-first- century na- gelizzazione della Tuscia Costiera”, in Nel Segno di Pietro: la basilica di San Piero a Grado da luogo della prima evangelizzazione a meta di val routes and that the report of the stone altar can pellegrinaggio medievale, Stefano Sodi, Maria Luisa Ceccarelli Lemut be ratified in the local contemporary practices. In eds, Pisa 2003, pp. 5 – 35, sp. p. 14; Stefano Sodi “Le Vicende Storiche”, in La Basilica di San Piero a Grado, Stefano Sodi, Mariagiulia Burresi this context, Toscanelli related the story of St. Peter eds, Pisa 2010, pp. 5 – 35, sp. pp. 14 –17. The earliest references to erecting the altar to a first-century C hristian Roman the basilica of S. Piero a Grado appear in a donation document to the rectory of the Cathedral of S. Maria dating from 1046 and a house excavated under the basilica of S. Piero a Gra- charter from 1116, detailing the lands that the bishop of S. Piero a do, and a stone found in it, serving as an altar; the Grado allocated to the nearby monastery of S. Michele di Borgo, see fourth-century church was built over the ruins of Ronzani, “S. Piero a Grado nelle vicende della chiesa pisana” (n. 1), p. 28 ; Emma Falaschi, Carte dell’Archivio Capitolare di Pisa, I (930 –1050), 29 this house . Toscanelli also addressed another local ( Thesaurus Ecclesiarum Italiae, VII, 1), Rome 1971, n. 95, pp. 267– 269; tradition that attributed the house either to St. Peter Natale Caturegli, Regesto della Chiesa di Pisa, Roma 1938, pp. 263 – 264, pp. 164 –165. 21 The various sources are discussed below. On the legend, see Polese, 16 See Hans Belting , Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image Be- S. Piero a Grado e la sua leggenda (n. 7 ). fore the Era of Art, Edmund Jephcott trans., Chicago 1994, p. 25 ; Kurt 22 On the implications of being a cephalophore, see Scott B. Montgom- Weitzmann, The Icon : Holy Images, Sixth to Fourteenth century, New ery, “Mittite caput meum ... ad matrem meam ut osculetur eum: The York 1978, p. 7. Apart from a seminal study by Gerhard Wolf, Salus Form and Meaning of the Reliquary Bust of Saint Just ”, Gesta, XXXVI populi romani : die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter, Wein- (1997), pp. 48 – 64, sp. pp. 53 – 56. heim 1990, most scholarship has thus far focused on the Byzantine 23 This appears in the twelfth-century compilation, see Goffredo da perception of the icon, and not on the Roman one. Viterbo, “Pantheon ‘De consecratione altarium’”, in Monumenta Ger- 17 According to Wolf, the early cult of image in Rome might have maniae Historica, scriptores, XXII, Georg Waitz ed., Hannover 1872, p. 31. actually preceded that of icon veneration in Byzantium, but this is 24 See Polese, S. Piero a Grado e la sua leggenda (n. 7 ), p. 26 – 27. still under dispute, see note 16 above. Nonetheless, during the High 25 As early as 1179 there were documents elaborating on the privileges and Late Middle Ages, the image cult in Rome can be regarded as belonging exclusively to S. Piero a Grado. These concern incomes and derivative of the Byzantine culture. In his discussion on the status of taxes signed by the Archbishop of Pisa Ubaldo (1176 –1207), attesting images in scholastic thought, Wirth too focuses on images that were to the independent status of S. Piero a Grado, see Ronzani, “S. Piero informed by Byzantine ideas, such as that of the Veronica; see Jean a Grado nelle vicende della chiesa pisana” (n. 1), p. 28; Caturegli, Wirth, L’image à l’époque gothique (1140 –1280), Paris 2008, pp. 56 – 60. Regesto (n. 20), n. 431, p. 296. His main concern, however, is with a typological and anagogical un- 26 See Sodi, “San Piero a Grado e la Via Maritima dell’Evangelizza- derstanding of the image, iconographical topoi, and their meditative zione” (n. 20), p. 14 ; Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero a Grado e il Culto role, which are irrelevant for the cycle at S. Piero a Grado. The lack Petrino” (n. 7), p. 22. of a typological program is discussed below. 27 Unfortunately, Polese does not provide any other or specific details 18 For example, the Beheading of Paul (discussed below) closely follows regarding this document; see Polese, S. Piero a Grado e la sua leggen- the iconographical conventions as formulated in the Menologion of da (n. 7), pp. 101–1. Basil II, Vatican City, Bibl. Apost. Vat. , gr. 1613, 1001–1006. Another 28 Ibidem, p. 24. striking example is that of the Guido da Sienna’s reliquary shutters, 29 He also related to another local martyr – St. Tropè – and the local ca. 1260, in which the martyrdoms of St. Claire and St. Bartholomew tradition that ascribed the house either to him or to St. Peter, see copy the Byzantine convections; this is also true of the martyrs relief Nello Toscanelli, San Pietro a Pisa e i nuovi scavi di S. Piero a Grado, in Chartres’s south portal, ca. 1220, see Assaf Pinkus, “Guido da Siena Pisa 1921, pp. 59 – 61. 123 124 7 / Deodato Orlandi, The Martyrdom of Paul, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

8 / Deodato Orlandi, The Burial of Peter (detail), San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

9 / Deodato Orlandi, The Theft of Peter and Paul's Bodies by the Greeks (detail), San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

125 or to another early C hristian martyr – St. Tropè. He Putting aside the question of the exact historical concluded that there was no reason to invalidate circumstances, all these sources testify to the central- the local traditions revolving around St. Peter and ity of the basilica in the local lay and religious life the basilica, or the continuity of such traditions; the of Pisa. Pilgrimage to S. Piero a Grado enjoyed great fact that during the first centuries the number of popularity; nuns reported experiencing mystical rev- believers visiting the site was in incessant growth, elations on their voyage 34 ; hermits settled down in testifies, in his opinion, that it was indeed attended cells along the route from Pisa to S. Piero a Grado 35; by an important personality, presumably St. Peter. the institute la casa dell’opera ( known, from the end Toscanelli’s romantic inference was cautiously of the thirteenth century, as di hospitale Cenami ) took criticized by Stefano Sodi and Maria Luisa Cecca­ care of the flow of pilgrims and wayfarers 36 ; and the relli 30. Sodi shows that the sources used by Tosca­ stratified audiences that visited the place and viewed nelli actually referred to another Pisan church, the frescoes spanned from the Pope’s delegates, lead- S. Pietro in Vincoli, and that the earliest images ing seigneurs, the local community, to devoted pil- of St. Tropè appeared in S. Piero a Grado not be- grims and mystics. In the lack of body or relics to be fore the end of the sixth century. More crucially, venerated, how was the saint’s presence argued and he showed that S. Piero a Grado was regarded as a augmented? In the following , we shall argue that locus sacer only from the fourth century, and that the the fresco cycle provided the devotees with what dedication of the church to St. Peter occurred only constituted for them a major enigma : the process in 1046 31. Nevertheless, he argued that both tradi- by which the absent real body turned into an image, tions, that of St. Peter and that of St. Tropè, include and by which the sanctity of image production and some historical relevance and that they affirm the use was manifested, substituting for the real saint. Pisan aspiration to relate the archbishoprics to the apostles and Rome 32 and to anchor the C hristianiza- The visual sequence tion of Pisa in the via maritima, the contemporary popular naval-commercial route. Ceccarelli offered S. Piero a Grado’s murals are arranged in three another perspective on the role that St. Peter played registers encircling the nave walls : portraits of the in S. Piero a Grado, arguing that the cult gained Roman popes, from Peter to Boniface VIII, are fea- such popularity in the later Middle Ages due to tured on the lower register ; the upper one displays the lack of martyrs in the region. Around the year an interplay of closed, open, and half - opened win- 1000, as she demonstrates, St. Peter became the main dows, from which angels’ heads peer ; while the protector-saint of the maritime cities from Pisa to middle one is broader, depicting the life of Peter, Genoa, and the archbishoprics of Pisa encouraged including joint episodes with Paul in Rome 37. Each his veneration and pilgrimage in order to enhance of the metope-like panels in the middle register is ac- 126 the importance of S. Piero a Grado 33. companied by an inscription identifying the painted 10 / Deodato Orlandi, The Theft of Peter and Paul's Bodies by the Greeks, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

11 / Deodato Orlandi, The Rescue of Pe- ter and Paul's Bodies, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

12 / Deodato Orlandi, Peter and Paul Ap- pear to Emperor Constantine in a Dream, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

13 / Deodato Orlandi, The Presentation of the Icon to Constantine, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

narrative. The narrative sequence flows in chrono- of the papal see, as Roma Nova. On the recruitment of artistic styles to create a fictive Roman past for Pisa, see Max Seidel, “Studien zur logical order; it starts from the eastern edge of the Antikenrezeption Nicola Pisanos”, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen southern wall of the nave, continues to the western Institutes in Florenz, XIX (1975), pp. 343 – 351; Eloise M. Angiola, “Nicola apse, passes through the ciborium that shelters and Pisano, Federigo Visconti and the Classical Style in Pisa”, The Art Bul- letin, LIX ( 1977 ), pp. 1– 27. On the political and spiritual status of Pisa 38 marks the spot of a seventh - century pulpit , and and S. Piero a Grado, see Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero a Grado e il ends along the northern wall of the nave. The cycle Culto Petrino” (n. 7 ), pp. 23 – 24 ; for the basilica’s place between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, see Joseph Canning, Ideas of Power combines several different narratives, most repre- in the Late Middle Ages, Cambridge 2011, pp. 11–16. sented in their correct order but not in full sequence 33 See Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero a Grado e il Culto Petrino” (n. 7 ), pp. 23 – 24. or meaning. As will be discussed below, the episodes 34 For instance, a nun named Gherardesca arrived miraculously at the are expropriated from their original context to create Basilica. Late at night in her room, pondering upon the power of God, she suddenly found herself in the basilica, surrounded by a crowd of a unique visual argument, advocating the sacred- people. There, she saw a man approaching her, who warned her that ness of the icon and Peter’s bodily presence in the she was about to have a frightening vision. Soon thereafter a large fireball fell from the sky, one that could destroy earth. She was sure church, through his representation by means of a that she had died, but a moment later the man – who turned out to self - contained system of signs, actions, and images. be Peter – appeared again, reassuring her that it was a vision of the While earlier iconographical studies focused on the End of the World, which was not happening that very moment. See Anna Benvenuti Papi, in In castro poenitentiae: Santità e società femminile individual textual sources that possibly animated nell’Italia medievale ( Italia Sacra : Studi e Documenti di storia ecclesia- the murals and their relation to the accompanying tica, XLV), Rome 1990, pp. 336 – 349. 35 There were about 25 hermits’ cells scattered along the road from Pisa inscriptions, here we will suggest that the narrative to S. Piero a Grado, on the land of various religious institutions from is organized in three thematic groups that exem- the region : the abbey, the archbishop etc. Most of the hermits were women. The information on the hermits’ settlements is from to the plify the process by which the miraculous powers documents of the institute la Casa dell’Opera, see Archivio Arcivesco- invested in the saints’ living bodies are transferred to vile di Pisa ( henceforth AAP), Mensa, Libri di Possessi, n. 1, c. 60 v; Mensa 39 Contratti, n. 2, c. 220 r, c. 265 r., n. 4, c. 274 r. their dual-portrait icon upon their death . The first 36 Ibidem. comprises several scenes from the canonical history 37 The proposed analysis adopts Wollesen’s approach to iconographical study, system of cataloging, and comparative study, even if Wollesen of Peter, demonstrating that his miraculous powers himself is not directly referred to in each individual case. Due to the were conferred upon him by God, and therefore nature of our argument, we have referred directly to those studies manifest God’s eternal power. Because the function and primary sources that engage with the local legends and cult, and less to issues of stylistic and iconographic concatenations, see note 12. of this visual compilation becomes apparent from 38 The pulpit is located in an unusual place (not at the center of the nave the entirety of the first group, we shall not examine and away from the apses). In 1919, the priest in charge of the basilica, Don Luca Gelli, initiated excavations that revealed a few walls, bro- each individual scene but, rather, will analyze them ken columns, capitals, and fragments of stone, see Sodi, “Le Vicende as a single thematic reasoning. The next sequence Storiche” (n. 20), p. 10. 39 Although the dual-portrait icon of Sts Peter and Paul does appear in some Byzantine provinces, it is a pronounced Roman tradition 30 See Sodi, “San Piero a Grado e la Via Maritima dell’Evangelizzazione” advocating the leading role of Rome in the C hristian world. Never- (n. 20), pp. 12 –16. theless, its production and use follow the same principles as those of 31 Ibidem, p. 14. the Byzantine icons. It is doubtful, however, whether such an icon 32 During the thirteenth - century Pisa conceived itself as a legitimate heir ever existed, see Kessler and Zacharias, Rome 1300 (n. 4), p. 59. 127 14 / Deodato Orlandi, Peter and Paul Appear to Emperor Constantine in a Dream, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

128 15 / Deodato Orlandi, The Presentation of the Icon to Constan­tine, San Piero a Grado ( Pisa ), ca. 1302

129 illustrates the transition of divinity from a three- power conferred upon Peter: after being summoned -dimensional living medium into a two - dimensional by C hrist, Peter is imbued with the supernatural, icon by means of imprinting ; here we focus on the which first flows from his shadow, culminating in detailed portrayal of the saints’ martyrdom scenes, his ability to strike down and to resurrect. After which reveal the process of imprinting 40. Finally, the revealing the saint’s powers, the frescoes return to third group of murals combines several narratives demonstrating that these originate from the divine demonstrating the final stage of the saints’ metamor- prototype and are not the saint’s own properties; phosis from body to two - dimensional painting , and his body is a mere medium, a vessel through which its visual affirmation as a true icon 41. God’s grace is manifested and works 44. Located just before the ciborium, the last scene of the assemblage The miracle -working powers of of miracles is that of Peter being freed from prison the saints ( scenes 1 to 17 ) by divine intervention, according to God’s will and not by Peter ’s own actions. The opening sequel of the cycle is arrayed on The area extending from the ciborium to the apse the nave’s southern wall, skipping the western apse, depicts the arrival of Peter at S. Piero a Grado, mani- continuing on the northern wall, and comprising the festing the sacredness of the site while sheltering longest sequel of the murals. The first ten portray the ancient stone altar, the petrino that, according the events and miracles Peter performed before he to local legend, Peter himself had built 45. It includes left the Holy Land on his journey to Antioch and the Mass before leaving for Antioch46, the navicella, before landing at S. Piero a Grado; the next four a depiction of the basilica at S. Piero a Grado (indi­ panels above the ciborium are dedicated to his ar- cating the site as Peter ’s first landing point in Italy), rival at S. Piero a Grado and the celebration of the and pilgrims at S. Piero a Grado. Although the pil- Mass; the last three epitomize the recognition of grims are attired in the early fourteenth - century the site as sacred. aristocratic fashion47, they cannot be identified as The cycle opens with The Calling of Andrew individual historical personages but, rather, as and Peter ( Matthew 4 : 17–19), emphasizing the be- generic figures, attesting to the continuity of the lief that Peter was chosen by C hrist and indicat­­ing local Peter cult, from early C hristianity to present God’s will that Peter serve Him. The next scenes re­­­ times 48. Whereas Acts 11, 25 – 27 mention only the present­­ Peter as a participant in C hrist’s miracles or spreading of the Gospel in Judea and Antioch, all acting under His providence : Jesus invites Peter to the other events depicted at S. Piero a Grado follow walk on water (Matthew 14 : 28 – 30); the tribute mon- the local legends as delivered on a few occasions ey found in the fish’s belly (Matthew 17 : 25 – 27 ); in the sermons of Federico Visconti in the church, Jesus giving Peter the keys to Paradise (Matthew for example: 42 16 : 19) ; and Jesus asking Peter to guard his flock “nire citra mare in Ytaliam, primo applicuit ad locum istum, ( Matthew 21 : 15 –18); all these events serve to anoint qui dicebatur ad Gradus Arnenses, et ideo vocatur ista ecclesia Peter to God’s service. Now invested with divine Sanctus Petrus ad Gradus, et manibus suis fecit hic altare et substance and authority, Peter is presented in the ecclesiam parvam, quando Nero imperator tenebat civitatem next four scenes as an alter C hristus performing mir- Pisanam, qui beatum Torpetem fecit decollari hic ad Gradus Arnenses, cuius capud requiescit in ecclesia Beati Russorii ”49. acles: Peter healing the lame (Acts 3, 1– 9); Peter heal- ing the sick with his shadow / Fig. 1/, Acts 5 : 14 –16 43; And during a speech given in the vernacular in and two scenes of death and resurrection. The first front of a large audience of pilgrims: depicts the death of Ananias, who had betray­ “et propter hoc est sciendum quod tali die beatus Petrus istud ed Peter for money and as a consequence he and altare et istam ecclesiam parvulam que hic erat, quam ipse his wife Sapphira are punished by immediate contruxerat manibus suis, precepit consecrari a beato Clemente death (Acts 5, 1–10). The second scene is that of Papa successore suo, post mortem suam, presente tota curia 50 the Raising of Tabitha (Acts 9 : 40 – 41). Although in Romana” . the Book of Acts the striking down of Ananias and The murals stress the political implication and Sapphira occurred earlier than the healing of the the importance of the basilica and its cult by jux- sick by Peter ’s shadow, the planner of the frescoes taposition of the representation of the S. Piero a has reversed their order. The new sequence pres- Grado basilica itself to the left of the viewers, to- 130 ents a gradual demonstration of the miraculous gether with the next sequence starting to the right, depicting the tale of the Apostles in Rome. A S. Piero a Grado – and Pisa by projection – is visually elevated parallel to the papal seat 51. Proceeding to the northern wall, the first se- quence is concluded with the Fall of Simon Magus 52, displayed in two episodes, according to the Legenda Aurea 53: the disputation with Simon Magus, argu- ing the authenticity of God’s ultimate power as

40 The ontology of imprinting will be discussed below, see notes 56 and 73. 41 The terminology in this essay concerning the icon is broadly based on Belting ’s picture – medium – body theory as in Hans Belting , An An- thropology of Images : Picture, Medium, Body, Thomas Dunlap trans., Princeton 2011, sp. chaps 1– 4. 42 This scene has not survived. Its identification was suggested accord- ing to the chronology of the New Testament and by the fact that in the following scene Peter appears unequivocally with the keys to Paradise, see D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), p. 39; Burresi, “L’edificio” (n. 2), p. 62. 43 This scene is interesting in particular in the context of this article, be- cause, as argued by John of Damascus, all prototypes necessarily create a second image, in much the same way that an object casts a shadow so that the whole world becomes a chain of images that preserve the essence of the prototype, see John of Damascus, Apologia Against Those Who Decry Holy Images, Grand Rapids, MI : C hristian Classics Ethereal Library trans., Michigan 2001, pp. 89 – 90. 44 The separation between earthly material and divine substance is central in the conception of icons. Gregory I, for example, claimed that C hristians do not work the material itself (an idol or a man) but through the material they worship God, that is to say they worship the prototype behind the image or the saint. Later on, in the eighth cen- tury, John of Damascus explained that images are representations of a prototype and that they share with it the same form and essence. According to John, the image contains the person it represents, but he stresses that the image and the person are not one but two separate entities. See Gregorius I, “Sancti Gregorii Magni Epistolarum Lib. XI, Epist. 13”, in Patrologia Latina, LXXVII, Jacques - Paul Migne ed., Paris 1849, cols 1128 – 1130 ; John of Damascus, “Apologia Against Those who Decry Holy Images”, in Patrologia Graeca, XCIV, col 1337 B, col 1352 A; Idem, Apologia (n. 43), pp. 106 –109. 45 According to the legend, Peter built it upon arrival; it still stands as a sacred testimony to Peter’s early presence and the early conversion of the region. See Sodi, “ Le Vicende Storiche” (n. 20), pp. 6 – 7. In the apse itself there are remains of eleventh-twelfth century murals that are not part of the cycle, see Burresi, “ L’edificio” (n. 2), pp. 51– 55. 46 This scene is not mentioned either in the Gospels or in Peter ’s vita or Visconti’s sermons and will be discussed in the epilogue. It was identified according to an early eighteenth - century report by Mar- tino, Theatrum Basilicae pisanae, 1705, see D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), p. 208. 47 See François Boucher, A History of the Costume in the West, John Ross trans., London 1987, pp. 173 –184. 48 See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), p. 210; Sodi, “Le Vicende Storiche” (n. 20), pp. 9 –12. 49 See Visconti, Les sermons (n. 5), p. 594. 50 Ibidem, p. 601. 51 Ceccarelli points out a number of ways in which the Archbishopric of Pisa secured and strengthened the ties to Rome during the centuries, including by legends that sanctified the site and intensified the apos- 16 / Constantine Refuses to Bath in the Blood of the tolic connection to Rome, and by architectural changes that visually Innocents, St. Sylvester Chapel in Santi Quattro connected S. Piero a Grado to Rome, see Ceccarelli Lemut, “San Piero Coronati, Rome, ca. 1246 a Grado e il Culto Petrino” (n. 7 ), pp. 23 – 24. Angiola argued that in Pisa the classical style was adopted to claim the city - state as the heir 17 / Peter and Paul Appear to Emperor Constantine to Rome, see Angiola, “Nicola Pisano, Federigo Visconti” (n. 32). in a Dream, St. Sylvester Chapel in Santi Quattro 52 The first scene on the north wall has not survived, but it was most Coronati, Rome, ca. 1246 probably the Meeting of Peter and Paul in Rome : see Kessler, “ The Meeting of Peter and Paul in Rome” (n. 4), pp. 265 – 275, sp. p. 274; Burresi, “L’edificio” (n. 2), p. 63. 18 / Emissaries to Sylvester, St. Sylvester Chapel 53 See De Voragine, The Golden Legend (n. 6), pp. 342 – 344. in Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, ca. 1246 131 19 / The Presentation of the Icon to Con- stantine, St. Sylvester Chapel in Santi 132 Quattro Coronati, Rome, ca. 1246

embodied in Peter (as a shrine), in contrast to the divine powers. This function is emphasized by the false power of Simon Magus, which is derived from soldier ’s pointing gesture. Satan; and Peter and Paul defeating Simon Magus, The next two scenes illustrate the spectacular commanding the demons that were elevating the burial ceremony of each saint in a similar composi- wizard above a tower to drop him to the ground. tion / Figs 4, 5, 8 /. The ceremonies take place under an The victory of the saints stems from their bodies elaborate domed canopy with pendant candlesticks. being a medium, a receptacle of God’s will. This The dead body of each saint is placed into a sarcopha- scene brings the first narrative sequence to its end. gus, flanked by male and female devotees of various Through the confrontation of true and false powers, social and religious status, among whom stands the saints are represented as God’s tabernacle 54. 54 According to John of Damascus, because the saints followed the will of God (θεός) they themselves are gods (θεοι), as already im- The end of the living body and the plied in the biblical text, for example : “ Don’t you know that you logic of framing ( scenes 18 to 25 ) yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst ? ” (I Corinthians 3:16). John emphasized that the saints are not gods by nature but from their participating with God, and therefore, The second narrative sequel at S. Piero a Grado they should be admired. See John of Damascus, “Apologia” (n. 44), col 1352 A; John of Damascus, Apologia, Classics Ethereal Library en­gages with the dual nature of icons, their materi- trans. (n. 43), pp. 106 –109. ality versus their sacredness 55, by elaborating on the 55 Gregory I remarks in his Homilae in Hiezechihelem prophetam that imprinting by which the divine substance within Ezekiel 4 : 1 underlines the difference between matter and spirit ; Kessler emphasizes that these remarks can be used as proof of the the bodies of the martyrs was, at their deaths, trans- distinction between physical seeing and spiritual seeing. See Herbert ferred into the icons 56. The martyrdom of Peter and L. Kessler, Spiritual Seeing : Picturing God’s Invisibility in Medieval Art, Philadelphia 2000, pp. 115 –116, and 120 –121. Further explanations of Paul is unusually expanded over eight scenes on the the dual nature of the icons can be found in the writings of John of Da- northern nave wall 57. Similar to the beginning of the mascus and the Patriarch Nicephoros; both argue that the incarnation legitimated the veneration of images, see Nicephoros, “Antirrhetici ”, first sequel, it opens with a divine provenance, ex- in Patrologia Graeca C, 277A; Charles Barber, Figure and Likeness: On pressed in the Domine, quo vadis? scene as described the Limits of Representation in Byzantine Iconoclasm, Princeton 2002, 58 p. 98, and pp. 110 –111; John of Damascus, “Apologia” (n. 44), pp. 89 – 90. in the Legenda Aurea . The first martyrdom is that 56 Apotropaic forces were believed to be transferred into images of Peter in Nero’s circus, conventionally identified through a long and continuous line of imprints (typos). In this process by the Meta Romuli, the pyramid to the left and the the divine essence passes on to the material by receiving the proto- type’s likeness, and as a result of the touch the image is a negative 59 obelisk to the right / Fig. 2 / . Agitated viewers are expression of its source, see, Herbert L. Kessler, “Configuring the crowded around the pyramid, displaying energetic Invisible by Copying the Holy Face”, in The Holy Face and the Paradox of Representation, Herbert L. Kessler, Gerhard Wolf eds, Bologna 1998; gestures, expressing their surprise at Peter ’s request Barber, Figure and Likeness, (n. 55), pp. 110 –117; Gerhard Wolf, “From to be crucified upside - down as in the account in the Mandylion to Veronica: Picturing the Disembodied Face and Dissemi- 60 nating the True Image of C hrist in the Latin West ”, in The Holy Face Legenda Aurea . Panel 20 features the martyrdom and the Paradox of Representation, Herbert L. Kessler, Gerhard Wolf of Paul / Figs 3, 7/; Roman soldiers lead him to the eds, Bologna 1998, pp. 158 –181, sp. p. 165; Bissera V. Pentcheva, The Aquas Salvias on the via Ostiense outside the city Sensual Icon : Space, Ritual, and Senses in Byzantium, Pennsylvania 2010, p. 29 ; Clemena Antonova, Space, Time and Presence in the Icon: 61 walls, where he is beheaded . The fresco depicts the Seeing the World with the Eyes of God, London 2010, pp. 81– 82. moment after the decapitation of Paul 62. Against the 57 Earlier cycles do not include so many episodes. Cimabue’s frescoes in Assisi, ca. 1277–1280, for example, dedicate five scenes to the Life background of the hills, Paul is seen still kneeling of Peter, of which only two succinctly describes Sts Peter and Paul’s in prayer, his severed head rolling down the hill. Martyrdom. 58 The scene is badly damaged and was identified from the remains One of the soldiers points his finger toward the of the fresco and by comparing it to Jacopo Grimaldi’s illustration saint’s body while watching the angels depicted on in Codex Barber., XXXIV, 50, c. 140 a of the same scene from Old St. Peter ’s portico. See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Gra- the right upper edge bear his soul to heaven. This do” (n. 1), p. 250. composition deviates from the conventional Pauline 59 Although the buildings function as an attribute or symbolical land- iconography, in which he appears with a veil in his scape, they nevertheless offer the viewer an experience of the real Rome, or, what Belting defined as a documentary control between hand lent to him by a female disciple. According to reality and art, see Hans Belting , “ The New Role of Narrative in the Legenda Aurea, Paul, beheaded, took the veil that Public Painting of the Trecento : Historia and Allegory”, Studies in the History of Art, XVI (1985), pp. 151–168 ; for the historical use of Nero’s had bound his eyes and soaked up the blood of his circus as an execution spot, see Tacitus, The Annals, Clifford H. Moore wound to present it to Nero. The new iconographic and John Jackson trans., Cambridge 1962, V, sp. pp. 283 – 285; for the identification of the obelisk in Nero circus, see Brian A. Curran, formulation shifts the focus of the story from a Obelisk : A History, Cambridge 2009, sp. pp. 61– 69. witnessing of faith (as the etymology of martureo 60 See De Voragine, The Golden Legend (n. 6), pp. 345 – 346. 61 Ibidem, pp. 353 – 354. implies) to the function of the body as a vessel for 62 This especially follows eleventh and twelfth-century Byzantine con- the soul and, by implication, as a tabernacle for the ventions, see note 18 above. 133 a priest accompanied by monks holding liturgical ( 249 – 251), Greek devotees sought to take possession crosses, books, incense, tall wax candles, pennants, of the saints’ bodies and decided to steal them. While and torches. The splendid and noble nature of these attempting to smuggle the sacred bodies out of Rome, events is highlighted through their contrast to the God infused the pagan idols and they began shout- episode that follows – the death of Nero / Fig. 6 / 63. ing and lamenting “ Men of Rome, help! Your gods The Legenda Aurea offers two versions of his death: are being carried away! ”65. Hearing their warnings, one tells that the people of Rome, who hated the all the citizens of Rome, pagans and C hristians alike, insane emperor, chased him beyond the city - walls, started to chase the Greeks : the pagans believed that where, seeing that he had no way out, Nero com- their idols were being stolen, while the C hristians un- mitted suicide, stabbing himself with a sharpened derstood that it was actually their apostles. Terrified wooden stick. The other version tells that he was by the rage of the masses, the Greeks placed the bod- preyed upon by wolves. At S. Piero a Grado the two ies in a well in via Appia, not far from the catacombs. versions are melded : to the left is the city gate, with At S. Piero a Grado / Figs 9, 10 /, these events are con- Roman soldiers brandishing their swords; in the densed into one scene : to the left is the chase from center is Nero’s personal servant; and to the right Rome’s city - gate ; the pagan idols are bowing down the wolves are tearing at the emperor ’s body. This with outstretched arms, hysterically begging for help, serves as an antithetic portrayal to the deaths and while a demon flies through the middle of the gate’s burial ceremonies of the martyrs. Not only does archway; the center of the panel depicts Roman sol- Nero’s body suffer a degenerate fate, but he is also diers armed with clubs, swords, and spears; while to afforded no memorial ceremony, implying that he the right the Greeks are lowering the saints’ bodies will vanish into oblivion. into the well. Whereas the scene itself is emotionally The next episodes are the most exceptional in charged, the expression of the dead saints is serene the cycle and, apart from the original model in the and sealed. Their bodies are framed, their faces pale portico of the Old St. Peter ’s, as far as we know, they and greenish, and their eyes are closed, attesting to constitute a unique depiction in the Peter and Paul their bodily death. This image is repeated almost iconography. Panels 24 and 25 narrate the miracles exactly in the following scene / Fig. 11/, apart from performed long after the saints’ deaths, as told in the frame. In this scene, the saints are being taken 134 the Legenda Aurea 64. During the papacy of Cornelius out of the well and buried by a pope and priests, 20 / Donatio Constantini, (detail and entire scene), St. Sylvester Chapel in Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, ca. 1246

again with processional objects. Two women kneel or panel. The frame thus indicates that their divine in prayer on the left; and the event is illuminated by powers still continue to work independently, despite a lamp bearing the Gaetani family stemma 66. the termination of the living body. The unique and main deviation of this scene from In the following scene, de - framing signifies an its prototype in Rome is the body-framing and de- interval in which the body is an empty vessel : since framing motive: in the concealing of the saints in the order has been returned and the saints restored to well scene, the shrouded bodies of Peter and Paul their proper place, the dead body is not necessary are located together in a joint rectangular frame, as as a vehicle. Due to the de - framing in the re - burial if they were an object, an individual Kultbild, thus scene, the corpses of the saints are depicted as loose visually almost estranged from the narrative itself. and flexible, as if overcome by gravity and their own This is further accentuated by the fact that their fram- materiality (and not as rigid albeit light as before). ing echoes the framing of the mural – a double line Ina similar manner, Peter ’s halo partially hides Paul’s of purple and white / yellow. In the impossibility of face, as if three - dimensionality too has been restored depicting God’s intervention through the acts of the between them. All this indicates that the natural saints (due to these being dead mediums), they are order has been restored and God’s will has been ex- framed as a quasi-icon. The frame and the stylistic ecuted. In this manner, the framing and de - framing rendering of the shapes convey upon the three-di- indicates the violation of divine order, intervention, mensional bodies a spiritual quality. The frame itself and resolution. Because the frame ( being a shroud) converts the three-dimensional bodies into a two- touches the holy bodies, it evokes the entire ontologi- dimensional representation; hence, the quasi-iconic cal principle of sealing and imprinting that lies at the rendering of the panel, which becomes, as noted by Glenn Peers, a site of access and desire, in which the 63 For both variations of the legend, see De Voragine, The Golden Leg- 67 end (n. 6), pp. 347– 348. reality of the image is declared . The shroud around 64 De Voragine, The Golden Legend (n. 6), pp. 347– 348. the saints and its decorative patterns conceal their 65 Ibidem. 66 See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), pp. 268 – 269. bodies and eliminate their volume, which becomes 67 See Glenn Peers, Sacred Shock : Framing Visual Experience in Byzantium, entirely flat at the foot and head. Their bodies also Pennsylvania 2005, pp. 1–16. seem stiff and rigid. Consequently they appear al- most weightless; almost as if they were a flat board 135 heart of medieval identity and image-making 68. The morphosis into an icon, however, is still incomplete. most obvious example of shroud - touch - icon would The image, once dwelling in the saints’ bodies, using in this case be that of Veronica and the Shroud of it as a living medium, now must abandon it because Turin 69. Signified through the frame as an object of it has become mere lifeless matter. The new medium veneration, and being neither a mere representation into which the holy image is about to be transferred nor bodies, the framing materializes the saints as a is a picture 74. kind of acheiropoieton within the painting ; in other words: an independent and quasi - icon embedded The metamorphosis and the likeness in the murals and therefore no longer a painting 70. of the icon ( scenes 26 – 30 ) The differentiation between the living and the dead bodies is also articulated on the chromatic scale. The third and final stage in the S. Piero a Grado D’Achiardi has observed that in several scenes the murals is the manifestation of the saints’ image as coloring of the saints’ faces differentiates between a true icon, that is, as acheiropoieta and a veritable the state of life and that of death, and he argues that likeness. To affirm this status of the image, the last the artist intentionally applied the terra verde – nor- five scenes of the cycle constitute a succinct illus- mally used for the under - painting – as the finish, tration and unique selection from the forged docu- the upper layer, in order to create the effect of a ment Donatio Constantini, which at that time was pale skin lacking any vitality 71, reflecting the saints already included in the official vita of Sylvester I 75. having been put in and then pulled out of the well. The plot starts with the refusal of the leprosy- sick Materiality and decay are thus visually highlighted Constantine to heed the advice of his doctors to in these scenes and, therefore, this dead medium can cure his disease by bathing in fresh nurslings’ blood. no longer function as God’s tabernacle; this task will During that night, Peter and Paul appeared in his be transferred to the icon. This notion becomes evi- dream, lauding his compassion and commanding dent also from a comparison between the text of the him to seek out Sylvester, who will heal him. After Legenda Aurea and the murals. The text recounts that Constantine’s troops found the Pope, they sum- the bodies that the Greeks had thrown into the well moned him to the Emperor and, upon hearing the were taken out more than a year later. At this stage, details of the dream, the Pope ordered that they the remains of the saints are no longer referred to bring him the dual - portrait icon of Peter and Paul. as bodies, but as fragmented relics 72. In the murals, Constantine immediately verified their likenesses ; in contrast, the bodies are fully depicted and pre- was baptized as a C hristian by Sylvester ; cured of served. This is crucial to the visual argumentation his leprosy; donated generously to various C hris- that is about to be concluded in the next sequence : tian churches, in particular to St. Peter in Rome; in order to maintain the visual continuity of the and, finally, held the Officium stratoris in which he process from body to icon, the likeness of the saints transferred authority over Rome to the papacy, ac- must also be retained since the image is the one that knowledging its superiority over the Imperial rule. embodies the divine power 73. To symbolize this, he led Sylvester mounted on a Framing and coloring serve to intensify the horse through the streets of Rome 76. The legend theological argument that runs along the basilica’s concludes with the story of a dragon that threatened walls. The frescoes first present the viewer with the the people of Rome and was caught and tamed by sacredness of the saints as a consequence of the the Pope. Out of this rich and complex narrative only divine power conferred upon them. In the second five scenes were chosen for the murals in S. Piero a phase, it shows the death of the martyrs and their Grado: Constantine’s dream, with Peter and Paul framed bodies, through which the divine interven- standing behind his sickbed / Figs 12, 14 /; the icon tion is visually elaborated and, at the same time, of the saint being presented to Constantine, who visually references the cult of the icons. The fram- affirms its authenticity / Figs 13, 15 /; the construction ing defining the iconic image manifests the divine of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, followed by its con- powers that work without mediation of the body, secration; and Sylvester trampling on the dragon77. while the touch of the painted body on the frame The completion of the process from body to icon ratifies to the viewer that this icon of the saints, is aesthetically manifested in the verification of the which will appear later in the cycle, was produced portrait scene, through its implied relationship to 136 by imprinting and is therefore a true icon. The meta- the celebrated vera - icona. The format is that of a bust, without a body; the faces of the saints are depicted Sense Memory : St. Francis and the Affective Image”, in Art History, from a slight angle; they turn towards one another XXIV ( 2001), pp. 1–16. Just as the sacred image had imprinted itself onto the body of St. Francis, so too do the bodies of the saints stamp and are not portrayed frontally; all these ostensibly themselves on the frame and shroud, and so too would the visual reflect early C hristian representational conventions image imprint itself upon and mold the self of the believer, see Barber, Figure and Likeness, (n. 55), pp. 135 –136; Miriam Bedos Rezak, When Ego which were already inscribed in the twelfth - century was Imago: Signs of Identity in the Middle Ages, Leiden 2011, pp. 231– 252. antiquarianism. As a visual strategy attesting to the 71 See D’Achiardi, “Gli Affreschi di S. Piero a Grado” (n. 1), p. 267. 72 The relics were in such a fragmentary condition that they could not origin of the icon in the saints’ physical presence have been identified or classified, an uncertainty that was only solved and contact 78, antiquarianism bestows upon the miraculously, see De Voragine, The Golden Legend (n. 6), p. 348. icon its referential quality, namely: the icon is an 73 For example, when Patriarch Nicephoros stressed the importance of likeness between the prototype and its image, he used the word authentic link in a string of image - copying, a con- τυπóω (to stamp, impress, or mould) to indicate not only that likeness catenation of imprinting in matter the apotropaic is created through touch but also that the imprint allows the sacred essence to embody itself in the material medium. See Nicephoros, “An- qualities that enable divine mediation and acces- tirrhetici”, in Patrologia Graeca, C, col. 277A. We have followed here the sibility 79. The process of imprinting is accentuated translation by Barber, Figure and Likeness (n. 55), pp. 110 –111; John of Damascus claimed that the Holy image gives to mater from its essence in the frescoes by the positive - negative relationship and form see, John of Damascus, “Apologia” (n. 44), col 1337B. On the between the images. In the theft of the bodies by role and importance of likeness, see Antonova, Space, Time and Pres- ence in the Icon (n. 56), pp. 81– 82; Kessler, “Configuring the Invisible the Greeks / Figs 9, 10 /, Peter appears to the right of by Copying the Holy Face” (n. 56), pp.139 –140; Barber, Figure and Paul, while in the presentation if the icon to Con- Likeness (n. 55), pp. 110 –111. Similarly, in the Latin west the incarna- stantine / Figs 13, 15 / their order has been reversed, tion of C hrist as the perfect imago of the Godhead legitimized not only the production of his likeness but also those of other individuals, and Peter is now portrayed to Paul’s left. This shift the face of C hrist was perceived as an emblem of the vestige of the in location brings to mind the Mandylion painting imago Dei that was sealed (or stamped) within the human soul, see Hamburger, St. John the Divine (n.15), p. 191. and the Keramion ( Biblioteca Apostolica, Cod. Ross. 74 See Belting, An Anthropology of Images (n. 41), pp. 10 –11. 251, fol. 12 v), in which, according to Herbert L. Kes- 75 The document first appeared in the Pseudo - Isidorean Decratals ( 847– 853) and extended the legend in Sylvester’s vita in the Golden sler, the positive - negative or mirror relations reflects Legend. This document was of prime importance to the Catholic the miraculous imprint from the Mandylion (seal) to Church, as it affirmed the superiority of the papacy over the Holy 80 Roman Emperor. See C hristopher B. Coleman, Constantine the Great the Keramion (imprint) ; while the left Mandylion and C hristianity, Three Phases: the Historical, the Legendary, and the Spuri- features a white ground with red contours, that of ous, New York 1968, pp. 175 –183; De Voragine, The Golden Legend (n. 6), the Keramion is red with white contours, etc. ; and pp. 64 – 65. 76 See Mary Stroll, Symbols as Power: The Papacy Following the Investiture while the face of C hrist in the Mandylion turn to the Contest, Leiden 1991, pp. 193 –194; Coleman, Constantine the Great and left, in the Keramion it is directed to the right. The C hristianity (n. 75), pp. 176 –177. 77 This scene has not survived. For the iconographical identification, see logic of the sealing and imprint that was adopted for Burresi, “ L’edificio” (n. 2), p. 64. the mirrored images at S. Piero a Grado manifests 78 Similar to the antiquarianism of the twelfth-century Virgin’s face in Santa Maria in Trastevere that relates to her ancient encaustic not merely the process by which the icon was made, icon in S. Francesca Romana, see Ernst Kitzinger, “A Virgin’s Face : but in particular its status as a true icon. Antiquarianism in Twelfth - Century Art”, The Art Bulletin, LXII (1980), An additional visual device that materializes the pp. 6 –19. See idem, “ The Cult of Images in the Age before Iconoclasm”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, VIII (1954), pp. 83 –150. According to Belt- presence of the saints in the icon is the coloring of ing, this convention is derived from late antique portraits and the their faces. While in the scenes elaborating their theft preparation of death-masks, see Belting , Likeness and Presence (n. 16), pp. 15 –16 and 120. and re - burial / Figs 9, 10/ they appear pale and col- 79 See Pentcheva, The Sensual Icon (n. 56), p. 29. ored only in verde, in the affirmation of the icon they 80 See Kessler, Spiritual Seeing (n. 55), p. 83. Furthermore, Kessler notes that it reflects the typology of shadow (Old Testament) and image are colored in pink-red and their cheeks and lips are (New Testament), see Ibidem, p. 60. flushed – an artistic convention that was utilized to present their likenesses as “ lifelike”, as already artic- ulated by Photius (858 – 867 and 877– 866), Patriarch of Constantinople, upon celebration of the new Hodegetria mosaic on Hagia Sophia’s apse:

68 See Miriam Bedos Rezak, “Medieval Identity: A Sign and a Concept ”, American Historical Review, CV (2000), pp. 1489 –1533. 69 See Wolf, “From Mandylion to Veronica” (n. 56), pp. 158 –181. 70 As in the case of St. Francis’s stigmatization, the sacred image is stamped in the body as medium, and vice versa. See Hans Belting, “Saint Francis and the Body as Image: an Anthropological Approach”, in Looking Beyond, Visions, Dreams, and Insights in Medieval Art & History, Colum Hourihane ed., Princeton 2010, pp. 3 –15 ; Jill Bennett, “Stigmata and 137 “ With such exactitude has the art of painting, which is charged with political evocation. The southern a reflection of inspiration from above, set up a lifelike wall concludes the cycle with Sylvester ’s miracles, imitation … To such an extent have the lips been made including the Finding of the True Cross by Helene 88. flesh by the colors, that they appear merely to be pressed together and stilled as in the mysteries, yet their silence is The narrative is thus taken almost entirely from the not at all inert neither is the fairness of her form deriva- Legenda Aurea with no major additions, apart from tory, but rather is it the real archetype” 81. the Last Judgment in the controfacciata. Together, it represents papal sovereignty, raising papal above Color, line, and painting-techniques, as argued by imperial authority and above the course of the sacred Cornelia Tsakiridou, charge the icons with a vitality history. It indicates that while the emperor might and movement that bestow upon them a real like- enjoy mundane power, he must still serve the trium­ ness 82. The colors are therefore evidence of the icon ph­ant Church 89. as a derivative of the once-lived prototype 83. Indeed, Far from sparing details, the S. Piero a Grado mu- Michael Psellos ( 1018 –1081) claimed that in the act rals lavishly expand the Peter iconography into no of making an icon, God uses the painter as a tool to fewer than thirty panels; the decision to include only make the saint appear as living or to create a shrine specific episodes from the life of Sylvester, there- for a “ living visit ”84. The icon is thus seen more as fore, seems to be highly significant. It is intriguing the natural work of God than the artifice of an artist. 81 For the text and its translation, see Cyril Mango, The Homilies of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, Cambridge Mass. 1958, pp. 279 – 286. The From Body to Icon, an epilogue sermon, as a rare ekphrasis, was frequently discussed as in the context of reception, response, image and optics theories in Byzantium, see recently Robert S. Nelson, “ To Say and to See : Ekphrasis and Vision Although the choice of the scenes at S. Piero a Gra- in Byzantium”, in Visuality Before and Beyond the Renaissance : Seeing do might seem at first glance to engage primarily with as Others Saw, Robert S. Nelson ed., Cambridge 2000, pp. 143 –168. In much the same way, Kessler notes that Nicephoros used the word papal authority, they uniquely focus on the “icon- ομοίωμα ( likeness) that is derived from the doctrine of the Incarnation ization” of the saints. This specificity of S. Piero a in order to indicate the legitimacy of the icons, see Kessler, “Configur- Grado becomes apparent though its comparison to ing the Invisible by Copying the Holy Face” (n. 56), p. 140 ; moreover, Barber observed that for iconophiles like Nicephoros “the content earlier cycles dedicated to the Donatio Constantini : conveyed by the work of art was prior to the artist and not subject to an for example, the most comprehensive and detailed intervention by the artist”, see Barber, Figure and Likeness, (n. 55), p. 112. 82 Cornelia Tsakiridou, Icons in Time Persons in Eternity : Orthodox Theology surviving representation of the legend in the murals and the Aesthetics of the C hristian Image, London 2013, pp. 208 – 212. In of St. Sylvester chapel in Santi Quattro Coronati in addition, the icon fulfills the principle of material manifestation in its 85 depiction of details and the use of color, in the same way that C hristian- Rome, 1246 . Similar to the composition at S. Piero ity, according to Cyril’s view, is the fulfillment of the outline / contour a Grado, the lower register in Santi Quattro Coronati provided by Judaism. See Kessler, Spiritual Seeing (n. 55) pp. 53 – 54. 86 83 The viewers of icons were probably sensitive and attuned to the nuances features male busts, in this case of the prophets , of coloring, see Liz James, Light and Colour in Byzantine Art, Oxford 1996. and the upper one the Donatio Constantini. Here, 84 Barber rejected the notion of a full presence of the divine in the images the narrative includes eleven scenes from Sylves- and argued that the icons serve only for a “living visit”, see Charles Barber, “Living Painting, or the Limits of Pointing ? Glancing at Icons ter ’s life, extended over the western, northern, and with Michael Psellos” in Reading Michael Psellos, Charles Barber, David southern walls of the chapel. The Santi Quattro Jenkin eds, Leiden 2006, pp. 117–130, sp. p. 123 –126. On Psellos and the notion of living images, see Glenn Peers, “Real Living Painting : Coro­nati cycle encompasses a different ensemble Quasi - Objects and Dividuation in the Byzantine World”, Religion & the of episodes from the legend : it begins with Constan- Arts, XVI (2012), pp. 438 – 439. 85 See Gunnard Danbolt , “ Visual of Papal Power : The Legitimation of tine’s refusal to bathe in the blood of the innocents, Papal Power in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries”, in Iconog- while their anxious mothers attend his throne and raphy, Propaganda, and the Legitimation, Allan Ellenius ed., Oxford 1998, pp. 147–191, sp. pp. 147–172 ; Ronald B. Herzman and William beg him for mercy – a scene completely omitted at A. Stephany, “Dante and the Frescoes at Santi Quattro Coronati”,Specu - S. Piero a Grado / Fig. 16 /; the next scene is the dream lum, LXXXVII (2012), pp. 95 –146; C hristine M. Boeckl, Images of Leprosy: of Constantine, in a similar composition to that at Disease, Religion, and Politics in European Art, Missouri 2011, pp. 110 –115. 86 Their prophecies were identified by citations in the scrolls, now lost; S. Piero a Grado / Fig. 17 /; this is followed by three see Danbolt, “ Visual of Papal Power ” (n. 85), p. 150 –151. riders setting out in search of Sylvester / Fig. 18 /. The 87 This shift is created by their gestures of plea, following on their knees as servants and begging with their hands. narrative continues on the northern wall with the 88 Although Helena is mentioned in the vita, there is no mention of find- finding of Sylvester and his invitation (rather than ing of the True Cross in Sylvester’s legend, see De Voragine, The Golden 87 Legend (n. 6), p. 64 – 71. Unfortunately, as at S. Piero a Grado, the last summoning) to come to Rome ; the dual - portrait scene in Santi Quattro Coronati has not survived; it most probably icon presented to Constantine / Fig. 19 /; his baptism; depicted Sylvester capturing the dragon beneath Capitol Hill in Rome, see Herzman and William “Dante and the Frescoes at Santi Quattro the Donatio Constantini / Fig. 20 /; and the Officium Coronati ” (n. 85), pp. 87 – 95. 138 statoris / Fig. 21 / – the last two scenes are explicitly 89 See Danbolt, “ Visual of Papal Power ” (n. 85), pp. 150 –155. 21 / Officium statoris, St. Sylvester Chapel in Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, ca. 1246

that none of the most important moments in the towards the viewers, thus making them active par- Church’s claim to authority were chosen for the ticipants in the scene 92. The icon does not merely act S. Piero a Grado murals : the cycle lacks both the in its own pictorial space but, rather, it is an object Donatio Constantini and the Officium statoris, which presented concomitantly in both the pictorial and illustrate the recognition of the precedence of the in the real space of the devotees. Seeing the saints Church; the acknowledgment of Constantine in in their acts, likenesses, visions, and icons, provides Sylvester ’s authority in leading him through Rome the theological affirmation of their truth 93. In that is also not depicted, and so on. The eschatological sense, as theorized by Kessler, the icon receives its context (the Last Judgment) too does not feature; authenticity and validation from the visual narrative nor the typological one (the prophets). Instead, the itself 94 ; the similarity and visual succession of the selection of scenes at S. Piero a Grado suggests other various saints’ portrayal in the murals merge their ideas: the authenticity of the icons by imprint and visual prototypes into the images and it becomes real likeness ; the saints’ miracle - working powers; difficult to separate between the two 95. As noted by and the foundation of the basilica as a shrine in gen- Gerhard Wolf, the icon works through a formula ac- eral and a shrine of the icons in particular. The fres- tivated through visual consistency and likeness that coes establish S. Piero a Grado as a pilgrimage site, asserts the reliability and validity of the icon 96. The as a locus of the saints’ divine presence, manifested visual similarity adhered to in the S. Piero a Grado in the import of the mural program itself from Old sequence allows the viewers to identify the saints, St. Peter in Rome 90. Together these ideas sum up the compare their various stages of the metamorphosis, entire program at S. Piero a Grado. Because earlier to witness and to approve the entire process from studies failed to pinpoint the peculiar iconography body to icon 97; in that way the murals of Basilica of S. Piero a Grado, seeing it as a mere imitation di S. Piero a Grado become a visualized theology of its precedent, the ideology that animated the reasoning the cult of images. cycle – from body to icon – went unnoticed. While all the scenes engaging with papal authority were 90 Such relations between images and geography are discussed in Belting, left out of the murals, those addressing the nature An Anthropology of Images (n. 41), pp. 40 – 44. 91 Paraphrased after Jeffrey F. Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing : The of the icon received greater accentuation, extend- Suspicion of Sight and the Authentication of Vision in Late Medieval ing over two panels. The entire narrative between Art ”, in Imagination und Wirklichkeit : Zum Verhältnis von mentalen und realen Bildern in der Kunst der frühen Neuzeit, Klaus Krüger, Alessandro the Dream of Constantine and the Verification of Nova eds, Mainz 2000, pp. 47– 69. the Icon that was an essential part of the murals in 92 On active spectatorship in fourteenth - century art, see Assaf Pinkus, Rome, is entirely absent at S. Piero a Grado. Conse- Patrons and Narratives of the Parler School : The Marian Tympana, 1350 –1400, Berlin 2009, pp. 67– 82 and pp. 143 –156. quently, at S. Piero a Grado the Dream and the Veri- 93 See Belting , Likeness and Presence (n. 16), pp. 4 – 6. fication – one of the most distinctive ways by which 94 It reinforces the purpose of religious art – the icon shows the invisible by visible means; see, Kessler, Spiritual Seeing (n. 55), pp. 12– 28. to ratify the icon – appear in an immediate proxim- 95 On the cohesion of the prototype with the image, see David Freedberg, ity to one another, enabling the viewers to see and The Power of Images : Studies in the History and Theory of Response, 91 Chicago 1989, pp. 28 – 30. believe , to verify for themselves the authenticity 96 See Wolf, “From Mandylion to Veronica” (n. 56), p. 165. of the likeness. 97 Nevertheless, their faces remains generic, although at that time the decline in icon veneration resulted in more individualized types, Rather than being turned toward Constantine, see Oleg Tarasov, Icon and Devotion : Sacred Spaces in Imperial Russia, the icon held in the hands of the novice is directed London 2002, pp. 225 – 226.

140 Summary / Od těla po ikonu : životy sv. Petra a Pavla na nástěnných malbách v San Piero a Grado

Narativní cyklus, který zdobí prostřední loď ba- světců jako Božích živých­ tělesných nádob, těl jako ziliky S. Piero a Grado v Pise (cca 1302), zahrnuje média, schránek Boží vůle. Druhá skupina ilustruje scény­ ze životů sv. Petra a Pavla navržené podle zázračné schopnosti světců, přenesené z mrtvého maleb zdobících portikus dnes již neexistující pů- fyzického těla do nového média – namalovaného vodní baziliky sv. Petra v Římě. Fresky ze S. Piero obrazu – prostřednictvím doteku a otisku. Tento pro- a Grado shrnují události líčené v písmu, navíc však ces je zdůrazněn způsobem zobrazení mrtvých těl také uvádějí jedinečné scény, které jsou čerpány ze světců téměř jako ikon a ukazuje znesvěcení Božího současných lokálních legend, známých z kázání řádu, intervenci a rozřešení. Rozlišování mezi živým Federica­ Viscontiho (1253 –1277 ) a z Donatio Con­stan­­ a mrtvým tělem je také vyjádřeno v chromatické tini, a je v nich tak dosaženo několika nekompletních stupnici, která zintenzivňuje status obrazů. Nakonec a fragmentárních vyprávění, která kulminují v mu- třetí skupina jasně ukazuje potvrzení a uznání duál- čednické smrti světců a jejich ikonizaci. Zatímco ního obrazu světců jako pravé ikony, a to skrze vizu- předchozí studie se zabývaly především chronologií ální stvrzení, ztělesnění a podobnost. Metamorfóza, a okolnostmi výstavby této památky, ikonografií od těla k ikoně, odhaluje nepřetržitý tok božství a politickými implikacemi fresek, jedinečná sklad- z jednou žijících těl mučedníků do jejich vizuálního ba narativních scén zůstala bez povšimnutí. Skrze znázornění. Ačkoli se na první pohled může zdát analýzu cyklu v rámci stře­do­věké koncepce ikony výběr scén v S. Piero a Grado v těsné vazbě s papež- a vytváření obrazů, jako i přijetí trojúhelníkového skou autoritou, tyto scény se jedinečným způsobem modelu Hanse Beltinga obraz – médium – tělo, je zaměřují na ikonizaci světců. Tato zvláštnost se stává navržena teze, podle níž narativní výmalba evoku- patrnou skrze srovnání s dřívějším cyklem Dona- je teologický argument posvátnosti obrazu a jeho tio Constantini v kapli sv. Silvestra v kostele Santi moci. Je dokázáno, že částečná ( fragmentární) vy- Quattro Coronati v Římě (1246). Cyklus v S. Piero právění uplatněná v této výmalbě jsou organizová- a Grado, který funguje jako vizualizovaná teologie na ve třech tematických skupinách, které vyjevují prosazující kult obrazů, umožňuje divákovi rozpo- proces, ve kterém se skutečná těla světců přetváří znat světce, porovnat různá stadia jejich metamor- v ikonu. První tema­tická skupina, která se soustředí fózy od těla k ikoně a nakonec odhalit, dosvědčit na schopnost světců konat zázraky, vyjevuje roli a potvrdit jejich status pravé ikony.

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