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The Lateran Baptistery: Memory, Space, and Baptism

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The Lateran Baptistery: Memory, Space, and Baptism University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2012 The Lateran Baptistery: Memory, Space, and Baptism David Tyler Thayer University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Architectural History and Criticism Commons Recommended Citation Thayer, David Tyler, "The Lateran Baptistery: Memory, Space, and Baptism. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2012. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1213 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by David Tyler Thayer entitled "The Lateran Baptistery: Memory, Space, and Baptism." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Architecture, with a major in Architecture. Gregor A. Kalas, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Amy L. Neff, Katherine B. Ambroziak Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) THE LATERAN BAPTISTERY: MEMORY, SPACE, AND BAPTISM A Thesis Presented for the Master of Architecture Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville David Tyler Thayer May 2012 Copyright © 2012 by David Tyler Thayer All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my sweet EL. Asking you to marry me was the best decision I will ever make. I love you. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It goes without saying that this thesis would not have been completed without the support and encouragement of many people in my life. I could spend hours thanking each one of you, and recounting the all the ways you have helped my research of this topic and how you have blessed my life. I would like to thank my mother and my father for their never ending support and encouragement; truly, I would not be the man I am today without each of you. I would also like to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude for the friendship and love of my brother; our relationship is rare. My parents and brother are an immense blessing in my life. I would also like to thank my extended family and my “new” family—Caryn, Doug and Brian—for all your support and encouragement through the last two years. My family has put up with me for missing family get-togethers, and they have put up with me locking myself behind closed doors at the few get-togethers I have attended. For your love and support I am extremely grateful. To my wife, for whom this work is dedicated, I am thankful to God for your love and role in my life. I would have never remained sane this last year, if it wasn’t for you. My love for you will burn until my last living breath. You are my best friend, lover and helpmate. I cherish you more than anything else in this world. Thank you for all that you have done for me and this thesis! I thank David Wells for all our discussions on theology, editing and friendship. I thank Amy Neff for her amazing insight into the artist’s mind. If I had never taken your class and invited you onto my committee, this thesis, and my understanding of the mosaics would never have happened. I thank Katherine Ambroziak for her amazing mind and thoughtful comments throughout the last semester. Without our discussion and your experience and interest in ritual, many of my discoveries may have never come to fruition. I also thank the administration and staff of the College of Architecture and design. Your support, guidance and financial assistances were crucial to this work and my research. Last, but most definitely not least, I thank Gregor Kalas. Your guidance, support, criticism, challenges, and friendship were all crucial to my research and my personal growth. You helped make me a better researcher, writer and scholar. This topic and thesis would not exist if you had never had an interest in my scholarly career. I am extremely grateful for you and your role as my mentor in the realm of history and theory. I will never forget our many thought provoking discussions that often went over our allotted time. I’m proud to be your student. iv ABSTRACT In the fourth century, the Lateran Baptistery was sponsored by Constantine the Great; it is the first extant free-standing baptistery known from the Roman world. In the fifth century, Pope Sixtus III renovated the baptistery through a newly-emphasized spatial hierarchy and the appropriation of some of Rome's most cherished structural elements and decorating themes. The result was a unique space that created a dialogue with Roman memory for the specific function of the baptismal rite it hosted. This thesis will analyze the spatial and symbolic forms, and the baptism ritual to show Sixtus III’s interaction with the Roman tradition of memory making and preservation. The Lateran Baptistery’s reuse of spolia and ancient iconography themes demonstrate the implications of Sixtus’ action concerning the memories preserved within the baptistery. Therefore, the baptistery linked the creation of the experiential memory of the initiate with the recalled memory of imperial Rome—especially in connection with the baptistery’s founding patron. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I Introduction: Historical and Site Context ................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II Sacrality as Place: Transformation through a Classicizing Renaissance .................................. 15 CHAPTER III Spolia and Memory: Imperial Romanitas in the Lateran Baptistery ...................................... 29 CHAPTER IV The Regeneration Motif: Mosaics and Inscriptions................................................................ 52 CHAPTER V The Theology of Baptism ......................................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER VI Creating Identity: Transformative Memory in Ritual Regeneration ...................................... 89 CHAPTER VII Concluding Thoughts ........................................................................................................... 105 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................... 113 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................................. 117 VITA ........................................................................................................................................................... 119 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure I-1: Map of area known as Laterano before Constantine. ................................................................. 8 Figure I-2: Reconstruction of the ancient domus and bath on the site. ..................................................... 10 Figure I-3: Drawing showing Lateran Basilica superimposed on top of the barracks. ................................ 10 Figure I-4: Hybrid plan of the baptistery showing different phases ........................................................... 12 Figure I-5: Pre-Constantinian Site w/ Sistine Baptistery superimposed ..................................................... 12 Figure I-6: Reconstruction of site context during the fifth-century renovation ......................................... 14 Figure II-1: Hypothetical reconstruction of Constantinian Phase ............................................................... 17 Figure II-2: Exterior of Lateran Baptistery. .................................................................................................. 17 Figure II-3: Photo of Side IV of the baptistery. ............................................................................................ 19 Figure II-4: Illustration of foundation and walls.......................................................................................... 19 Figure II-5: Fifth-century Sistine porch of Lateran Baptistery. .................................................................... 21 Figure II-6: Reconstruction of site context during the fifth-century renovation ........................................ 21 Figure II-7: Details of spolia: architrave, capitals, porphyry columns, and base ........................................ 23 Figure II-8: Eastern apse mosaic ................................................................................................................
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