ABPL90267 Development of Western Architecture
basilicas & martyria COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969
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do not remove this notice the state and the church the Roman Empire AD 362
Colin McEvedy, The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History(Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1988 [1967]), p 89 the advance of Christianity
c 200 many Christians in Rome 313 Edict of Milan makes Christianity legal 314 Armenia becomes the first Christian state 337 Christianity the official religion of the Empire giant statue of Constantine from the Basilica (about ten times life size), now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome Nigel Rodgers, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome (Hermes House, London 20108 [2004], p 35 principal forms of the Constantinian monogram
Dora Ware & Maureen Stafford, An Illustrated Dictionary of Ornament (London 1974), p 145
Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 432-440, ceiling c 1500 Scala 7622 (©1972) Santa Maria Maggiore
plan modern view reconstruction
James Fergusson, The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture (2 vols, London 1855), II, p 490 Scala 7622 (©1972) Richard Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308 (Princeton [New Jersey] 1980), p 48 the catacombs the catacombs (underground burial galleries)
loculus [pl loculi] – a long slot for a body arcosolium [pl arcosolia] – an arched space with the body in a trough across the bottom
cubiculum [pl cubicula] – a room or burial chamber with a number of loculi or arcosolia, and possibly serving as a chapel
decoration often includes pagan iconography recycled with Christian meanings; also the orans, a figure with its hands raised in prayer, representing the soul of the deceased plan of the Catacombs of San Callisto [Callixtus]
Pontificia Commissione Archeologia Sacra CSC/21 Catacombs of S Callisto, Rome: gallery with loculi
Lewis, Architectura, p 96 Catacombs of S Callisto, Rome: arcosolium Pontificia Commissione Archeologia Sacra CSC/24 arcosolium in the Coemeterium Maius, Rome, C3rd Jean Lassus, The Early Christian and Byzantine World (London 1967), pl 7 cubiculum, Catacomb of Sant' Agnese ‘chapel’ in the Catacombs of S Sotere, plan chamber, S Sebastiano complex, Via Appia
Miles Lewis Cecil Stewart, Early Christian, Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture, p 2 Bussagli, Rome, pl 179 catacomb chapels, Rome
Salita del Cocomero, Via Latina
Sant’ Agnese
R de Lasteyrie, l’Architecture Religieuse en France à l’Époque Romane (2nd ed, August Picard, Paris 1929 [1911]), p 61 serving new religions, especially Mithraism
sometimes with a nave and aisles, resembling a basilica a mithraeum (temple of Mithras) is often underground, and commonly has benches down either side underground basilica at the Porta Maggiore, Rome, AD C1st interior & plan
Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Architecture (Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1968 [1943]), pp 29, 30 underground basilica of the Porta Maggiore: vaulted ceiling Miles Lewis Mithraeum below the Church of San Clemente, Rome, AD ?C2nd view and detail of altar
Miles Lewis No 21, S Clemente set Mithraeum at Tiddis, Algeria the symbol & the chamber Miles Lewis Mithraeum at Tiddis the initiation chamber
Miles Lewis Mithraeum, London, AD c 150: plan
Pevsner, Outline of European Architecture, p 30 house churches
earliest known at Dura Europos, Mesopotamia, AD c 230
Roman tituli equitii (like parish churches) such as S Martino ai Monti SS Giovanni e Paolo scholae at Pompeii R de Lasteyrie, l’Architecture Religieuse en France à l’Époque Romane (2nd ed, August Picard, Paris 1929 [1911]), p 368 house at Lagash, Isin Larsa period (2025- 1594): plan house at Dura-Europos, A D c 230, axonometric view
MUAS 14,621 Jean Lassus, The Early Christian and Byzantine World (London 1967), p 10 Baptistery in the Christian house at Doura Europos, Syria, AD c 230
Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, p 10 SS Giovanni e Paolo, Rome
reconstruction of the domus ecclesia below the present church: a two story dwelling and a hall built for the cult in the C4th, shown in red
plan of the church built in 410
Fabrizio Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas: the Early Christians in Rome (Florence 1981) Matilda Webb, The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome: a Comprehensive Guide (Sussex Academic Press, Brighton 2001), p 102 S Martino ai Monti, Rome cutaway isometric of the hall used in the C6th plan of the hall and the later church
Grabar, Beginnings of Christian Art, p 6 Webb, Churches and Catacombs of Rome, p 73 the Roman basilica the Roman basilica
the Roman basilica is a hall-like space, usually for public purposes such as lawcourts, but the word can apply even to stables and warehouses
transverse (broad or eastern) type longitudinal (Pompeiian or western) type Basilica of Trajan, or Ulpian Basilica, AD 98-11 unusually grand - double aisles, double apses apses are screened by colonnades, so the space reads as rectangular entered from the long sides, not the end Fletcher, History of Architecture, p 200 Basilica of Trajan, reconstructed interior view by Gorski & Packer James Packer, The Forum of Trajan at Rome: a Study of the Monuments (Los Angeles 1997) late republican and early imperial basilicas of the 'broad' [eastern] type J B Perkins, 'Constantine and the Christian Basilica', Papers of the British School at Rome, XXII (1954), p 73 Basilica Julia, Forum Romanum, Rome, reconstruction Bodo Cichy, The Great Ages of Architecture: from Ancient Greece to the Present Day (Oldbourne Press, London 1964 [1959]), p 22 late republican and early imperial basilicas of the Pompeiian or western type
Pompeii
Corinth
Lepcis Magna
Perkins, 'Constantine and the Christian Basilica', Papers of the British School at Rome, XXII (1954), p 72 the Christian basilica the Christian basilica
longitudinal: it relates to the Roman ‘western’ type
plans of Roman basilicas of the western type (left); and Christian churches (right) E H Swift, Roman Sources of Christian Art (New York 1951), p 30 the Christian basilica
longitudinal: it relates to the Roman ‘western’ type
plans of Roman basilicas of the western type (left); and Christian churches (right) E H Swift, Roman Sources of Christian Art (New York 1951), p 30 basilica in the Flavian Palace (Domus Augustana), Rome, by Rabirius, AD c 85 plan and section
MUAS 15,434 S Crisogono, Rome, beginning of the C4th: reconstruction drawing
Richard Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture [Pelican History of Art] (Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1965), p 1 S Sebastiano, Rome, 312-?313, excavation plan Webb, Churches and Catacombs of Rome, p 224 S Sebastiano, Rome, 312-?313 reconstruction model
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 19 Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, pl 6A church and monastery at Tebessa, Algeria, plan, from Gsell R de Lasteyrie, l’Architecture Religieuse en France à l’Époque Romane (2nd ed, August Picard, Paris 1929 [1911]), p 31 cantharus in the atrium of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th Miles Lewis nave of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th Miles Lewis chancel of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th Miles Lewis nave ordonnance of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th
Miles Lewis Basilica Julia, Forum Romanum, Rome, reconstruction Bodo Cichy, The Great Ages of Architecture: from Ancient Greece to the Present Day (Oldbourne Press, London 1964 [1959]), p 22 THE CIRCULAR TRADITION the circular temple (rare) the Roman heroum a tomb of or shrine dedicated to an important figure gives rise the Christian martyrium tomb of, or shrine dedicated to, a martyr or important Christian figure a circular temple
the Pantheon, Rome, AD 120-124 view & side elevation
photo © Paradoxplace.com Bussagli, Rome, p 117 the Pantheon Lewis, Architectura, p 224 Pantheon section & plan
Henri Stierlin, Encyclopædia of World Architecture (2 vols, London 1977), I, p 81 the heroum Mausoleum of Diocletian at Spalato or Split, 284 plan & elevation
Robert Adam, Ruins of the Palace of the emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (London 1764) Basilica of SS Marcellinus and Petrus, Rome, with the mausoleum of St Helena (mother of Constantine) originally intended for Constantine himself Webb, Churches and Catacombs of Rome, p 280 a heroum / martyrium Reconstruction of the Basilica of SS Marcellinus and Petrus,
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 40 a herooum / martyrium
Coemeterium Agnetis (cemetery of Sant' Agnese), with the mausoleum of Santa Costanza, c 338-350, and the church of Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura, c 625-38
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 50 aerial view of the remains of the Coemeterium Agnetis and the mausoleum of Santa Costanza, c 338-350 photo Santagnese.org Santa Costanza, Rome, c 360: views, section, plan
MUAS 15,445; Miles Lewis; E H Swift, Roman Sources of Christian Art (New York 1951), p 40 Santa Costanza, interior Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 16 Santa Costanza
view in the ambulatory
Bussagli, Rome, p 167 Santa Costanza, apse mosaic in the sanctuary Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 17 Santa Costanza, details of the ambulatory vault mosaic Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 14; Bussigli, Rome, p 305 Constantinian churches the great Constantinian basilicas
St John Lateran, Rome 313 onwards
the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem before 333
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem 328-336
St Peter’s, Rome 333-360-390 eastern Christian sites, C4th- C6th, with the locations of the great Constantinian basilicas indicated S15,417 Lateran Church and Palace, Rome restoration study as in c 1450 by K J Conant, with the basilica at the top and the baptistery at the right modern view of Baptistery K J Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture [Pelican History of Art] (Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1959), pl VIIIB MU Fine Arts c10097 Lateran Basilica begun 313
isometric reconstruction as in 320
plan showing the foundations in relation to the present building
Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, p 251 Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 11 detail of the apse mosaic from the church of Sta Pudenziana, Rome, c 400
Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 20 apse mosaic from Sta Pudenziana showing the jewelled cross on Golgotha, Jerusalem, church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem
Arnold Toynbee [ed], The Crucible of Christianity (London 1969), p 192 Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, Jordan, 325-333 and later interior view & isometric reconstruction
Peter Bamm, The Kingdoms of Christ: the Story of the Early Church (London 1959), p 165 Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, p 37 Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, nave elevation
R de Lasteyrie, l’Architecture Religieuse en France à l’Époque Romane (2nd ed, August Picard, Paris 1929 [1911]), p 11 basilican church on Golgotha (Church of the Holy Sepulchre), Jerusalem, 328-336 reconstructed plan as in c 335 isometric reconstruction of the rotunda
Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, p 39 Charles Couasnon, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem (London 1974), pl XVII Church of the Holy Sepulchre plan & section 'as in the 4th century', according to Lambert, including the Anastasis Rotunda, c 350 reconstruction plan by Krautheimer, as in c 335
Miohel Join-Lambert, Jerusalem (London 1958), p 124 Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, p 39 Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 328-336 reconstructed plan & sectional perspective as in c 335
Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, pp 39,40 pre-Constantinian necropolis on the site of St Peter's, Rome
view of façades to the roadway
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 13 early C4th mosaic from a chamber in the pre- Constantinian necropolis under the Basilica of St Peter, Rome
Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 13 shrine over the grave of St Peter, Rome, AD C2nd plan, with the adjoining tombs reconstruction model
J M C Toynbee & J B W Perkins, The Shrine of St Peter and the Vatican Excavations (London 1956), p 139 Bussagli, Rome, p 178 shrine over the grave of St Peter, Rome, AD C2nd reconstruction model, compared with a domestic shrine from Herculaneum Bussagli, Rome, p 178; MUAS 840 St Peter's Basilica, Rome, isometric of the classical cemetery in relation to the structures of the lower church Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 15 St Peter's Basilica, Rome, 333-360-390 longitudinal section through the foundations of the church; plan
Lees-Milne, St Peter's, p 71; MUAS 10,278 comparitive plans of the three Constantinian churches which combine a basilica and a martyrium
Perkins, 'Constantine and the Christian Basilica', p 83 St Peter's, Rome reconstruction view as in ?c 400
MUAS 15,439 St Peter's Basilica interior view from a fresco by Domenico Tasselli reconstruction of the west end by Letarouilly X B i Altet [translated Lory Frankel], The Early Middle Ages from Late Antiquity to A.D. 1000 (Köln 1997), p 34 ; MUAS 14,807 St Peter's Basilica compared with the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem MUAS 14,807; Peter Bamm, The Kingdoms of Christ: the Story of the Early Church (London 1959), p 165 St Peter's Basilica, C4th apse mosaic as represented in a fresco in the present St Peter‘s surviving fragment showing St Paul Walter Oakeshott, The Mosaics of Rome: from the third to the Fourteenth Century (London 1967), pl 29, pl 19 St Peter's Basilica, one of the original salmonic columns
Bamm, Kingdoms of Christ, p 118 St Peter's Basilica, one of the original salmonic columns ivory casket from Pola representing the baldacchino over the Shrine of St Peter Bamm, Kingdoms of Christ, p 118 ; Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 15 St Peters Basilica, isometric reconstruction & plan of the C4th shrine, based uipon the casket from Pola
Toynbee & Perkins, The Shrine of St Peter, p 202 Lees-Milne, St Peter's, p 80 Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 15 St Peter's Basilica: plan superimposed on the circus and necropolis, grottoes and present basilica
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 12