ARCH 2303 1st Edition

Lecture 10 Outline of Last Lecture I. Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine II. colosseum III. Maison Carree IV. the Pantheon

Outline of Current Lecture II. Early Christian Architecture III. Old St. Peter's IV. Santa Costanza V. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia VI. Pendentives VII. Carolingian Architecture VIII. St. Riquier IX. Abbey Gatehouse X. Summary of Carolingian Architecture

Current Lecture

Early Christian Architecture

• Early Christians in Rome faced a challenge: what building type would serve the new faith? The pagan Roman temple building type was rejected. What occurred was the transformation of a Roman civic building – the basilica – into a new religious building: the Christian basilica. The building type that had symbolized civic law dictated by the emperor was transformed into a building symbolizing the law of God.

• The first Christian basilica we will examine is Old St. Peter’s in Rome.

• Below is an artist’s rendering of the church in which the surrounding urban context of a city of 1 million is not shown. The artist did this for clarity, which helps us study the structure better.

• Cutaway diagram – know the parts listed below:

• Atrium = the courtyard in front of the church. Used in early Christian churches as a gathering place for those not yet baptized, who were not permitted to enter the church itself

These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. • Narthex = the entrance hall or vestibule

• Nave = the central part of a church, used for processions

• Aisles = the parts that flank the nave

• This church also has a transept, which is explained in the next image

Review of parts:

• red = nave

• blue = aisles

• purple = apse

• orange = transept

• yellow = narthex

• green = atrium

• gray = entrance staircase

• As you can see, the transept is perpendicular to the dominant axis of the church (nave and aisles). It also extends past the width of the rest of the church. Originally designed as a place for all the participants of a great procession to gather so that the altar in front of the apse would not be blocked by them, the transept evolved to contain rooms on either side. These rooms were used by the clergy to change into their robes.

Old St. Peter's

• Church plans

• Old St. Peter’s was a longitudinal church plan, which is also called a (Christian) basilica.

• Elements of a Christian basilica:

• Always has a high nave with clerestory

• Always has lower aisles along the sides

• Often has a narthex

• Sometimes has an atrium

• Sometimes has a transept

• Aspects of longitudinal/basilican churches • Designed with a dominant long axis

• Excellent for great processions

• Very hierarchical use of space

• Best spaces are closest to apse

• Reinforces a hierarchical institution of a church

• Difficult to hear/see in the rear

• Old St. Peter’s was also a Latin cross plan, due to the presence of a transept, which gives the nave + transept + apse the shape of a Latin cross.

• A schematic diagram of a Latin cross is to the right: 3 short arms of the cross plus 1 long arm.

• To the far right, a red line has been drawn over the plan of the transept, nave, and apse (squaring off the apse a bit). Since the shape of the Latin cross is that upon which Jesus was crucified, the creation of a transept produced both a practical and highly symbolic architectural form.

Santa Costanza

• This is a new type of church plan: a central plan church, which means that it has no longitudinal axis. It therefore cannot be a basilica.

• Central plan churches means just what the name implies: they have a center. These churches can be circular, octagonal, or in the shape of a Greek cross, a diagram of which is shown below.

• Santa Sabina, a circular central plan church, was built as a mausoleum for the daughter of Roman emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Notice: it is the notion of a tholos in a grander form.

• This is a new type of church plan: a central plan church, which means that it has no longitudinal axis. It therefore cannot be a basilica.

• Central plan churches means just what the name implies: they have a center. These churches can be circular, octagonal, or in the shape of a Greek cross, a diagram of which is shown below.

• Santa Sabina, a circular central plan church, was built as a mausoleum for the daughter of Roman emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Notice: it is the notion of a tholos in a grander form.