Santa Maria Antiqua: “The Sistine Chapel of the 8Th Century” in Context a Consideration of the Site from the 4Th – 9Th Century
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S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13 Santa Maria Antiqua: “The Sistine Chapel of the 8th Century” in Context A Consideration of the site from the 4th – 9th century Abstracts and details of Chairs of Sessions: November, 2013 1 S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13 NAME Title and Abstract Session SPEAKERS Ackerman, Lisa Introduction and Welcome 1 Andaloro, Maria Riscoprire le pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua dai ponteggi 4 La relazione si compone di due parti. La prima intende illustrare le linee generali, l’approccio metodologico, la messa a fuoco degli strumenti investigativi, gli obiettivi, insomma il succo di quel Riscoprire le pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua dai ponteggi, cuore del progetto “Santa Maria Antiqua” che il gruppo di ricerca dell’Università degli Studi di Viterbo sta svolgendo dall’anno 2000 ad oggi nell’ambito di una serie di progetti PRIN (Progetti di ricerca interuniversitari di interesse nazionale), in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni archeologici di Roma, parallelamente e talora in connessione con le vaste campagne di restauro dei dipinti sostenuti dal Word Monuments Fund, New York (2001-2013). E si conclude, rinviando all’ascolto della relazione “corale”, Occhi puntati sui palinsesti di Santa Maria Antiqua, elaborata quale exemplum metodologico del progetto e qui applicato a due “casi” problematici riguardanti il campo delle pareti-palinsesto del presbiterio. La seconda parte vuole perseguire invece le tracce di un’altra linea guida, maturata ugualmente all’interno del progetto, ma diversa, avente per oggetto non tanto la parete dipinta in sé quanto un orizzonte di relazioni; in particolare, le relazioni in divenire interagenti in Santa Maria Antiqua fra lo spazio del monumento e l’immagine dipinta. Di questo orizzonte si offriranno tre casi e tre sfaccettature differenti 1. Dipinto murale senza luogo. Il dipinto murale staccato, con la figura di sant’Agata a mezzo busto entro clipeo, pubblicato da Pietro Toesca negli anni ’50, e dichiarato “già coll. Fairfax Murray”, presenta tali punti di contatto con il patrimonio 2 S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13 pittorico ed epigrafico di Santa Maria Antiqua da indurre a non escludere una sua provenienza proprio dagli ambienti della chiesa nel Foro. Il brano che per molti aspetti è assai eloquente, in quanto pezzo erratico è privo di voce e muto a proposito delle relazioni, infrante, con il proprio contesto originario. 2. Percorso iconico e spazi: dialogo a più livelli fra queste due categorie lungo l’asse della chiesa, dal presbiterio alla facciata, fra la fine del VI secolo e gli anni di Giovanni VII (705-707) 3. Le pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua contestualizzate attraverso una selezione delle tavole dedicate alla basilica di Santa Maria Antiqua nell’opera La pittura medievale a Roma 312-1431. Atlante, percorsi visivi, volume secondo (a cura di Maria Andaloro, di prossima pubblicazione) Andaloro, Bordi, Viscontini, Amato, Occhi puntati sui palinsesti di Santa Maria Antiqua 4 Pelosi, Pogliani, Schmid, Valentini: Avdokhin, Arkadii Forging Identities, Promoting Orthodoxies – Lateran Synod Texts in the Sanctuary 6 Frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua in their Byzantine Context The seminal study by P. J. Nordhagen (1968) introduced a new perspective on part of the frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua as an essentially Byzantine-oriented decoration program commissioned in the wake of the Lateran Synod of 649. As was recently argued by D. Knipp, the incubation cult of Cyrus and John – a Byzantine influence as well – was admittedly practiced in the diakonikon. Bringing an explicit emphasis on the current version of orthodoxy as followed at the healing site (as seen in the lower apse decorations with saints holding scrolls with formulations of the Lateran Synod) is, arguably, another eastern trait. While the historical identities of most incubation healing saints (and other miracle workers) are suspicious (pseudo-4th century saint St. Dometius blending with a 7th century martyr; St.Thecla, an apocryphic disciple of St. Paul; St. Demetrius, an martyred dux Augusti with a strong Arian record; Cosmas and Damian with their unclear Syriac – monophysite – origin; Cyrus and John featuring an invented martyrdom), they were 3 S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13 theologically profiled to serve the needs of changing “orthodoxies” by way of creating widely accessible textual accounts of themselves and their cultic centres – the miracle collections of 5-7 centuries and hymns. This textual tailoring of the doctrinal identity of incubation cults and their sites is a potent – and thoroughly Byzantine – means of disseminating a newly arrived version of “orthodoxy” clearly paralleled in the early 8th century decoration program of Santa Maria Antiqua. Barbera, Mariarosaria Introduction and welcome 1 Booth, Philip "Eastern monks and eastern cults in seventh-century Rome" 6 This paper reconstructs the intimate association of five celebrated eastern ascetics gathered in Rome during the period c.620-c.650: John Moschus, Sophronius of Jerusalem, Maximus the Confessor, Theodore of Tarsus, and the author of the so-called Georgian Appendix to the Spiritual Meadow. It explores the ties of friendship and discipleship which bound together the entire circle, the political and doctrinal circumstances which brought each of them to Rome, and their prominent position as champions of papal pre-eminence in conflicts with Constantinople. At the same time, it also explores their status as conduits for the cults of new eastern saints and their associated hagiographic corpora in Rome, as well as their conspicuous role in establishing the cult of a recent pope. Bordi, Giulia L’abside e i suoi strati 4 Sin dal 1900, nella chiesa di Santa Maria Antiqua, punto focale è stato non l’abside, ma la cosiddetta “parete palinsesto” con la sua straordinaria stratificazione di intonaci dipinti. Lo stato di conservazione delle sue pitture, coperte di sali già all’indomani della scoperta, ha condannato l’abside ad essere relegata in secondo piano e talvolta tagliata fuori dai più rilevanti studi 4 S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13 monografici dedicati alla chiesa, concentrati sui contesti pittorici più leggibili. Questo intervento ha come obiettivo quello di riportare l’attenzione sull’abside e rimettere in gioco i suoi strati pittorici nello studio organico delle pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua. Partendo dalla mappatura degli intonaci dipinti conservati nella calotta e nell’emiciclo, si intende sfogliare strato dopo strato il complesso e sconosciuto palinsesto pittorico dell’abside e ricostruire, dove possibile, la facies frammentata delle sue molteplici fasi decorative. Börjesson, Johannes The Cult of Augustine in the Byzantine Church of the First Millennium 5 While Augustine of Hippo was recognised as the foremost teacher in the Medieval Latin West, the knowledge of him in the Greek East was sparse. Even so, he was included in the list of authoritative fathers and teachers of the Church, which was accepted by the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 553. His reputation in the Greek world, however, exceeded the level to which his teaching was known – a situation which would remain until the Palaiologan era, when De Trinitate and several of his other works were translated into Greek. Until then, it seems as if the extent of his cult in the Greek world mirrored the limited knowledge of his teaching, as there is little remaining evidence thereof. This paper reflects on that evidence from the period before the translations, and situates this in the larger context of his legacy in Byzantine theology. Special focus is given to Pope John VII’s restoration of Santa Maria Antiqua and his inclusion of Augustine among its frescos. This inclusion is considered in the political, cultural and theological context of early 8th century Italy. Brenk, Beat S. Maria Antiqua: Patronage and Theology 8 The paper discusses the following topics: Who was responsible for the construction and decoration of the church of S. Maria Antiqua in Rome? If it was the soldiers of the Palatine guard stationed at the bottom of the Palatine ramp, why would they have required such a large and ambitious church? And if a Pope was the builder, why would he have been conceded the right, or even have been interested in constructing a church below the Palatine adjacent to the station of a Byzantine garrison? The first documented pope responsible for commissioning mural paintings in S. Maria Antiqua is Martin I (649-653), organizer of the Lateran Council in 649. Why is it that theology plays such an important role in the pictorial program of S. Maria 5 S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13 Antiqua? Had it been important before Martin I? What evidence is there for its prior role? The Annunciation is the scene par excellence that focuses on both the human and the divine will of Christ. The patrons of the multiple Annunciation scenes in S. Maria Antiqua were opponents of Byzantine Monotheletism then living in Rome. The Lateran Council of 649 forms the background against which this commission should be seen. Greek monks coming from the monastery of San Saba to the southeast of Bethlehem, and from Carthage, Armenia and Cilicia are attested “iam per annos habitantes in hac Romanae civitate “ in the acts of the Council of 649. Maximus Confessor (d.662) and Pope Theodore (642-648) were the planners of the Lateran Council. Many art historians are still convinced that the murals in S. Maria Antiqua are the last paintings to bear witness to Constantinopolitan artistic influence in seventh-century Rome. In view of the sources discussed in this paper, such a theory requires reconsideration and revision. Coates-Stephens, Robert “Oratory of the Forty Martyrs” 3 The apsed Roman hall at the foot of the Domitianic ramp to the Palatine was converted to a church in the 6th century and abandoned in the later middle ages.