The Symbolic Geometry of the Baroque Camaldolese

Kęstutis Paulius ŽYGAS Arizona State University, USA THE SYMBOLIC GEOMETRY OF THE BAROQUE 154 CAMALDOLESE MONASTERY AT PAŽAISLIS Key words: Pažaislis, Camaldolese, symbolic VARIA geometry, Baroque, Pac, Kepler, Counter- Reformation, monastery, hexagram, hexagon, Trinity, equilateral triangle, centralized church, cosmic geometry, Kaunas. No aspect of building requires more ingenu- was hexagonal. Consecrated in 1674, the church’s ity, care, industry, and diligence than the es- unusual format has intrigued investigators, promp- tablishment and ornament of a temple. […] ting speculation about its possible derivation, sour- There is no doubt that a temple that delights ces, and antecedents3. The study at hand addresses the mind wonderfully, captivates it with grace the very same issue. and admiration, will greatly encourage piety. Inspired by the idea expressed ages ago by St. Augustine Leon Battista Alberti, 14501 that the most beautiful can be the most hidden, we at- tempted to expose and decode the church’s manifest six-sidedness. For primary evidence, we turned to INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS measured drawings and the monastery’s dedication plaques. Our investigation led to the conclusion that Christopher Sigismund Pac (1621–1684), Grand symbolic geometry supplied and orchestrated the de- Chancellor of Lithuania, brought closure to the pe- sign. We can, therefore, suggest that Pažaislis is best riod of political and military disasters, the so-called accommodated and understood within the broad “Deluge” in Polish and Lithuanian historiography, ecclesiastical design tradition which employed geo- by founding in the mid-1660’s a Camaldolese mo- metry to convey theology. nastery at Pažaislis. Situated on a secluded estate near Kaunas, the new foundation became the or- Symbolic geometry has long played an important der’s northernmost outpost. Officially called Eremus role in the sacred architecture of many faiths, with Montis Pacis (The Hill of Peace Hermitage), the examples in many cultures and roots extending to designation deftly alluded to the Pac family and the prehistoric times. The most ancient Western strand Latin word for “peace”. Nonetheless, the formal title of the widespread practice is represented by ear- did not displace the property’s old name “Pažaislis,” ly Christian churches whose plans referred to the which remains to this day the monastery’s usual ap- tau cross, the Greek cross, or to the Latin cross. pellation. While Pažaislis emanated from the same general and venerable custom, the tensions arising from the The general plan of Pažaislis reflected existing Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter- Camaldolese arrangements, but the monastery’s Reformation gave particular meaning, relevance, Church of Holy Mary’s Visitation did not2. Instead and urgency to the chosen geometry. Scholarly of the customary rectangular basilica format, its plan attention has been recently focused on the frescoes symbolic and visual virtues, towards the end of the of Pažaislis which thematically supported Roman 16th century churches based on sacred and cosmolo- Catholic hagiography and Marian veneration4. It gical circular geometries began losing their appeal. will be argued below that the monastery’s geometric Around 1600, Tycho Brache, Galileo Galilei, and armature was likewise theologically engaged. The Johannes Kepler were uncovering a solar system architecture of Pažaislis asserted Catholic doctrines. 155 much richer and more complex than previously Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anti-Trinitarians would imagined. They found that elliptical, Platonic, and have considered the design unacceptable, comp- triadic geometries helped elucidate movements of letely at odds with their fundamental convictions VARIA planets, the distances between them, and the shape and defining beliefs. of their orbits. As geometry had clarified these pre- The very foundation of Pažaislis ignored Martin viously mysterious and perplexing matters, astrono- Luther’s denunciation of monasticism and the cult mers concluded that geometrical relationships had of saints. The monastery’s Church of Holy Mary’s structured the cosmos. Geometric cosmology came Visitation was laid out on a centralized hexagonal to represent the era’s most advanced astrophysical plan, demonstratively alluding to Her heavenly thought. Equilateral triangles, previously a theolo- crown. This contradicted Calvinist and Lutheran gical and a philosophical symbol, had acquired an rejection of the Blessed Virgin’s special status. The ostensible empirical presence. hexagon fits inside a hexagram, a six-sided star fi- Architects thus had a good reason to add ovals and gure defining the chi-rho monogram – a shorthand ellipses, hexagons and hexagrams to the old reper- reference to Christ. This directly opposed the Anti- toire of circle and square, the Greek cross, the tau Trinitarian doctrine, which repudiated the divinity cross, and the Latin cross. The expanded design of Christ and belief in the Trinity. arsenal soon helped them to generate some of the The equilateral triangle, or one half of a hexagram, Catholic Counter-Reformation’s most inventive and is a figure associated with the lily, which, in turn, memorable buildings. In the late 1630’s Francesco refers to Mary and the Trinity. Additionally, the Borromini designed San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, equilateral triangle and the hexagram transmitted a church for the Trinitarian Order in Rome which associations from areas not directly associated with featured ellipses and equilateral triangles. In the Christianity. For instance, Pythagoreans of ancient 1640s he started on San Ivo della Sapienza where Greece and alchemists of the Middle Ages valued a hexagram overlaps a hexagon. In the 1650s Gian the equilateral triangle. And in the world of heral- Lorenzo Bernini conceived an oval plan for the dry, the hexagram appears in the Camaldolese ar- Church of Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale and the grand morial and also provides a geometric underlay for elliptical piazza in front of San Pietro Vaticano. And the Pac family emblem. in the 1660s Guarino Guarini used intricate geometries for the vaults of San Lorenzo and the Capella Christians have long believed that churches were della SS. Sindone, both in Turin. facsimiles of the Heavenly Jerusalem, that is, earth- ly analogues of the divine cosmos. Accordingly, The subliminal geometric armature of Pažaislis as- their geometry could rightfully be invested with serted Roman Catholic orthodoxy, simultaneously symbolic loads alluding to the heavens. During the rejecting Protestant revisionism. The equilateral Renaissance, the circle was held to be nature’s most triangle and the hexagram alluded to theological perfect form, becoming the ideal basis for the plan fundamentals, engaged the empirically validated of a church. Simple and self-contained, it reflected geometric cosmology scholarship of the time, and the shape of the heavenly bodies and the geometric conveyed heraldic references. Thus, several kinds armature of the universe (as it was then conceived). of symbolic geometry – sacred, cosmological, and Circular churches could also refer to Blessed Virgin heraldic – suffused Pažaislis’ underlying rationa- Mary’s heavenly crown. But despite such powerful le. Architectural theorists of the Renaissance and Baroque would surely agree that Pažaislis was a monastery. The two groups would live separately, sophisticated design, created to encourage piety by but form one congregation. Both groups would be “delighting and captivating the mind.” confined within the same estate; both followed the same regula; both obeyed the same superior, and ST. ROMUALD, THE CAMALDOLESE, both came together for communal ceremonies and AND THE SITE PLAN OF PAŽAISLIS 156 prayers. St. Romuald’s ideas led to the creation of the St. Romuald (952–1027), the guiding spirit of the Camaldolese monastery layouts which were quite Camaldolese Order, was convinced that the two different from the prevailing Benedictine model. kinds of Christian monasticism – the cenobitic, or St. Benedict (480?–543), the abbot of Monte Cassino communal type, and the eremitic, or the reclusive and the founder of Western Monasticism, had appro- VARIA type, – could form one monastic community, each ved both kinds of Christian monasticism5. However, distinct component strengthening and comple- unlike the Camaldolese hermits, the Benedictine menting the other. He believed that neither group hermits lived entirely alone. St. Benedict’s regula needed to lose its characteristics, its identity, or to meant to primarily benefit the cenobite monks who forego its spiritual advantages. Instead of complete had chosen to enter communal monasteries. He was isolation, he sought to bring some parts of the ere- convinced that those monks who entered the eremi- mitic life into contact with monastic communal life. tic life had already proved themselves and did not He was sure that hermits could benefit by limited need explicit guidelines or directives6. Therefore, association with monks who lived together in the St. Benedict completely separated the cenobites from the hermits, allotting to each entirely different living accommodations. The Benedictine cenobite monks lived together in monasteries, guided by a resident abbot. The hermits, on the other hand, led solitary lives, apart from their brethren, completely isolated from human contact. Benedictine monasteries were centred on the cloister and the church. The cloister, usually south of the church, was an outdoor space, surrounded

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