American Journal of Art and Design 2021; 6(3): 84-94 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajad doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.13 ISSN: 2578-7799 (Print); ISSN: 2578-7802 (Online) A Journey of the Soul: Catharsis and Salvation in the Mosaic of Casaranello (Italy, 6th Century) Francesco Danieli Gli Argonauti, Roman University Editions, Rome, Italy Email address: To cite this article: Francesco Danieli. A Journey of the Soul: Catharsis and Salvation in the Mosaic of Casaranello (Italy, 6th Century). American Journal of Art and Design . Vol. 6, No. 3, 2021, pp. 84-94. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.13 Received : June 12, 2021; Accepted : July 19, 2021; Published : July 28, 2021 Abstract: The church of Santa Maria della Croce in Casaranello (Casarano, Italy, 6th century) is an important paleo- Byzantine testimony in Southern Italy. The building is well preserved and corresponds more or less to its original structure because in the late-medieval age the community of Casaranum decided to move the residential area up the hill overlooking the original hamlet. The German art historian Arthur Haseloff (1872-1955) visited the church in 1907, intrigued by a bibliographic indication by Wladimir De Gruneisen, and he found it in the miserable condition of stall for sheep and goats. When he entered the church, he immediately realised he was in front of one of the most important jewels of the paleochristian art: a treasure fallen into oblivion and whose value deserved to be highlighted. Haseloff summarily analysed the site of Casaranello, paying particular attention to the mosaic. This research promoted a new awareness towards Santa Maria della Croce and laid the basis for the restoration interventions carried out during the second half of the ‘900s. In particular, the restoration and preservation interventions performed between 1971 and 1979 outlined new guidelines for the study of the building and its artistic heritage. In 2018 the writer of this essay published a new interpretation of the mosaic of Casaranello for the Esperidi Editions. In 2020, with Alessandro De Marco, first for Christian-Albrechts-Universität of Kiel (Germany), then for the Edizioni Universitarie Romane, he completed this research with further historical, architectural and artistic notes on the entire building. An unknown figure, depicted in fresco, has been identified as the emperor Constantine the Great, while the mosaic revealed its symbolic message: a cathartic journey of the soul per aspera ad astra . Keywords: Casaranello, Mosaic, Byzantine Art, Iconology spoken in Salento and is today a nickname referred to a district 1. Introduction of the city of Casarano. From the late Middle Ages onwards, The church of Casaranello (Casarano, Italy), dedicated to Casarano has expanded across the hill overlooking the original Santa Maria della Croce, is one of the oldest and best preserved hamlet, which was founded in the late-imperial Roman age in Paleo-Byzantine buildings in Southern Italy. Certainly, among the area surrounding the church of Santa Maria della Croce. For the most important in the province of Lecce, in Puglia. The a long time – and to some degree, still today – not even the temple was built around the 5th century, but it was in the 6th inhabitants of Casarano have been fully aware of the precious century that it was enriched with a wonderful highly symbolic value of this ancient church, silent guard of magnificent wall mosaic. For lovers of Art History and pre-Christian and mosaics which make it one of its kind. Christian symbolism, Casaranello should be an essential stop on In order to fully understand the hidden meaning of a trip to Italy. Casaranello’s mosaic cycle and to correctly interpret its iconological message, it is fundamental to walk through the milestones marking the origins and the developments of its 2. Casaranello, Unfair Nickname location. The origins of Casarano, one of the most important From an etymological point of view, the toponym Casaranello municipalities of the province of Lecce, have not yet been does not do justice to the immense cultural and artistic value of completely defined. A vague and scarcely detailed hypothesis the site it refers to [1-10]. This name originates from the dialect was formulated during the Baroque age by the Capuchin Luigi 85 Francesco Danieli: A Journey of the Soul: Catharsis and Salvation in the Mosaic of Casaranello (Italy, 6th Century) Tasselli (1622-1694). According to him, the first to settle in the anti-Arian bishops who took part with him in the Synod loco were some fugitives from Sasina, a town of the Magna of Serdica in 343, among whom there were colleagues Graecia later renamed Cesàrea (which the current name of coming “ex Apulia et Calabria”. It is important to consider Porto Cesareo derives from). After the destruction of their city, that in the imperial geographical- administrative division, occurred in the 5th century BC by the hands of people from Apulia and Calabria constituted in solido the Regio Secunda. Gallipoli, the fugitives allegedly escaped into the hinterland. Apulia corresponded to the current central and northern According to this hypothesis, Caesaranum is the Latin Apulia, whereas Calabria was the current Terra d’Otranto. adjective suggesting the emotional link of those fugitives with The region today known as Calabria, on the other hand, was Cesàrea, their native town. This theory seems quite unlikely at the time known as Brutium. Athanasius’ clarification is for the simple reason that nobody would try to escape an highly relevant, because it confirms that from the first half of invader by seeking hideout near the invader’s home. the 4th century, from an ecclesiastic point of view, the According to another hypothesis, Casarano was initially Japygian territory was organised in dioceses, each one guided founded in the 1 st century BC as a conurbation grown on the by a bishop. His indication also testifies that even in the estates of a Roman centurion named Caesar. He supposedly districts of Salento the theological debate used to be very received those public lands in his capacity of war veteran, as lively, especially regarding the Arian disputes over the two a compensation for the military campaigns he led. Such natures – human and divine – of Christ. practice has been often confirmed by historical and literary The rural parish church of Casaranello was founded about sources throughout the whole late Republican age. Therefore, two centuries later, around 550 AD, in the sphere of influence the village might have been named Caesaranum after that of the long-established diocese of Gallipoli, remaining the first Caesar. The two Latin epigraphs Vibuleius and Musicus, and most important surviving Christian evidence in southern found in the area of Casaranello, undoubtedly testify that Apulia. About one century earlier, in the ecumenical council of already during the Roman period Casarano was a flourishing Ephesus held in 431, Mary of Nazareth had been once and for centre in the Japigian hinterland. Actually, the first human all officially recognised and celebrated as the Mother of God, settlement in the area dates back to the prehistoric age, as in spite of Nestorius’ thesis. Meanwhile, on the secular testified by the toponym of the near district Specchia di Vaje. scenario, the Western Roman Empire was collapsing under the A more articulated organisation of the conurbation dates back burden of maladministration and barbaric invasions. to the Messapian period: this can be inferred by the presence of entombments (so far considered exclusively “medieval”) 4. The Salvation of Casaranello and by small traces of calcarenite walls. These walls are still present in the area surrounding Santa Maria della Croce, It was not people’s awareness of the architectural heritage nearby the railway that, together with the bridge, separates what saved the church of Santa Maria della Croce from contrada Casaranello from contrada Botte. destruction and allowed it to survive almost untouched until It was a common practice among the Messapians to set up today. The preservation of cultural heritage is a modern small conurbations along precise trajectories connecting the concept; it was almost totally absent in the ancient times until most important cities. The site of Casaranello, for example, is Renaissance, at least until the stances of Cesare Baronio situated in the area corresponding to the main crossroad of (1538-1607), who can be considered its first real initiator. Salento: the one that from Taranto and from northern Previously, civil and religious buildings used to be destroyed, Japygia, passing by Manduria, Nardò and Alezio, branched expanded, simplified and re-embellished – with the help of a off towards Ugento, Patù, Vaste, Castro and the seaports to handful of pragmatism and ergonomics – according to the the East. This fortunate geographic position – confirmed in trends of the moment and the requirements of the owners or the Roman age by the construction of the Via Appia Traiana the community. and of its prolongation conventionally known as Via Augusta Therefore, the church of Casaranello would have ceased to Sallentina – fostered for centuries the transit of men, goods exist long ago if only the people of Casarano had wanted to and different cultures. This is the main reason for the substantially expand it, in order to adapt its structure to the existence of such refined and meaningful mosaics in a sacred growing population. On the contrary, the building is well building – only apparently similar