Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Seminář dějin umění Leoš Mátl SAN GIOVANNI IN FONTE : DOCTRINE AND RITUAL Bakalářská diplomová práce Vedoucí práce: Ivan Foletti 2018 Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou diplomovou práci vypracoval samostatně a uvedl jsem veškerou použitou literaturu a prameny. ……………………………………………………… At this point, I would like to express my humble gratitude towards my tutor Ivan Foletti, for without him and his aid the idea of writing this thesis wouldn’t have even existed. Naturally, the importance of my family in this matter was unquestionable – both care and patience they had was boundless and I believe that in the following months I will compensate all the time which I have spent without them. My deepest thanks and re- gards belongs to Robert Born from Universität Leipzig, who showed me many times that his kindliness and unselfishness know no limits. The same can be said about Sabina Ros- enbergová, for she didn’t hesitate to give me her helping hand despite the distance be- tween Brno and Rome. Another indispensable person for completing my thesis was Jakub Kříž – his insight and knowledge were always here, when I was insecure about my next step. And finally, the person I owe the most – Sára. You stood beside me every single day of writing this thesis and only through your infinite amount of ideas, remarks and sup- port I was able to keep my mind clear and my heart confident. I can only hope that one day I will provide the same for you. Thank you TABLE OF CONTENTS PROLOGUE ............................................................................................................................................ 1 STATE OF RESEARCH ................................................................................................................... 3 “BEFORE THE ART HISTORY” ............................................................................................ 3 FIRST AND LAST RESTORATIONS ................................................................................ 4 NEW MILLENNIUM ................................................................................................................. 11 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 14 THE FOUNDATION OF SAN GIOVANNI IN FONTE...........................................16 ARCHITECTONICAL SIMILARITIES ............................................................................18 MATTER OF STYLE ................................................................................................................. 20 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 22 MATERIALITY AND ITS IDENTITY ................................................................................ 26 THE EXTERIOR ........................................................................................................................... 26 THE INTERIOR ........................................................................................................................... 27 THE MOSAICS ............................................................................................................................. 29 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 32 THE INTERPRETATION(S) ....................................................................................................... 34 ICONOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS .................................................................................... 34 TETRAMORPH .......................................................................................................................... 34 PASTORAL MOTIVES ............................................................................................................ 35 FIGURES WITH GOLDEN WREATHS ......................................................................... 35 SAMARITAN WOMAN AT JACOB’S WELL & WEDDING AT CANA 36 TRADITIO LEGIS ....................................................................................................................... 37 JESUS WALKING ON WATER & MIRACULOUS CATCH OF FISH ....... 39 WOMEN AT THE TOMB ..................................................................................................... 39 GOLDEN STAUROGRAM ................................................................................................. 40 LINK TO THE NEAPOLITAN BAPTISMAL LITURGY ..................................... 41 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 42 THE SECOND LAYER ................................................................................................................. 44 EPILOGUE ............................................................................................................................................. 47 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................................. 50 SOURCES ......................................................................................................................................... 50 LITERATURE ................................................................................................................................ 50 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................................... 66 PROLOGUE The Middle Ages are frequently labelled as the “Dark Ages”. For San Giovanni in Fonte – a baptistery founded between the 4th and the 6th century alongside the paleo-Christian basilica of Santa Restituta (close to the present-day Via Duomo in Naples) – these “Dark Ages” start approximately in the early 14th century, when the construction of a new and enormous Cathedral of Naples was finished. Overshadowed by a such structure, the importance of the original ba- silica and the baptistery inevitably withered away. This “fade into an oblivion” is unfortunately proven also today by a poor state of San Giovanni in Fonte – including its mosaic decoration [Fig. 1]. Finally, a light was brought into these “Dark Ages” in the middle of the 19th century, through an emergence of a new scientific discipline – art history. Yet even now, at the beginning of the 21st century, many statements about the baptistery end with a question mark ra- ther than a period. For this reason, my bachelor thesis will focus exclusively on San Gio- vanni in Fonte, reevaluating the findings gathered throughout the last two centuries in an attempt to provide a point of view related to the function of its mosaic decoration as a mirror of its founder as well as the era of its foundation. This final part is however, preceded by four others. The very first chap- ter is dedicated to the previous research and reveals that the introductory idea of the “Dark Ages” filling the gap between the 14th and the 19th century is actu- ally a very romantic one. In fact, the unclarities and doubts about the Neapol- itan baptistery cover its whole existence, while the scientific debate about this monument often had very limited scope. In conclusion, this chapter exposes that our current knowledge about the baptistery is heavily burdened by nu- merous restorations and modifications executed in the past. To be anchored not only in space but also in time, the second part deals with a crucial question of the dating and the foundation of the baptistery. To 1 achieve that, the use of written sources was essential, further accompanied by a comparison of San Giovanni in Fonte with the contemporary architectonical and mosaic production, covering above all the area of Apennine Peninsula. Based on these results, the final section of this chapter focuses on a possible founder of San Giovanni in Fonte. While the first part utilized only what was written, the third works en- tirely with a physical aspect of the baptistery. The reason for that is a more detailed look on the materiality of the building, culminating in a description of its original form, including an exterior, an interior and the mosaic embel- lishment. Lastly named aspect of the baptistery represents a vast topic for the fourth chapter, which tries to encompass whole decorative program of San Giovanni in Fonte. The first step in this effort is an iconographical analysis of individual visual elements, clarifying their origin, significance and meaning in a religious and liturgical practice of Late Antiquity. The second is an incorpo- ration of these findings into the preserved fragments of the Neapolitan bap- tismal liturgy in order to show a firm dialogue between the building and the ritual. The aforementioned fifth part should be perceived as a focal point of the previous four. The conclusions of the preceding chapters are here re- minded and placed into a broader historical and religious context, which in my opinion could erase at least one question mark lingering around San Gio- vanni in Fonte. 2 I. STATE OF RESEARCH It is important to say that this thesis isn’t a historiographical one nor it is in an intellectual capacity of its writer to present every single text relating to the baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte. More likely the goal of a following text is to introduce a principal works, which brought new facts, ideas and observa- tions related to the baptistery and enriched the overall