The visual experience of the Triumphant Church. The mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere 8866870153, 9788866870159

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Monumenta Mediaevalia 1

La collana Monumenta mediaevalia intende offrire ad un pubblico ampio e diversificato, composto non solo da specialisti, studi e ricerche sulle opere medievali, invertendo i termini dell 'equazione formulata da Jacques Le Goff ii quale, seguendo le coordinate metodologiche della Nouvelle Histoire, propose di considerare ii 'documento' e il 'monumento' come un insieme non separato dalla sua forma (J. Le Goff, Documento-Monumento, in Enciclopedia Einaudi, 5, Torino 1978, 38-48). Si tratta di un 'impostazione fortemente debitrice degli studi antropologici, che propone uno sguardo privo di pregiudizi concettuali e metodologici, aperto a tutte le diverse forme di comunicazione visiva realizzate dall ' uomo durante ii Medioevo. Oggetto della collana saranno, pertanto, tutte le opere (o gruppi coerenti per concezione e realizzazione) eseguite nella penisola italiana e in Europa, dalle origini cristiane al Gotico internazionale, realizzate in tutte le tecniche e in tutti i materiali: non solo arch itettura, scultura, pittura, mosaico, ma anche miniatura, oreficeria, vetri, bronzi e metalli in genere, ecc. Anche ii patrimonio epigrafico potra trovare spazio in questa sede in quanto, secondo gli studi di storia dell 'arte piu aggiornati (a partire da Armando Petrucci) le iscrizioni costituiscono un 'monumento complesso' composto da tre caratteri distintivi: testo, scrittura e monumento. In tal modo si intende valorizzare un immenso patrimonio culturale fondamentalmente sconosciuto al grande pubblico e fino a poco tempo fa trascurato anche dagli studi specialistici. Con questa collana si intende inoltre valorizzare ii grande potenziale culturale offerto dai 'monumenti' nelle citta Europee, con una particolare attenzione a Roma e al suo territorio, frequentati soprattutto da residenti, viaggiatori, turisti, visitatori o semplici curiosi, ai quali ci si vuole rivolgere fornendo un 'adeguata divulgazione scientifica. Infine, la collana, fornendo uno strumento di conoscenza de! patrimonio culturale anche al pubblico non specializzato, intende valorizzare gli studi piu recenti realizzati da giovani studiosi, offrendo visibilita alle ricerche prodotte con criteri di serieta scientifica all'interno delle istituzioni accademiche.

The book series Monumenta mediaevalia seeks to bring studies and research on medieval artworks to a wide and diverse public, comprised not only by specialists. The series inverts the terms of the equation as formulated by Jacques Le Goff who, following the methodology of the Nouvelle Histoire, considered the ' document' and the 'monument' as a whole not separate from its form (J. Le Goff, Documento-Monumento, in Enciclopedia Einaudi, 5, Torino 1978, 38-48). The approach is strongly indebted to anthropological studies and proposes a point of view free of conceptual and methodological prejudice, open to all the different forms of visual communication employed by humans during the Middle Ages. The series will consider all the artworks (or groups of artworks coherent in their conception and realization) realized on the Italian peninsula and in Europe from early Christianity to the International Gothic, executed in all techniques and materials. Therefore, it will consider not only architecture, sculpture, painting and mosaic, but also miniature, goldwork, glass, bronzes, metals in general, etc. Epigraphy will also have space in this series since, according to the most recent art historical studies (starting with Armando Petrucci), inscriptions are a ' complex monument' made up by three distinct characters: text, writing, and monument. In this way, the purpose is to enhance an immense cultural heritage that is essentially unknow to the larger public and which, until recently, was overlooked by specialized studies.

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

In this way, the book series aims to promote the cultural potential of 'monuments' in European

cities, with particular attention given to Rome and to its territory, especially visited by residents, travelers, tourists, visitors or simply curious people. To these audiences, the series intends to offer relevant and accessible scientific knowledge. While offering an instrument to the non-specialized public to understand the cultural heritage, this series promotes the most recent studies by young scholars, giving visibility to the research they have conducted with rigorous scientific standards within academic institutions.

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r:J1 SCIENZE E LETTERE

ROMA2021

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Il volume

e pubblicato con il contributo dell'Universita Ca' Foscari di Venezia Dipartimento di Filosofia e Beni Culturali

DIRETIORE DI COLLANA

Stefano Riccioni COMIT ATO SCIENTIFICO

Xavier Barral i Altet, Vincent Debiais, Anne Dunlop, Herbert L. Kessler, Dale Kinney, Peter C. Claussen, Beate Fricke, Daniela Mondini, Erik Thun0, Michele Tomasi, Nino Zchomelidse COMITATO DI REDAZIONE

Elisabeth Niederdokl, Beatrice Spampinato, Chiara Stombellini, Maria A. Villano

In copertina: Roma, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Mosaico absidale, Cristo e la Vergine (Foto P.

Zolli). Logo della collana realizzato da Federica Rossi

© 2021 Scienze e Lettere S.r.l. Via Alessandro Malladra, 33 - 00157 Roma Tel. 0039/06/4817656 - Fax 0039/06/48912574 e-mail: [email protected] www .scienzeelettere .corn ISBN 978-88-6687-015-9

For Maria

TABLE OF CONTENTS

XI

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTERl FRAMING THE CHURCH REFORM IN ROME

1.1. The 'Gregorian' Reform 1.2. Anacletus II and Innocent II 1.3. The Arts and the Church Reform 1.3.1. Rome: the Model 1.3.2. Outside Rome 1.4. The Visu~l Experience

5

8 15 15 21

26

CHAPTER2

S. MARIA IN TRASTEVERE 2.1. Historical Sources

39

2.2. Architecture, Restoration, and Conservation

46

2.3. Mosaic Conservation

50

CHAPTER3 CHAPTER7

THE MOSAIC DECORATION

THE INSCRIPTION IN THE APSE AS EXEGETICAL SYNTHESIS OF THE

3.1. Apse Arch: the Apocalypse and the Prefiguration of Christ 3.2 . Inscriptions 3.3. Rethinking Antiquity - The Amorini 3.4. The Intrados

53

56 59

7.1. The Rhetorical Experience of the Triumphant Church

111

60

CHAPTER4 THE MOSAIC DECORATION: APSE CONCH

4.1. The Glory of the Triumphant Church 4.2. The Symbolic Sky and the Shadow 4.3. The Central Message: Visualizing the Church 4.4. Speaking Images of Cantica Canticorum 4.5. The Mosaics of the Cavetto. The Echo of a Nuptial Procession?

DECORATION

MANUSCRIPTS AND DRAWINGS

113

BIBLIOGRAPHY

114

ILLUSTRATIONS

149

63

64 67

71

78

CHAPTERS THE APSE CONCH: EXPERIENONG THE VISUAL MESSAGE

5.1. The Feast of the Assumption 5.2. The Image of Mary 5.3. The Icon of Christ 5.4. The 'Codex' and the 'Volumen' as the Visual Voice of Christ and Mary 5.5. The Image of St. Peter, between Antiquarianism and Papal Symbol 5.6. Saints, Martyrs, and Popes: The Eulogy of Trastevere 5.6.1. The Ecclesiastical Garments

81

82 85

88 89 91 93

CHAPTER6 THE RHETORIC OF COLORS

6.1. The Arms of the Church on the Triumphal Arch

VIII

99

6.2. The Color of the Frames

102

6.3. The Colors of the Clothes and the 'Poetry' of Light

103

6.4. The Connecting Labels

108

IX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research and writing of this book have occupied me for many years, with various interruptions, and many new experiences, friends, and encounters. These studies began during fellowships at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies of Toronto (PIMS) and the Getty Research Institute (Getty Foundation) of Los Angeles. I am extremely grateful for their generous support, providing me unforgettable years of research and experiences. During my fellowship at PIMS, I fondly remember engaging conversations with Virginia Brown and Roger E. Reynolds. I thank Sheila Campbell and John Osborne, the first supervisors of this research, and Greti Dinkova-Bruun, Linda Safran, Fred Unwalla, for revising the text, for which I was awarded the Licence in Mediaeval Studies. My gratitude also goes to the former director, James McConica, who 'baptized' my first book and generously continued to support the project even after I left Toronto. Maria Monica Donato offered me a position at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and I have fond memories of the intense collaboration with Gianfranco Adomato and Monia Manescalchi. I thank also the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at Ca' Foscari University of Venice for giving me permission to work in Florence and for generously providing funds for this publication. Finally, if Gerhard Wolf had not invited me to spend a fruitful period of study at the Kunsthistorishes Institut in Florenz this book would probably still be in the drawer. To the director and all his staff, especially Ester Fasino and Eva Muisotter, I express my sincerest gratitude. I would also like to thank to Monsignore Marco Gnavi, who kindly allowed me to conduct field research in the church of S. Maria in Trastevere and granted me special permission to take photographs. I am particularly indebted to Herbert L. Kessler for his unrelenting support over the years, for his revisions of the text, and for his precious suggestions. Special thanks also go to Dale Kinney, Louis Hamilton, and Mary Stroll, each of whom

generously shared information with me and let me read their research before it was

INTRODUCTION

published. I have benefited enormously from discussions and ideas with colleagues and friends: Santiago Arguello, Xavier Barral i Altet, Jean-Pierre Caillet, Anne Caudano, Manuel Castifteras, David Defries, Lucy Donkin, Roberta Dreon, Pascale Duhamel, Anne Dunlop, Maria Evangelatu, Maria Ferroni, Barbara Franze, Francesco

The church of S. Maria in Trastevere was constructed after the Concordat of

Gandolfo, Stefania Gerevini, Chris Jones, Annette Hoffmann, Maria Lidova, Sylvia

Worms (1122), at a time when the original ideals of the Church Reform of the elev-

Mullins, Valentino Pace, Arturo Carlo Quintavalle, Nicolas Reveiron, Jessica N.

enth and twelfth centuries were being replaced by a new strategy intended to

Richardson, Serena Romano, Daniel Russo, Harriet Sonne de Torrens, Rossana

demonstrate the power of the papacy (fig. 1).

Stefanelli, Erik Thun.0, Michele Vescovi, Jean Wirth and Federica Rossi (who also

The city of Rome and the Church were emerging from a difficult period of con-

created the series logo). I thank also all my students, especially Beatrice Spampinato

flict that was both external with the Germanic Empire and internal to the city walls

and Chiara Stombellini, for their contributions and stimulating conversations

with its ecclesiastical institutions. These conflicts culminated in the schism pro-

during courses and seminars at the Ca' Foscari University.

voked by the double election of Innocent II and Anacletus II as pope, an event that

Last but not least, thank you to Pierluigi Zolli for the photos.

deeply marked the church of S. Maria in Trastevere and its decoration.

Naturally, any errors remain my own responsibility.

During the Reform of the Church, significant changes took place in the visual

Finally, and above all, thanks to Maria, 'my beloved', who has accompanied

language, in its processes of elaboration and creation, as well as in the theoretical

me throughout these years with strength, intelligence, and love, giving me a new

debates that reflect the historical, political, and cultural changes that involved all of

life, completed with Francesco and Alessandro who every day remind me of what

medieval European society. This phenomenon, which is still subject to debate, was

really matters.

not unitary and monolithic, but rather varied and diversified and cannot be circumFlorence, 9 June 2021

scribed to the Italian peninsula but must be understood by looking to the cultural realities north of the Alps and of the Iberian peninsula. Recent studies, in fact,· have demonstrated that the diverse communities of reformers were in close contact with one another, through both personal relationships and the circulation of writings. Artistic production was not foreign to this movement and was conditioned by it. The theoretical debate, in fact, also concerned art and architecture. During the twelfth century, writers interpreted the architecture and decoration of churches allegorically as a mirror of biblical and liturgical knowledge. In the writings of Bruno of Segni, 1 Honorius Augustodunensis 2 and Sicardus of Cremona,3 the church is a sacred space, a microcosm designed to reflect the macrocosm. In

1

Bruno Signensis, Tra ctatus, III, De sacramentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 1089B-1110A; Id., Sententiae, I, De figuris ecclesiae, PL 165, 875A-902B; Id., Sententiae, II, De ornamentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 901B-942D. 2 Honorius Augustodunensis, Gemma animae, PL 172, 541 -738. 3 Sicardus Cremonensis, Mitrale seu De officiis ecclesiasticis summa, PL 213, 13-433.

XII

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

particular, during the Church Reform, Bruno of Segni described the church build-

tion derive meaning from one another and generate, in turn, new semantic content. 7

ing as a symbolic universe, suggesting a comparison between architecture, liturgi-

More recent studies, in fact, have considered inscriptions in semiotic terms, not only

cal furniture, decoration, biblical symbolism and the members of the Church. Artistic production of this period followed the revisions to liturgical practices and

for their material aspects, as objects, thus assessable in aesthetic terms, but also for their written text and context, understood as the physical (and graphic) space that

sought to involve the sensorial perception of observers thereby making them parti-

determines use, perception, and function. Above all, as noted by Vincent Debiais,

cipate in the artistic displays by activating their emotions. The mosaic of S. Maria

the inscriptions are images and signs that offer multiple interpretive paths, like the

in Trastevere is symptomatic of this process of transformation that had its epicenter

reflexes of a prism.s

4

in Rome, seat of the papacy, but which also involved the best European intellectual

To reflect on these themes is to confront the constitution of the medieval image,

efforts, starting from the popes (almost all of whom were not Roman and were not

understood as a complex discourse in which epigraphy played a vital role.9 This

born in Italy). I described the first stage of this process in a previous publication on

approach situates the work in the historical and cultural context of its production,

the mosaic of S. Clemente, an exemplary work of the initial period of the ecclesiasti-

and attempts to eliminate the division between visible and legible, image and text,

cal Reform which reflects the themes that were most closely tied to the Investiture

and also includes the aural dimension of the spoken and sung word. Considered in light of these diverse interpretive models, the church and the mo-

5

Contest and to the demands for the clergy's renewal and for its education. This book examines the second stage of the art of the Reform manifested in the

saic of S. Maria in Trastevere reveal the complex articulation of a message that was

mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere within its architectural context, as the product of a

elaborated during a period characterized by strong innovative tensions (but also by

rhetorical program that employs images, inscriptions, colors, and texts to com-

conservative resis tance) in Rome (where the antique was an element of identity) but

municate its message and produce emotional experience. The underlying research

that also involved all of European medieval society, including the ecclesiastical insti-

is necessarily interdisciplinary in its approach, examining the artistic object as the

tution, which was finally free of the conflicts that had tormented it for almost over a

visual product of a historical and cultural period. The study illustrates the artistic

century. This tension is clearly evident in the architecture of S. Maria in Trastevere

program of the mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere through an examination of its ma-

and in its mosaic, which were originally illuminated in a different and greater man-

teriality, within the context of its architectural space, but also its literary and historical sources. The aim is to propose an iconological analysis of its visual composi-

ner than today, but which were also characterized by continuous referrals to ancient

tion, through a consideration of the inscriptions and their role in the iconography in

Above all, light characterized the building. The church had an intense light that

order to understand the symbolism and the rhetorical organization of the narrative.

filtered through the transept windows (today closed) and symbolically attracted the

In so doing, it employs a methodological tactic, which I have termed 'epiconogra-

faithful towards a process of ascesis that culminated in the golden refractions of the

phy', which seeks to integrate epigraphs (paleography, text, and image) into the

mosaic in the apse conch from which stood out the intense colors of the figures rep-

study of visual art.

resented.

6

art, both in the reuse of objects and in the iconographical citations.

The work of art, which includes both images and texts, is in this way recognized

The mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere was the visual apex of the art of the Reform

as an ensemble of diverse semantic vehicles. Indeed, when words and images ap-

of the Church. The mosaic may be included under the so-called category of 'Ro-

pear together in the same context, the figural and linguistic systems of communicaInscripti ons are essential for defining and understanding the compositional process and the function of the object. They provi de a multi -layered testimony comprising three fundamental aspects - text, script, and m onument - and therefore cannot be with which they form a single 'complex m onument', see Campana 1976, 85; Campana 1984, 363. 8 For an up-to-da te approach on the multiple interpretations of the inscriptions, see Debiais 2009; Debiais 2017. 9 On this argument, see Cardona 1981; Petrucci 1986; Favreau ed . 1996; Debiais 2017.

7

3

Stefano Riccioni

manesque art', 10 but is also its definitive end, because it opened, from the quarter of

CHAPTERl

Trastevere, onto a new phase in the history of European culture, conventionally

FRAMING THE CHURCH REFORM IN ROME

called the 'gothic era'.

The rebuilding of S. Maria in Trastevere and the conception of its apse mosaic decoration were carried out during a time of political struggle and of social transformation that affected the city of Rome, 1 the Church, and more generally Europe as a whole. Construction was conducted during the so-called 'Gregorian Reform' which sought to promote the Church's unity, Rome's primacy, the struggle against lay investiture, and libertas ecclesiae. 1.1. The 'Gregorian' Reform

During this period, which began at mid-eleventh century and lasted until the mid-twelfth century, Western Christianity underwent a true revolution. The Church spearheaded initiatives to reunify ecclesiastical institutions under the hierarchical control of the pope and to take them away from lay control. In the meantime, it fought against the buying and selling of ecclesiastical positions (Simony), against the matrimony and concubinage of the clergy (Nicolaism), and against practices that weakened the inalienability of ecclesiastical patrimony. The renewal of customs was inspired by the early Christians who had pushed the Church to make its secular clergy adopt a lifestyle based on the monastic model. The movement created a confrontation between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire over the investiture of bishops, and reached an apex of tension during the pontificate of Gregory VII (1073-1085), and found provisory reconciliation with the Concordat of Worms (1122). The Church and Western society were thereafter profoundly changed on an institutional, religious, and political level. For the great French historian of a century ago, Augustin Fliche, the charismatic Gregory VII had such an important role that he attributed all the decisions

111

linr· 11 r rlti ol re interpre tation of Romanesque art, see Barra! i Altet 2009 [2006] .

1 For the history of Rome, see the landmark studies by H om o 1934; Brezzi 1947; Gregorovius 1973 [1 886]; Krautheimer 1980; Hubert 1990; Delogu ed. 1998; mos t recentl y, Vauchez ed . 2001; di Ca rpegna Falconieri 2002; Ca rocci ed . 2006; Wickham 2013.

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

and transformations of this entire period to Gregory' s pontificate, thereby defining

then led to the convergence of action within the various components of the Church.

this process with the term 'Gregorian Reform'. 2 In reality, subsequent historiog-

It is necessary to investigate a multiplicity of actors: the Roman and imperial

raphy has clarified that the ecclesiastical reform, with all the social and political transformations that it produced, preceded and continued long after Gregory VII's

Church, the episcopates, the monastic orders, each one in its own way was committed to renewal while respecting tradition. 9

pontificate. Armed conflict terminated with the Concordat of Worms but it can be

The Reform was a large-scale movement, comprised of orientations that de-

considered definitively concluded only with the pontificate of Innocence III who,

serve to be considered in their local specificity. 10

with the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, achieved both the renewal of ecclesiastical institutions and the political autonomy that the Church had set out to achieve.

3

Among these, the study by Jean-Herve Foulon has defined the characteristics of the 'reformer' movement in the Pays-de-la-Loire, through a biographical and pros-

In particular, Fliche's ideological notion of a unifying Reform is no longer valid. Already Gerd Tellembach4 and the studies that drew from his work, had shown

Chartres (bishop), Geoffroy (abbot of the Trinite of Vendome), Marbode (bishop of

the impossibility of a univocal and unified interpretation from the perspective of

Rennes), Baudri (abbot of Bourgueil and later bishop of Dol) and Hildebert of

the historical continuity of the events tied to the ecclesiastical Reform of the eleventh century. In 1965, Ovidio Capitani called into question the existence of a Grego-

Lavardin (bishop of Mans and later of Tours). 11 The works of Baudri of Burgueil

rian age that reduced the complex and heterogeneous movement of the Church

The image that emerges, far from being monolithic and coherent, is full of diver-

reform of the eleventh century to place it under the sole figure of Gregory VII. Ca-

gences and distinctions, but rather shows that the principles of the reformers preex-

pitani, criticizing the very concept of 'reform', suggested that it should be replaced

isted. In the Pays-de-la-Loire, in fact, the Reform did not emerge from nothing, as if

with 'restauration'.5 In fact, Gregory VII used the term reformare very rarely but of-

imposed from above, by the pope, but it inserted itself in a reform movement that

ten used the term restaurare. Cinzio Violante argued that the Reform consisted of a

was already existent and which allowed for the Reform to take root thanks to the

series of reforms of ecclesiastical structures that were dialectically combined, pro-

personal ties of the Holy See with local ecclesiastics, ties which were fueled in order

ducing a radical change, which was not the result of a pre-established project and

to create a stable and solid net of relations. The bishops, in fact, due to their loyalty

had no single root.7 The univocal term 'Gregorian', meaning the movement that led to the ecclesiastical reform, has long been rejected. 8

to Rome, played a key role in the introduction and promotion of the Church Reform beyond the Italian peninsula. In Spain, one can think of Diego Gelmirez, or-

The recent historiography, headed by Glauco Maria Cantarella and Nicolange-

dained bishop by Callixtus II and main proponent of the success of the pilgrimage

lo D' Acunto, has clearly specified that is impossible to identify a unitary mark, that

route to Santiago de Compostela. 13 Or one may consider how in Catalonia the role

6

opographical examination that focused on five ecclesiastical 'exemplars': Ivo of

and of Hildebert of Lavardin have left their mark on the artistic heritage in Italy. 12

of the bishops was decisive in the diffusion of the Reform's ideals. 14 It was not, 2

Fliche 1924-1937. The bibliography on the Church Reform is vast. For studies prior to 1970 see the bibliographic compendium by Ghirardini 1970. See, at least, Studi gregoriani (1970-1991); Miccoli 1966; Ladner 1967; Cowdrey 1970; Morghen 1974; Cowdrey 1983; Ladner 1983; Fornasari 1996; Cowdrey 1998; Cowdrey 2000; Goez 2000; Tabacco 2004; Cantarella 2005; Schieffer 2008; D' Acunto 2020, with recent bibliography. 3 Lateranense N. 4 Tellenbach 1948 [1936]; Tellenbach 1988, the author did not negatively judge the period preceding the Reform, but believes that the Reform brought about the repression of the laity and their confinement to a passive position. ' a pitani 1965; Capitani 1986-1988; Capitani 1990. " ons ta ble 1998, 518, note n. 96. 1 Vlolnnll' 1 66 f1 959]; Cantarella 1985. • 11 11• 111 1 vor I r ad ing of the Church Reform under Gregory VII is due to Fliche 1924-1937. Corrections to ll tl It~ p11tl 11 • I , nmong others, by Capitani 1965; Violante 1966 [1959]; Capitani 1990; Cantarella 2006; 1 t 11111 111 1111111, I l' t\ r un to 2020.

therefore, an exclusively Roman movement, but rather concerned communities and regions that went well beyond the borders of the Italian peninsula and that can be very well defined as 'European'.

9

For an up-to-date bibliography, see Cantarella 2006, 27-30; D'Acunto 2006; Miller 2009; D' Acunto 2020. D' Acunto 2020, 14. 11 Foulon 2008. 12 For example, in Rome in one inscription in a fragmentary painting in the lowe r church of S. Clemente, and in the inscriptions of the Rosano Cross, see Gramigni, Zamponi 2007; Kessler 2012a; Riccioni 2012. 13 Abou-El-Haj 1997; Castiiieras ed. 2010. 14 Ruquoi 2010; Castiiieras 2015, 149.

10

7

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

During the Reform, popes gave extended power to their legates and sent them

Pietro, son of Pietro di Leone, was born at the end of the eleventh century.20 His

to European regions to act on their behalf. The local bishops were used to control

family had Jewish roots but thanks to the support of the reformer popes, among

remote regions and they could depose abbots and bishops or convoke provincial synods.15

whom were Gregory VII, Urban II, and Paschal II, they achieved a prominent position in Rome. Pietro studied in Paris where he became friends with prince Louis,

Recently, however, the debate concerning the Reform has slowly dissolved,

who later became the king of France under the name of Louis Vl le Gros (1108-

perhaps, as noted by D' Acunto, because it was -subjected to a process of deconstruction by historians, and I may add, also by art historians. 16

1137). He entered the Cluniac order and wore the monastic habit at Cluny. In 1116,

he was called to Rome by Paschal II who had nominated him Cardinal Deacon of

Finally, the transition between the eleventh century and the twelfth century

SS. Cosma e Damiano. When the pope died on January 24th 1118, Pietro supported

marked a decisive turning point, a real 'revolution', which, although it had not been

Gelasius II, who was already favored by Paschal II, although not by the entire

planned, had long-lasting effects. Society was deeply transformed both in ecclesias-

community of Roman nobles. The upheavals provoked by Frangipane forced Pietro

tical structure and in political power, which took on new forms that led, in Italy, to

to flee to France, once again to Cluny, along with the new pope. When, in January

the birth of municipalities, and in Europe, to national monarchies. Moreover, the twelfth century has long been considered as a period of 'renaissance' emerging

of 1119, Gelasius died, Pietro endorsed the election of Guido, archbishop of Vienne, who took the name of Calixtus II (1119-1124). Pietro entered the pope's favor, and

from the papal struggles of the eleventh century.

in 1120, he obtained the promotion to cardinal priest of S. Maria in Trastevere.

17

This approach is still relevant,

albeit with adjustments and clarifications18 that also concern the history of Rome.

Gregorio 'de Papa' or Papareschi, in those same years, had followed an analo-

Here, in particular, during the second quarter of the twelfth century, the double election of Anacletus II and Innocent II provoked a schism in the Church and its

gous trajectory. Like Pietro, who was his contemporary, Gregorio was born in Rome to the other powerful family of the rione Trastevere, 21 and like Pietro, he also

subsequent solution marked a transition from the first age of the reform to the socalled 'papal monarchy', which sought to reorganize the Roman Curia, the gover-

appears for the first time in a document dated to 1116 that he signed as Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria. Gregorio must have been in the graces of Paschal

nance of the Church and its intemationalization. 19

II, who sent him as legate to Pavia, and he is also recorded among those who elected Gelasius II in 1118. On many occasions he traveled to Pisa and Genoa in an at-

1.2. Anacletus II and Innocent II

tempt to promote peace among the two maritime powers. As a protege of Calixtus II, he accompanied the pope in France and in Italy, and in 1119, he went to Metz

The construction of S. Maria in Trastevere was directly affected by the schism of 1130 that opposed Pietro Pierleoni, elected pope with the name of Anacletus II

and Verdun to meet the emperor Henry V. Gregorio was a skillful diplomat and was one of the authors of the concordat stipulated at Worms in September of 1122.

(1130-1138) and Gregorio Stefaneschi, known as pope Innocent II (1130-1143). In

Gregorio and Pietro together partook in two legations in France, in 1121 and in

cultural background and existential events, both men undertook a similar course of

1123. In particular, on occasion of the second embassy, which lasted until 1124, the

action. Both were Roman and came from noble families of Trastevere origins: Pa-

two men visited a large part of France; they met Stephen of Muret in Limoges and

pareschi (Innocent II) and Pierleoni (Anacletus 11).

Norbert of Magdeburg in Noyon, who in tum obtained the approval for the Rule of his Premonstratensian canons. Gregorio and Pietro ended the delegation with the

15

Hiestand 1993; Weiss 1995; Zey 2008; Vones-Liebenstein 2016, 158-159. 16 D' Acunto 2020, 26. 17 I las kins 1927. The bibliography is extensive, see important works: Brooke 1969; Benson et al. 1991; Sapir /\h11 lo fi a 199S; onstable 1996; Swanson 1999; Constable ed. 2003. '" J/111 lw ll 1111' of th concept, see Verger 1999, 11-25. 1• 11111 1111, 'l111 ll1 11d . 20 16.

synods of Chartres and of Beauvais, which aimed to resolve the weaknesses of the transalpine Church. 20 21

Manselli 1961; Manselli 2000. di Carpegna Falconieri 2000; di Carpegna Falconieri 2004.

9

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

When Calixtus II died on the 13th or 14th of December, 1124, Rome was at peace,

cerning Anacletus, and he almost always succeeded in persuading others of the

and according to the Liber Pontificalis, it seemed as though the time of Augustus had

righteousness of his views. He convinced the emperor, kings, secular leaders, and

returned and that Christ was being reborn in people's minds. 22 Calixtus had increased papal authority, improved administration and infrastructure, controlled the

ecclesiastical figures of every sort that it was an insult to the Church that a scion of a Jewish family sat on the throne of Peter.25

cardinals, kept the Roman families in check, established security and stability and

As rumors of Honorius' impending death spread in 1130, Romans became in-

refurbished Roman churches as artistic and architectural monuments.

creasingly restive. Haimeric and a small group of cardinals brought the moribund

However, the election of Celestine II, Pierleoni's candidate, was broken up by

pope to a monastery in the area controlled by the Frangipani, and when he died, on

the rival Frangipani family. Gregorio, having returned to Rome before Pietro, par-

the night between February 13u, and 141h, after a rough burial, without announcing

ticipated in the election of Cardinal Bishop Lambert of Ostia installed as Honorius II (1124-1130). It seems that Haimeric, cardinal of S. Maria Nova, whom Calixtus

the pope's death and without summoning the other cardinals, or observing the cus-

had appointed chancellor in 1123, played a key role in the election and for this rea-

tomary three days of obsequies, they elected Cardinal Deacon Gregory of Sant' Angelo as Innocent II. 26

son he was severely criticized by Petrus Leonis, when he returned to Rome in

The combined interests of the cardinals and city aristocratic groups, together

1125. 23

Honorius II was hostile to the Pierleoni family, and Pietro was ostracized, while Gregorio was invested with the dignity of archdeacon of the Roman Church. Most likely, the choice of pope fed the conflict between the two cardinals, but

with the conflicts that divided the College of Cardinals led to the almost simultaneous election of Cardinal Priest Pietro Pierleoni as Anacletus II. Anacletus was elected, after the pope's burial, by a larger number of cardinals regularly convened with the overwhelming approval of the Roman clergy and people.27 Both were conse-

the reasons for the conflict were being traced out in the two orientations of the Church: one part of the cardinals, tied to the Pierleoni, supported local Roman

crated as popes on February 23rd.28

needs, while the other part, that reported to the French cardinal, Haimeric, who in

vantage, forcing Innocent II and his cardinals to flee into exile, but both were equal-

tum was deeply involved in papal affairs, promoted the supemational and univer-

ly pressed to gain the broader approval of the Church. 29

The power of the Pierleoni in Rome gave Anacletus an undoubted initial ad-

Since Anacletus II remained in Rome, he could rely on a large part of the Ro-

salistic interests of the papacy. Some historians have argued that Innocent represented the new wave of spirituality emanating from the North as exemplified by St.

man nobility and on the Normans. In September 1130 he met Count Roger of Sicily

Bernard and Peter the Venerable, and that Anacletus remained mired in the old

to work out the final terms for his coronation as king of Sicily, and on Christmas

competition between regnum and sacerdotium.24 This theory has been challenged, in

1130 Roger was crowned as Roger II. Anacletus also continued to call upon Lothair

part because both popes sought the emperor's recognition, and when they served

to adjudicate the election, but without successfully convincing him. Outside Rome,

together as papal legates to France they supported the new (spiritual) as well as the older Benedictine orders.

Anacletus' consensus slowly weakened, while in the city he was able to continue to pursue his policies, even if it remains difficult to outline them. 30

The one thing that demonstrably separated the two popes was that Anacletus 25

descended from a family of Jewish converts, a fact that was used relentlessly against him by Peter the Venerable and St. Bernard among others. Pious and charismatic, Bernard was present at every event that required a critical decision con22 Liber Pontificalis prout ex stat in codice manuscripto Dertusensis, 195. On Calixtus II, see Miccoli 1973; Stroll 1987; Stroll 2004. 23 Stroll 1987, XIV-XV; Stroll 2004, 474-479. 4 2 Klewitz 1957 (1939]; Schmale 1961.

10

Stroll 1987, 166. Many thanks to Mary Stroll for having permitted me to read her unpublished paper titled Th e Papacy from Bishop of Rome to Wo rld Monarch: Politics, Symbols and Ceremony . 26 Pontificum Romanorum vitae, II, 174-192; Stroll 1987, 82-90. 27

lbid. On the events surrounding the election of the two popes and of its consequences, see Palumbo 1995 [1942] . For further information and bibliography, see Anzoise 2011; Doran 2016; di Carpegna Falconieri 2018. 29 Vones-Liebenstein 2016. 30 An International Colloquium was recently dedicated to Anacletus: Framing Anacletus II (Anti)Pope, 11301138, held in Rome (April 10-12, 2013), organized by T. di Carpegna Falconieri, U. Longo, K.-M. Sprenger e L. Yawn, still unpublished; for a detailed report, see Zedda 2014. During the conference, di Carpegna Fa!28

11

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Innocent II was forced to flee into exile for three years and wandered between

the Basilica of S. Giovanni in Laterano. Innocent commissioned the coronation de-

northern Italy and France. These journeys, however, enabled him to gain the loyalty

picted on the walls of a room as a feudal ceremony in which Lothair received the

of almost all the Western regular clergy. During his pontificate, the Regular canons, in accordance with the principles of ecclesiastical reform, achieved their greatest

imperial crown as a vassal of the pope. He also wrote an inscription in verse declaring that after becoming the vassal (homo) of the pope, Lothair was granted the

expansion and the Cistercians consolidated their presence throughout Europe.

crown by his hand. 31 The room was in the Lateran palace, near the Camera prose-

During the summer of 1130, Innocent visited Pisa and then Genoa. Peter the

cretis consiliis, decorated on Calixtus II's commission,32 whereas the Chapel of St.

Venerable, abbot of Cluny, received him, and helped him take the offensive against

Nicholas was built by Calixtus II but Anacletus 1133 commissioned the painted se-

Anacletus. Shortly thereafter, having reached Auvergne, Innocent celebrated his

quence of the popes from Alexander II to Calixtus II, enthroned with the defeated

first council at Clermont (November 18th, 1130) during which he inaugurated his reform program, issuing canons concerning ecclesiastical discipline. In France, he

antagonists at their feet. 34 The architectural and iconographical program, which aimed to celebrate the winning papacy, followed a project that was started by Ca-

was continuously supported by Bernard of Clairvaux, built a solid relationship

lixtus II, continued by Anacletus II and finished by Innocent II. Shortly thereafter,

with the king, Louis le Gros, who had once been friends with Pietro Pierleoni. In 1131, Innocent II obtained the oath of allegiance from Henry I, king of Eng-

however, Innocent II was forced to abandon Rome again and travel to Pisa. Diplo-

land, who he met at Chartres. That same year he convened the council of Liege,

In 1135, at the council of Pisa, in the presence of abbots and bishops from various

during which he excommunicated Conrad III of Sweden so as to ingratiate his rival,

parts of Europe, Innocent II deposed several schismatic bishops and made a pro-

Lothair of Supplinburg, from whom he obtained approval and the promise of

nouncement on ecclesiastical discipline that aggravated the penalties of his adver-

armed support in Italy, which would allow him to return to Rome. Innocent's stay

saries. In 1337, Lothair returned to Italy, defeated Roger II of Sicily, and allowed Inno-

in France ended with the council of Reims, also in 1131. In the presence of abbots and bishops from England, France, Germany, Castile and Aragon, Innocent reiter-

matic activity, mostly conducted by St. Bernard, however, continued uninterrupted.

ated the excommunication of the enemies of the Church, gained the obedience of

cent II to definitively return to Rome. Despite Lothair's death, which occurred that same year (December 4u,}, the Normans did not reignite conflict. In the end, the

the assembled and consecrated King Louis VII, who was still a youth and whose

death of Anacletus II in January of 1138 brought about the rapid end of the schism.

father was still alive. His constant travels and the distance from Rome allowed Innocent II to gain

The election of Victor IV, as the new antagonist to the pope, lasted only two months, just enough time to allow the defeated followers of Anacletus to negotiate

wide consensus among the ecclesiastical hierarchies and the sovereigns of the

their surrender. On Pentecost of 1138, which fell on May 29th, Victor IV swore obe-

northern kingdoms, which granted him an international political dimension and, in

dience (ligia fidelitas) to the pope, together with the Pierleoni who in exchange ob-

fact, permitted him to prevail over his rival, Anacletus, who had remained in Rome

tained a considerable sum of money (immensa pecunia}.35 Innocent accepted in great

and therefore was perceived as a proponent of local and particular interests. By the end of 1131, all of Europe favored Innocent II. In 1132, Innocent went to

part the requests of the losing faction of nobles, thereby reestablishing equilibrium in the city. This was one of Innocent II's most effective political moves, contrary to

Italy, met Lothair at Roncaglia and in 1133 he entered Rome, escorted by imperial

how he treated the Roman cardinals. Between 1138 and 1143, in fact, Innocent abo-

troops. Even though Anacletus had succeeded in maintaining control of Saint Peter and Castel Sant' Angelo, on June 4th, Lothair and his wife were crowned emperors in oni ri propo d an interes ting methodological approach, which he called «what if history» (storia controfat/1111 /1• lo lr lo l'l' ov r lh information that has been lost due to the damnatio memoriae of Anacletus II, which 11111 I 11111 111 " l11q 1p,,.wd h11d In l •nd lh • onflict wi th Innocent II continued, see di Carpegna Falconieri

'1111

Herklotz 1985, 34-35; Stroll 1987, 76-77; Stroll 1991, 188-192; Croisier 2006c, 296: Rex venit antefores iurans prius Urbis honores I Post homo fit papae sum it quo dante coronam. 32 Herklotz 1989, 145-214; Herklotz 2000, 95-152; Stroll 1991, 16-35; Croisier 2006a, 270-271. 33 Osborne, Claridge 1996, I, 108-113; Schilling 1998, 451-452; Herklotz 2000, 106, 109, 111-113, 151-152; Croisier 2006b, 290-293. 34 Schilling 1998, 589-594; Herklotz 2000, 95-158; Stroll 2004, 16-35. 35 Chronica Casinensis, IV, 130; see Wickham 2013, 495. 31

13

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

1.3. The Arts and the Church Reform

lished all of the acts determined by Anacletus and declared a damnatio memoriae of Anacletus and condemned those near to him. In the Second Lateran Council of 1139, all Anacletus' cardinals (almost all Roman) were deposed; among the newly nominated cardinals, not one was of Roman origin. 36 Nothing has survived of Ana-

Political changes and the new ecclesiastical situation modified the artistic, and more broadly, communication strategies of the Church. Since historiography has

cletus' works, even his name and his inscriptions in the Chapel of St. Nicholas were

corrected the concept of the 'Gregorian Reform', the art produced during this peri-

canceled and substituted with the name Anastasio. 37 By contrast, Innocent II is re-

od, cannot be merely understood as a pre-established and oriented artistic project,

membered in the Liber Pontifical-is, and in general in documentary sources and in

inspired and managed by the pope (Gregory VII, but not only), but must be revised

monumental works, as well as in the inscriptions that commemorate him, all of

and formulated on the basis of new evidence.40 In this regard, one may consider the

which intimately partook in the creation of a new image of the city. During his exile Innocent II traveled through France and Italy and he was al-

periodization proposed by Daniel Russo, which includes a pre-Gregorian first reform, from Leo IX to 1073; a 'Gregorian' period (1073-1085); a phase tied to the First

lowed to visit and see some of the most important sites and monuments of his era.

Crusade and the Investiture Contest (1086-1122) and a final period characterized by

He consecrated the abbey of Cluny (1130) and was coronated at Saint-Denis (1131), during the planning and initial construction of the 'revolutionary' apse deambula-

diverse modes of diffusion and reception of the Reform's ideals. 41 The Reform, following Jean Wirth's definition, is «an unstable compound»,

tory added to the Carolingian basilica by Abbot Suger. The same year, Innocent II

based on one hand, on a monastic ideal that was taken as model for the clergy and

consecrated the Carolingian cathedrals of Chartres and Reims (1131). When he was

society, but on the other hand, on the popes' expectations of gaining temporal pow-

in Pisa (1133-1136) he saw the cathedral under construction. According to the Liber

er. This internal contradiction, between an ascetic contempt of the world and politi-

Pontificalis, in Rome, Innocent II:

cal activism, did not allow for the movement to take a unitary and coherent direc-

38

tion.42 This situation is also mirrored in artistic production. The art of the Reform

«constructed the entire church of the blessed mother of God Mary of the titulus of Calixtus. He repaired the roof of the Lateran church, which had collapsed suddenly, with

period also consisted of a variety of events which were dialectically distinct, but

great beams. In St. Paul's church, where the roof was threatening ruin, he strengthened

which produced a unitary result in the renewal of visual language.

it with a wall erected over marble columns, and he repaired part of its roof with exceptionally long beams. He further repaired the church of St. Stephen on the Celian hill, which was tottering with age. He constructed two rooms in the Lateran palace from

1.3.1. Rome: the Model

foundations, and strengthened its entire length with concrete. And he did many other

Without Rome's example, there would not be an art of the Church Reform. All

things that were well known in his time». 39

the studies that have focused on this topic, in fact, have taken as a point of depar-

It was the turning point, which also concerned the arts.

ture Roman monuments, the reference to ancient art, and the renewal of its tradition. Roman painting and mosaic production were the focus of a monumental work

Wickham 2013, 492-493. 37 The apse inscription, at the base of the decoration, reads, according to Pietro Sabino's interpretation as recorded by Duchesne: Sustulit hoe primo templum Calixtus ab imo I vir eelebris late gallorum nobilitate I praesul Anacletus papatus eulmine fretus I hoe opus ornavit variisque modis deeoravit, (Duchesne 1889, 360). The text was then modified to: Sustulit hoe primo templum Callistus ab imo I Vir eelebris late gallorum Nobilitate. I Dominus Callistus papa II. II Letus Callistus papatus Culmine fretus I Hoe opus ornavit varijsque modis deeoravit (De Rossi 1888, 1, 426, nr. 59). See Croisier 2006b, 290-291. 'R Kinn y 201 6, 353. '" I.P, II, . Htl , IrnnHloti on by Kinney 2016, 353 and note n. 6.

that came together in the Corpus della pittura medievale romana, 43 which highlighted

36

11

40

Having posed the question in these terms, the recent historiography is unanimous in recognizing that it is not possible to speak of the art of the Church Reform, see Gandolfo 1989; Sukale 2002; Pace 2007; Kessler 2007a, with a different approach; Barra! i Altet 2010; Claussen 2016, 276; Gandolfo 2016, 261-268. For a summary of the artistic historiography on the topic, see Riccioni 2011b. 41 Russo 2008, 5. 42 Wirth 1999, 330. 43 Romano ed. 2006.

15

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

the abundance of themes and figurative models present in the city. 44 As to the sin-

provided with new liturgical furnishings and monumental decorations.49 An im-

gle ecclesiastical buildings, Peter Cornelius Claussen' s Corpus Cosmatorum II is still ongoing. 45 Let us begin, then, from the fundamental themes of Roman art that char-

portant example is the reconstruction of the church of S. Clemente, commissioned by Paschal II and finished around 1118, so which established an important precedent

acterized the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Three themes, essentially, are closely related to the arts: urban expansion, sta-

for the mosaic in S. Maria in Trastevere. Christopher Wickham has considered the increase of church foundations or re-

tional liturgy, and literacy. The first is related to the fact that, despite the struggles

constructions in the twelfth century, starting with Paschal II, and has set them in

between the pope, the Empire, and the city aristocracy, between the eleventh and

relation to processional routes in the road network of Rome, without forgetting to

twelfth centuries, Rome experienced a consistent urban expansion and was largely rebuilt and 'embellished'. Such a demographic and urban development contributed

factor in the evolution and the establishment of aristocrats in the city in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.51 Federico Guidobaldi, in turn, has also highlighted how the

in a significant way to the development of the city and also to the proclamation of

age of Paschal II is at the center of this intense period of reconstruction and renewal

the Roman Common. The second element is related to the reform of the liturgy. The numerous collec-

which brought about the new leveling of the city. The pope started an intense ur-

tions of canon law produced in Rome in the second half of the eleventh century,

for the most important processions in the Roman Ceremonial, but also aimed to

and in particular those of Deusdedit and Anselm of Lucca, contain a new vision of the liturgy defined by the Church Reform.46 In particular, the use of processional

reconstruct the churches that faced these routes . Some of those ecclesiastical buildings, in fact, were included as stationes or points of collecta in the processional itiner-

stations in Rome and the habit of celebrating certain religious festivities in specific

aries. 52 Even the area of Ripa, under the control of the Pierleoni family, was raised

basilicas according to a precise calendar allowed the pope to assert his presence in

from circa two to six meters relative to the level of the imperial city. According to

the urban habitat and to transfer to various churches the liturgy otherwise reserved for the cathedral alone. 47 What is more, as Louis Hamilton and Didier Mehu have

Alison Perchuk, this demonstrates that this development was carried out with the

suggested, even beyond Rome, the practices of consecrating churches were also intended to exalt an ecclesiology centered on Rome. The itinerant papacy constituted, in fact, an opportunity to diffuse the Reform's message and the ideals of the reformers, as well as to reiterate papal authority through spectacular liturgies. 48 The third element was the growth of literacy and the use of writing for propagandistic purposes, an interesting phenomenon that also affects the arts. During the twelfth century, Rome grew intensely. Numerous ecclesiastical, but

banistic project, which aimed not only to raise the level of the streets that were used

support of a part of the Roman aristocracy and that it was «an ongoing enterprise within the broader development of Rome as the capital of an international papacy».53 The urban space, its perception, and its use underwent a radical transformation that weighed on the image of the city. This happened also thanks to the new 'marker' epigraphs exhibited in the churches, on their exteriors, on the porticoes, and, more generally, in the urban spaces that were to be considered as 'sacred'.54 Open and closed spaces were ordered and sacralized also through lists of relics that were written on the altars, on the internal walls of the churches, and on their exteri-

also private, buildings were restored and/or rebuilt and some of them were also

49

For an overview on the themes of the Reform, see Riccioni 2011b. 4 5 The series was published with the title, Die Kirchen der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter 1050-1300 (Corpus cosmatorum II) . The first volume was published in 2002, Claussen 2002. The volume on S. Maria in Trastevere is fo rth coming. '"' rn lozzo 2007. 11 I li' lll uo u w ·1 4 [1 987]; Parlato 2000; De Blaauw 2002; di Carpegna Falconieri 2002, 235-241, 250-256; Parla1! 1 '1111 1 I 0110 1; Norl' n 2017. 1 11 1111 I 1111111 1tun 0 10, 9. • I\ Ii 1111 44

Romano 2006b. On liturgical furnishing, see Quintavalle 2002; Quintavalle 2011. Barclay Lloyd 1986; Claussen 2002, 299-347; Riccioni 2006; Yawn 2012. 51 Wickham 2011, 447-448; Wickham 2013, 408-420. 52 Guidobaldi 2014, 111-112, 123-124. 53 Perchuk 2016, 54. According to the scholar, this development was affected with the support, in particular, of Anacletus and the Pierleoni family . 54 On the topic and definition of ' public lettering', see Petrucci 1986, XX, on the renewed use and function of publicly displayed epigraphy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, see Petrucci 1993, 3-15. In particular, on Rome see: Annoscia 2011; Riccioni 2011a; Riccioni 2019a; Riccioni forthcoming. 50

17

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

ors.ss This phenomenon also involved the nobility and in general the 'laity', who

influenced the papacy to recover the early Christian models also in Rome. 62

were also protagonists in the rebirth of the city.56

Toubert's following contributions, gathered in a volume of miscellany, 63 lead to a

In these cases, artistic forms were commonly characterized by: the recovery of models inspired by antiquity (without particular distinctions between Roman clas-

precise concept of the 'art of the Gregorian Reform' as a «moment in which the recovery of antique iconographic programs and schemes became well-targeted, in

sicism, Carolingian and/or Ottonian renewals ); 57 narration through images and

line with an ideology that expressed itself in the present».64 In particular, the recov-

writings organized according to rhetorical rules and oriented toward educational

ery of early Christian models is reiterated, especially, even though not exclusively, in the city of Rome. Toubert warns, however, that «outside Rome and Italy, the ar-

use; the graphic elaboration of a form of writing that formally refers to Rome. 5B

59

Thus, art and architecture in Rome during the time of the 'reformed' popes

tistic expression of reform ideals are set in other terms». 65 Yet the art of the Reform,

were conceived to affirm spiritual and political messages connected to the Church

according to Toubert, was not anchored in a nostalgic restoration of the past, on the contrary, it was a dynamic and creative movement. 66

Reform. In doing so, visual art (also selected spolia) and script (text and image) were used to create new images and new spaces through which to engage the public.

Francesco Gandolfo has also offered an assessment of the terms in which the

The 'renewal of the twelfth century' was also a rebirth of art and, according to a

return to the antique occurred, specifying the antiquarian inclination of the papacy

well-received historiographical interpretation, was marked by the recovery of an-

between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and highlighting the recovery of the

tiquity and became the artistic signature of the reformers. Helene Toubert devel-

symbolism tied to the Roman imperium.67 What emerges is an artistic dimension

oped a definition of the renouveau paleochretien that saw in the return to antiquity, as

characterized by symbols of power in classicist and imperial terms. Gandolfo con-

identified in the Roman monuments of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the effects of a precise cultural choice. 60 Therefore, it is not just a generic classicism, but

trasted these latter elements to the antiquating aspects of the recovery of early Christianity on which painting of the period was based, which, however, he con-

rather a deliberate choice to recover early Christian formal modes. Such a choice

sidered to be purely decorative. Valentino Pace, considering Roman sculpture, has

was intended to express, through the symbolic terms of an art dirige, the ideological

also noted the inherent continuity in the recovery of antiquity, summed up in a

values of that return to origins, which was one of the fundamental ideas of the re-

'guiding principle' as expressed by the phrase nihil innovetur nisi quad traditur est. 68

formed papacy during the Investiture Contest. The conceptual approach provided by Toubert was immediately and fully ac-

Pace emphasized this interpretative paradigm, believing it to be equally well-suited

cepted by Ernst Kitzinger. 61 Kitzinger believed that abbot Desiderius' renewed

for understanding figurative works.69 Within the context of sculpture and architecture in Rome, Claussen has sug-

Montecassino should be considered as the cultural center from which took off the

gested three distinct phases in the revival of the antique, with particular attention

conscious ideological shaping of the figurative arts, and which, in a later period,

paid to the reuse of spolia: the first, that of conservatio, the consolidation of extant material following the direct influence of Montecassino; the second, that of restaura-

Riccioni 2019b; on the relation of relic lists, also w ith several Roman examples, see Pallottini 2019. 56 Annoscia 2011; Riccioni 2011a; Riccioni forthcoming. 57 Toubert 1970 (Toubert 2001 [1990], 177-227); Kitzinger 1972a; Kitzinger 1972b; Claussen 1992. For an overview on this topic, see Riccioni 2011b, 321-324. 58 According to Kessler 2007a, 36: «Gregorian theory of a rt [ .. .] is based firml y on traditional, indeed banal, discussions of images, it accepted church decoration as an instrument of pedagogy, conversion, and spiritual elevation». On artistic production during the Church Reform based on rhetorical rules, see Riccioni 2006; Riccioni 2011b, 328. ~9 n ca pital letters in the Giant Bible, see Supino Martini 1988; Larocca 2011, 62-64; on capital letters in p11hl i I ttering Petrucci 1993, 7-9; Supino Martini 2001; Riccioni 2007. 1 "' '1'11111 t• rt I 70 (Toubert 2001 [1990], 177-227). 1 I II lt1p,1 •1' 1972n. 55

tio, after the Norman Sack of Rome in 1084, and which was also indebted to Montecassino; and the third phase, that of renovatio triumphans, which followed the Con62

For an examination of the theme, see Pace 2007. Toubert 2001 [1990] . 64 Ibid., 14. 65 Ibid., 13. 66 Ibid., 17. 67 Gandolfo 1981, 339-366; Gandolfo 1984, 5-29; Gandolfo 1989, 21-32. 68 Pace 1994; Pace 2000 . 69 Pace 2007, 52. 63

19

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trasteve re

cordat of Worms, and which was marked by the use of spolia alluding to imperial attributes.

70

Both Gandolfo

71

and Dale Kinney have responded to these hypotheses

first year of his papacy, an act that was replicated several years later by Paschal II with the dedication of the altar of S. Pantaleone. 78

in a critical manner, advising caution in the interpretation of spolia and the practices

The dialectic between tradition and innovation marks much of the artistic pro-

of renovatio in a social context that widely used antique material and which nur-

duction (and its historiography) in Rome between the end of the eleventh century

tured a growing distance between the antique past of Rome and the quotidian ur-

and the first half of the twelfth century, but this period poses various unresolved

72

ban reality.

questions that go beyond this narrow dialectical boundary.

Serena Romano has added. further clarifications to Toubert's hypotheses, for 1.3.2. Outside Rome

instance, regarding how conscious painters and patrons must have been of the ideological charge placed on the recovery of antiquity.

73

According to Romano, in

fact, the Roman workshops' 'taste' for and choice of antique terms cannot be entire-

Taubert has indicated guidelines for identifying the artistic expression of the

ly attributed to a programmatic choice and cannot be traced in a univocal way to

Reform, even outside of Rome. However, she cautioned that the recovery of antique

early Christian models. Rather, these choices belong to a larger tradition that dis-

ornamental motifs or of early Christian schemes could not have had the same value

tinguishes all Roman medieval art. Beat Brenk and Romano, although with some

elsewhere, except for in certain privileged provinces, such as Berze-la-Ville, which

differences, have suggested that the lower church of S. Crisogono should be con-

had a direct tie to Rome, or Vendome. 79 The recovery of iconographical themes,

sidered as an example of contact with Montecassino;75 a hypothesis that is still valid

such as the traditio legis, did not involve stylistic influences. According to Taubert, it

even after Giulia Bordi' s revisions. However, Bordi has specified that there is a

was a matter of «granting to the city [Rome] the role of the stimulus among a num-

strong 'Roman' component in the production of the painted wall.7 Romano, never-

ber of protagonists such as Anselm of Canterbury, Hugh of Cluny or Suger».80

74

6

theless, has also highlighted the variety and great diversity of artistic tendencies. I

Quintavalle' s research on the officine della Riforma has decidedly extended

have also noted such variety and have pointed to the recovery of motifs from an-

Taubert and Kitzinger's theories beyond Rome and central-southern Italy to in-

tiquity as a specific characteristic of Reform culture, although not in the terms of a

clude Tuscany, Lombardy, and in general northern Italy, and Europe by following

renouveau paleochretien. In the mosaic of S. Clemente, in fact, the decorative models

pilgrimage routes, in particular, that of Santiago de Compostela (Burgundy, Aqui-

cannot be traced back exclusively to early Christian examples, but more important-

taine, Pyrenees, Galicia). What emerges from this approach is an artistic production,

ly are chosen and organized in function of the narrative and to favor meditation.77

from sculpture to architecture, that is marked by the demands of the reformers and

This very aspect, the selection of themes (and of the audience), shows that the reuse

tied to the order of Cluny. 81 In this way, the concept of Reform art, as proposed by

of materials was indeed a programmatic choice. Such was the case for the Severan

Toubert and Kitzinger, is expanded to include the rebirth of the arts not only in the

era altar in the church of S. Maria in Portico (in the rione controlled by the Pierle-

recovery of the antique, but also in architecture and in figurative modes. 82 Quinta-

oni), updated by the skilled use of inscriptions and dedicated to Gregory VII in the

valle has shown how the common denominator for all the Western 'Romanesque'

°Claussen 2006; Claussen 2007; Claussen 2008.

7

71

Gandolfo 2007.

n Kinney 2006.

Romano 2002a (2000], 107. Rom an o 2008. 7 ~ Brenk 1984; Brenk 1985; Romano 2006a, 79-87. 7 '' Bw d i 2017. I I krl 11111 2006. 73

74

111

78

Riccioni 2005. Taubert 2001 (1990], 296-293. 80 Ibid., 19. 81 On the relations be tween Cluny and the Reform, see at least Cowdrey 1970; Gandolfo 1994; Taubert 1994; Iogna-Prat 2002 (1998], 26-95; Neiske 2006. On the relation between Cluny and Rome, see Cow drey 1994; Riccioni 2002; Barone 2004. 82 Quintavalle 1982; Quintavalle 1987; Quintavalle 1991; Quintavalle 2006. 79

21

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

period is its dialogue with antiquity, a process that was supported by the orthodox curia of Rome.s3

(St. Denis, Soissons, Bourges). These examples testify to the desire of lay and religious constructors to ground their future history on a Christian past. 89

Barral i Altet, in turn, has contested the approach of the renouveau paleochretien, denying that the Reform might have developed a visual system for the ideas it

There are also other characteristic and transversal themes of the art of the Re-

promoted based on the detailed recovery of early Christian iconographical and creative models and motifs in order to visualize its tie to the Church of the origins.84

form period, for example: the representation of the traditio legis, that had a symbolic significance tied to the exaltation of the Church as the direct emissary of Christ on

Thereby, Barral i Altet questioned the principle that «all medieval religious art of

earth and as the sole wielder of spiritual power (but also temporal power in feudal terms), a topic that likewise had success in France. 90 Russo has identified, as signifi-

the Romanesque period derived from the ecclesiastical reform movement of the

cant themes, the notion that ecclesiastical buildings were the image of the commu-

Gregorian Reform».ss These observations draw attention to those local phenomena

nity of the faithful, and in particular, the function of the choir, as well as painting

that need to be examined in detail following Barr al i Altet' s highly critical line of

and sculpted decoration in proximity to the area reserved to the clergy, and the Cistercian production of manuscripts.91

thinking about the concept of Romanesque art as an expression of the nascent nation-states over the course of the nineteenth century. 86 In fact, Barral i Altet does not

An important iconographic subject, that is here of particular concern, regards the representation of the Virgin as an ecclesiological image par excellence. 92 Fulon's

so much critique Toubert's studies which concentrate on Romanesque art and the influence of late antiquity, but rather he rightly contests the generalization that fol-

studies on the figure of the Virgin, in the Pays-de-la-Loire that adhered to the Re-

lowed.87 Barral i Altet's suggestions allow for a better understanding of the phe-

form, have shown that she was represented in a decidedly 'reformed' manner that

nomenon, which needs to be examined in its local components in order to eventual-

tended to exalt the female personification of the Church, which pertains to the de-

ly determine common coordinates.

votion to the Virgin Mary as bride, queen, and mother of Christ (mater, domina et

An interest in the antique, as mentioned, preexisted the Reform, but the re-

sponsa Christi). What is more, the increasing use of writing in images should be tak-

former prelates were certainly aware of the importance of art as an expression of

en into consideration. Writing was used in iconic and narrative forms, to control the

ecclesiological and Christological messages, as well as an instrument for the edifica-

correct form of interpretation, to favor memorization of certain fundamental prin-

tion of the faithful through their participation and their ensuing emotional in-

ciples of the reformed Church, or to induce meditation and by means of this lead to

volvement. And even if the reuse of antiquity is not a characteristic exclusive to the

ascesis. Research led by Daniel Russo on medieval painting in Burgundy has indicated possible ways to examine the influence of the Reform on 'French' visual culture. 93 A

Reform, it is also true that antiquarian recoveries made between the eleventh and twelfth centuries should be assessed on a case by case basis within the context of their commissions. The return to late antiquity, not only in Italy, was so widespread that it can be defined, citing Barral i Altet, as «obsessive». 88

similar method has been applied to the study of the Iberian peninsula, and has con-

Alain Erlande Brandeburg has considered the boundaries of the phenomenon

firmed the permeability of artistic production and the reform process in an 'European' context. 94 Especially, as Barbara Franze has indicated, this is true for the

of the eleventh and twelfth century renaissance paleochretienne, and has extended

spread of decorative modes inspired by the Reform in French territories, starting

them to include, for its artistic continuity, early Christian gothic French architecture 89

83

Quintavalle 2010, 220; Quintavalle 2015. 84 Barra) i Altet 2010, 76; Barral i Altet 2015. tts Ba rra Ii Altet 2010, 78 . 11 H llorrn l i Altet2009 12006]. "' II I r 1•1il /\ It t 20 III, 711 79; Barral i Altet 2015. "" l\1111 1111 lh•t 2(11111I 111111, 1, '170-180: 180.

Erlande-Brandeburg 2010, 91. Along the same lines, see also Quintavalle 2012.

°Franze ed. 2015.

9

Russo 2008, 6-8. There] 1984; Russo 1996. In general, on the cult of the Virgin in the Middle Ages, see Iogna-Prat et al. ed. 1996. 93 Russo ed. 2003; Russo ed. 2005. 94 Franze 2015a, 12. 91 92

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Stefano Riccioni

with the council of Reims in 1049, called by Leone IX. 95 In France, the reformers had

production tied to the principles of the Reform, thereby undermining the role of the

designed churches based on antique models, for example at Saint-Remi de Reims, 96

'pilgrimage routes'.10s The art of the Reform was not a unitary movement, as we are reminded by Jean

at Saint-Sernin of Toulouse, 97 and at Moissac. 98 Reveiron has shown how the architectural choices made by Hugh of Semur, abbot of Cluny from 1049 to 1109, are a 'Gregorian' manifesto,99 while Pierre Caillet has identified the influence of reform ideals in the iconography of the saints at Saint-Aubin d' Anger. 100

Wirth, whose comparison of programmatic ideals with architectural projects and iconographic subjects, has unveiled numerous contradictions. The Church's desire

On the dissemination of the principles of Church Reform art on Spanish territo-

to break away from the terrestrial world in order to reach ascesis was in conflict with the need to adorn buildings with luxurious decorations; even the intent of ex-

ry, Manuel Castin.eras has convincingly examined the art of Santiago de Composte-

alting the Church through the glorification of the image of Christ can in part be

la at the time of Diego Gelmirez, and has demonstrated that there was a figurative

seen as contradictory, due to the subject of the incarnation and therefore the repre-

program centered on the fundamental example of the Roman basilicas and of their liturgical furnishings. 101 These connections, in liturgical terms, can also be found in

sentation of corporeal elements that carried sexual metaphors.106 In addition, as is

the Creation embroidery in Girona, made on occasion of the reform council of 1097.102 Immaculada Loren i Otzet has also shown the indebtedness of the architec-

urative arts could no longer be considered in terms of direct control and influence, especially outside of Rome and of the Lazio. It is however important to extensively

ture of the churches of Alao and of Santa Maria and Sant Climent of Taiill to the

examine regional contexts and local practices. 107 The common factor that scholars have highlighted is that between the eleventh

Roman basilicas rebuilt by the reformer bishop Raimond (1104-1126), which were

rightly suggested by Russo, the relations between the Church Reform and the fig-

consecrated with relics brought from Rome of Saints Stephen, Lawrence, Clement, and Corenlius. 103

and twelfth centuries, participatory and emotional aspects of artistic production,

In particular, according to Dulce Ocon Alonso, St. Lawrence represents the tie between the papacy and the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Ocon Alonso exam-

important. 108 These elements were not new for the Church, since, as can be seen from the letters by Gregory the Great to Serenus, or in the Libri Carolini, 109 the di-

ined a capital in the cathedral of Jaca and attributed it to an artisan who had worked with Wiligelmo, active in the abbatial church of S. Silvestro in Nonantola,

dactic potential of works of art through the participation of the faithful was already clearly of interest. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, however, there was a

then summoned to Aragon, through Mathilde of Canossa, to create the sarcophagus for Dona Sancha. 104 Finally, Rose Walker has demonstrated that papal legates in

renewed consciousness of the function of the arts (together with greater technical

Spain and their networks are key for understanding the dissemination of an artistic

fueled by the need to disseminate new ecclesiological and political messages. The main artistic expressions of the Reform are based on the involvement of

that is, the performative and experiential dimension of art, become increasingly

ability), based on more sophisticated rhetorical methods of communication, also

the audience. In Rome, the mosaic of S. Clemente is conceived around the Christmas liturgy, during which the very city was crossed by cyclical processions lead by Franze 2011; Franze 2013. Devroey 2013; Spencer 2018. 97 Franze 2018a. 98 Franze 2015c. 99 Reveiron 2015, 65-70. 10 °Caillet 2015. 101 Castiiieras 2005; Castiiieras 2010, 69. On the early examinations that found ties with the Roman production, see Moralejo 1980. 102 Castiiieras 2011; Castiiieras 2015. 103 Lores i Otzet 2015. 104 Ocon Alonso 2015. 95

96

24

the pope who was followed by the faithful and the Roman nobles while together singing hymns. Liturgies were characterized by their performative aspects, as in the nocturnal ceremony of the lighting of the Paschal candle and in the intonation of

Walker 2015. Wirth 1999, 195-327. 107 Russo 2008, 10. 108 On art and experience see Carruthers 2013; Kessler 2019b. 109 Freeman 1957; Morrison 2006; Mitalaite 2007.

105

106

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the Exultet, 110 or, to remain on Easter themes, the liturgical 'functioning' of the Gi-

where he died in 1123.11 9 His numerous works were widely diffused during the

rona embroidery,m and finally, also in the dedicatory celebrations of churches that

Middle Ages, especially in monastic contexts, and treated with extreme rigor the

required the participation of the faithful who followed the bishop and clergy in procession, chanting hymns inside and outside the church. 112 It was a ritual that

topics that were most dear to the Reform: the habits of the clergy, the interpretation of the Bible, and the symbolism of the misteri of the liturgy. In De Sacramentis ecclesi-

«engaged all of the senses of the participants in physical movement, darkness and

ae120 and in Sententiae, 121 Bruno provides, through the figure of Rhetoric, a careful

light in the new church, concealment and revelation of the altar, the smell of in-

and detailed correlation between architecture, liturgical furnishings, decorative elements, and the symbolic universe of the Bible. 122

cense, and possibly the taste of the consecrated bread and wine». 113

In De sacramentis ecclesiae, the foundations of the church are Jesus and the prophets;123 the columns are the apostles; 124 the windows are the Fathers of the Church;125 and the walls represent the congregation of saints. 126 The unity of the church is

1.4. The Visual Experience

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, writers interpreted the architecture and decoration of churches allegorically as a mirror of biblical and liturgical knowledge. In the writings of Bruno of Segni, 114 Honorius Augustodunensis 115 and

based on concord and peace, as an example to the faithful. 127 Bruno wrote: «In the house of God nothing must appear fatuous or foolish, ugly or impure». 128 In De fig-

uris ecclesiae he also stated: «In the temple nothing is idle; whatever is written or

Sicardus of Cremona, 116 the church is a sacred space, a microcosm designed to re-

carved is written for our instruction. The walls themselves teach us and, in a certain

flect the macrocosm. Bruno di Segni was among the first to describe the church building as a sym-

way, speak to us». 129

bolic universe, suggesting a comparison between architecture, liturgical furniture,

dactic ones, a concept that is present even in the most famous works by Peter

decoration, biblical symbolism, and the members of the Church.

Damian (1007-1072).

Bruno di Asti (ea. 1048-1123), elected bishop of Segni by Gregory VII, was close to the principles of the Reform since its earliest iterations.

117

He participated in the violent debate against Berengarius of Tours and his eucharistic doctrine, 118 and was chancellor and librarian of the Church along with Victor III and the elector of Urban II. With the latter, Bruno participated in the council of Clermont, where it was decided to send the First Crusade to the Holy Land. In 1105, Bruno retired to the monastery of Montecassino where he was elected abbot in 1107. Following the controversy with Paschal II and after he left the charge of abbot, he retired to Segni Pentcheva 2020. Castineras 2015, 156-158. 112 Hamilton 2005; Hamilton 2010. 113 Hamilton 2010, 19. 114 Bruno Signensis, Tractatus, III, De sacramentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 1089B-1110A; Id., Sententiae, I, De figuris ecclesiae, PL 165, 875A-902B; Id., Sententiae, II, De ornamentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 901B-942D. On Bruno of Segni and the art of renovatio ecclesiae, see Hamilton 2005; Riccioni 2006; Kessler 2007a; Hamilton 2010. 115 Honorius Augustodunensis, Gemma animae, PL 172, 541-738. 116 Sicardus Cremonensis, Mitrale seu De officiis ecclesiasticis summa, PL 213, 13-433. 117 On the life and works by Bruno of Segni, see Gregoire 1965; Hoffmann 1972; Navarra 1980. " " apitani 1959-1961, 127- 1 0. 110

111

The focus on art was not turned so much to the aesthetic aspects but to the di-

11 9

Gregoire 1965; Hoffmann 1972; Cipollini ed. 2001. Bruno Signensis, Tractatus, III, De sacramentis eccleisae, PL 165, 1089B-1110A. 121 Id., Sententiae, I, De figuris ecclesiae, PL 165, 875A-902B; Id., Sententiae, II, De ornamentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 9018-9420. 122 On the matter, see the comment by Hamilton 2010, 172-179. 123 Bruno Signensis, Tractatus, III, De sacramentis eccl~siae, PL 165, 895C: «Habet igitur Ecclesia fundarnentum, apostolos videlicet et prophetas, et Jesum Dominum et Salvatorem nostrum, fundamentorum omnium fundamentum». 124 Id., Sententiae, I, De figuris ecclesiae, PL 165, 896A: «Habet autem et colurnnas, quales Petrus, Jacobus et Joannes fuerunt, qui Ecclesiae colurnnas ab ipso Apostolo vocantur. Has autem columnas illae duae columnae significabant, quae ante fores templi stabant, quarum altera Jachim, altera Booz vocabatur. Has e t istae columnae significant, quas hos parietes sustinere videtis». 125 Ibid., 896B: «Per fenestras vero episcopos et doctores ornnesque alios intelligere possumus, quorum doctrina et exemplis haec domus Domini illuminatur. Ad hoe enim fenestrae fiunt, et hoe illarum officium, et haec utilitas est, ut luminis claritatem praebeant et tenebrarum caliginem pellant». 126 Ibid., 896A: «Per lapides autem quibus parietes construuntur, omnis haec populi multitudo significatur». 127 Ibid., 896B: «Sicut enim sola pax et concordia hos lapides ligat, ita sola discordia eos dissociat. Isti igitur parietes nos doceant; isti lapides nos instruant, qualiter nos diligere et pacem et concordiam tenere debeamus». 128 Bruno Signensis, Sententiae, II, De ornamentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 940C: « [... ) nihil fatuum et stultum, nihil turpe et immundum in domo Dei apparere debet». 129 Id., Sententiae, I, De figuris ecclesiae, PL 165, 886C-886D: «Nihil in templo otiosum est; quaecunque scripta, vel sculpta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt. Ipsi parietes nos docent, et quodammodo loquuntur nobis ». 120

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Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

After having studied the liberal arts in Faenza and Parma, and having distin-

case, we are dealing with a practice that was considered necessary in order to reach

guished himself in their teaching, Damian retired to the hermitage of Fonte Avella-

detachment from worldliness and for the success of monastic life.

na where he became prior of the Camaldolite community (1043). In 1057, Damian was consecrated bishop of Ostia by Stephan IX, whose intent was to bring him clos-

The relation between art theory and reform has long been based on iconographic aspects and circumscribed by the dialectic of tradition-innovation, in line

er to Rome. He was a rigid opposer to the dissolute habits of the clergy and was one

with the work of Toubert. However, as we have seen, there are numerous insights

of the most active and influential Church reformers. His works are varied and

on artistic production in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in the works by Peter

complex, and range from theological and ecclesiological treatises, to sermons, to the

Damian and Bruno of Segni, both protagonists of the Reform and in a certain manner also ideological guides for the movement. 136

lives of saints and include a large collection of letters.

130

One of the most famous

without surprise, why late antique representations show Paul to the right of Christ

Kessler, in fact, by reconstructing the numerous contributions about art in the medieval literature of this period, has identified a theory of art in the context of a

and Peter to his left, when it should be the contrary. Damian' s answer was based on

larger movement that originated from Gregory the Great's writings.13 7 This theory

the fact that this arrangement of saints was already present in the early Christian monuments of Constantine and St. Sylvester; the authority of these preceding ex-

concerns a theme that can be traced also in the iconographic program at Ceri, and in particular, in the complex representation of the burning bush, 138 flanked and

amples suggested the adoption of the same scheme in the decoration of sacred

made explicit by the text (now fragmentary) under the scene: Nee Deus est nee homo

buildings. The reference to tradition and to its auctoritas, as represented by the ancient

praesens quam cernis imago, sed Deus est et homo quern sacra figurat imago. 139 These two verses, widely popular and often associated to the crucifixion, are found in the

monuments was enough to justify apparently 'anomalous' iconographies and to

works of Hildebert of Lavardin and Baudri of Bourgeuil, 140 previously mentioned,

make them normative. 132 Peter Damian and Desiderius were also in close contact

who belonged to the so-called circle of the Loire. 141 Or, in the mosaic of S. Clemente,

with each other during the construction of the basilica of Montecassino, and in the

where the visual trajectory is inspired by the texts of Peter Damian and Bruno of

sermon which Damian wrote on occasion of the dedication of the church, he

Segni, and which is organized on principles of mnemonics derived from rhetoric as

evoked the Reform and the return to the antiquities of the early Christians. 133 The friendship and continuous exchange between the two figures is also

taught in the monastic context, and in function of the reform canons' meditation. 142 The decorative system of the mosaic is in fact configured as if it were a monumental

demonstrated by the Bestiary that Peter Damian sent to Desiderius for use in the and in particular monks, to meditation and to self-consciousness. 135 Even in this

machina memorialis in which color sets in motion the different visual objects and the texts function as imagines agentes o imagines rerum, 143 whose reading is ordered by symmetry and surveilled by rhetorical ordination. 144 In this process of aesthetic ex-

On Peter Damian, see Leclercq 1960; Fomasari 1996; Longo 2012a; Longo 2015 with reference to the previous bibliography. On Peter Damian's epistolary, see the editions: Petrus Damianus Epistulae; Petrus Damianus I Reindell ed. 1983-1993; Peter Damian, The Letters of Peter Damian 151 -180, translated by O.J. Blum and I.M. Resnick (The Fathers of the Church Mediaeval Continuation) (Washington D.C., 2005). m Petrus Damianus, Opusculum XXXV, PL 145, 589B-596B. See Leclercq 1960, 233. On the representation of the apostles Peter and Paul in ' reformed' terms, see Filippini 2003. 132 Toubert 2001 [1990], 101-102. 133 Hamilton 2010, 95. 134 On this term, see Bremond et al. 1982. 135 Petrus Damianus, Opusculum LII, PL 145, 7858-C: «Omnes plane naturas animalium, quas supra perstrinximus, si quis elaboret solerter inspicere, utiliter poterit in humanae conversionis exempla transferre, ut q1111 It r homo vivat, ab ipsa quoque rationis ignara pecorum natura condiscat. Nam, ut Apostolus ait: 'Non 1•!11 I l1•0 r ur, de bobus' sed dum in brutis animalibus aliquid insigne conspicitur, homo protinus, ut

quidquid illud est ad sui considerationem retorqueat, admonetur». On the 'letter' of exhortation to ascetic life written to Desiderius by Peter Damian, see Crostini 2010, 160-162. 136 Riccioni 2011b, 328. 137 Kessler 2005; Kessler 2019a. 138 Zchomelidse 2003. 139 Kessler 2007a, 32: «What you see here is not a representation of a god or a man / This sacred image represents both god and man at one time». 14 0 Arnulf 1997, 276-79; Kessler 2007b. 14 1 Bond 1995. 142 Riccioni 2006. 143 On the function of images and the mechanisms of memory and their rhetorical application, see Carruthers 1990; Carruthers 1998. 144 Riccioni 2006, 39-40, 70-75.

letters is that in response to Desiderius, abbot of Montecassino, who asked him, not

131

monastic community. It clearly shows that the animals are exempla that lead men, 134

130

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

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Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 or 1091-1153),150 was born into a noble family, and

perience, the inscriptions perform a fundamental role, not only of guidance, but of amplification of meaning. 145 Moreover, they activate emotions that, if correctly

after becoming a Cistercian monk in the Motherhouse of the monastery of Citeaux

guided, as believed by Gregory the Great, allowed the faithful to be lifted up to

(1112), founded the abbey of Clairvaux (1115). There he dedicated himself to the

God. Both in the writings of Bruno and in those by Peter Damian, images offer the

growth and organization of the Cistercian order and defended it against the controversy with the Cluniac order, 151 as can be seen in the Apologia ad Guilelmum ab-

opportunity to enter into a meditation that will bring to ascesis, according to an

batem (ea. 1125),152 in which he strongly argues for the implementation of the rule of

anagogical process in which there is a progressive detachment from corporeality.

St. Benedict.

The two monks, in fact, believed that the energy generated by the beholder's emo-

During the council of Etampes (1130), he openly sided against Anacletus II in

tions, activated by artistic vision, could transform physical sight into spiritual contemplation of Divine invisibility. 146 Besides, the idea that images could arouse de-

favor of Innocent II. Bernard believed that Innocent II represented the traditional

sire for an invisible God was already present in Gregory the Great' s famous letter to Serenus of Marseilles, especially, in the interpolated version of the letter: 147 «When

triumph. As an energetic defender of the moral principles as well as the political and material rights of the Church, Bernard laid the theoretical grounds that justi-

you see the picture, you are inflamed in your soul with love of him whose image

fied the Second Crusade (1146-1147) and that regulated the new religious-military

you wish to see. We do not harm in wishing to show the invisible by means of the visible». 148

orders, among which were the Templars. Bernard was a great sacred orator but not exactly a theologian.153 His most notable work, in fact, is constituted by sermons: in

According to Bruno, the function of church decoration was to initiate an anagogical process: «When the ornament of hope becomes visible, the whole church is

particular, those worth mentioning are his commentary to the Song of Songs and the homilies in honor of the Virgin.154

elevated into a state of contemplation and is raised up from the earthly into the

Unlike Bernard, Suger (1081-1151) was born in a family of humble origins. He

heavenly realm so that, even though it remains physically in the world, one might say confidently 'our citizenship is in heaven' ».149

was first oblate in the abbey of Saint-Denis (1091) and became friends with the king

values of the Church, and therefore, as we have seen, decisively contributed to his

It is also possible to recognize analogous arguments in the writings of two key

of France, Louis VI, his fellow disciple, who accompanied him in almost all his military expeditions. 155 In 1122, Suger was elected abbot of Saint-Denis, and then be-

figures of the twelfth century, whose lives were tied to the events that lead to the

came Louis VI's family advisor, a role that he continued to hold under Louis VII

decoration of S. Maria in Trastevere: St. Bernard of Clairvaux and abbot Suger, con-

(1137-1180). Suger actively participated in the kingdom's affairs and became regent

temporaries who were both monks and abbots.

in the last years of his life (1147-1149). His ideas regarding art and its function can be found throughout his writings that bear witness to the works in the church of Saint-Denis and the tum towards 'gothic' forms. 156 The Ordinatio (1140-1142), De

Riccioni 2007; Riccioni 2011b, 326-327. Kessler 2007a, 32. 147 Gregorius Magnus, Registrum epistularum, ed. D. Norberg, CCSL 140, 1110-1111. On the letter to Serenus of Marseilles, see Chazelle 1990. It is important to note that the original letter is distinct from its mid 3u, century interpolation, which linked pictures directly to the Incarnation, see Kessler 2019a, 221-222, with bibliography. On the subject of spiritual sight, see Kessler 2000; de Nie, Morrison, Mostert ed. 2005; Hamburger, Bouche ed. 2006. 148 Gregorius Magnus, Registrum epis tularum, ed. D. Norberg, CCSL, 140 (Turnhout, 1992), 1110-1111. Translation by Kessler 2019a, 222; Kessler 2000, 124-135. 149 Bruno Signensis, Sententiae, II, De ornamentis ecclesiae, PL 145, 941A-B: «Quando vero spei ornamentum mn nifestatur, tune Iota in contemplationem erigitur, et a terrenis ad coelestia sublimatur, ut, quamvis corpo11 • n mundo sit, confidenter dicere audeat: ' Nostra conversatio in coelis est' (Philip. Ill, 20) », translated by I ,,~ I,,, 007 , 0. 14 5

146

Il l

consecratione ecclesiae Sancti Dionysii (post 1144), and De rebus in administratione sua Manselli 1970; Baroffio 1992. Romanini 1983. 152 Rudo! ph 1990b. 153 His most important work in this sense is De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae. 154 Bernardus Claraevallensis, Sermones in Cantica Canticorum, PL 183, 785A-1198A; Bernardus Claraevallensis, Sermoni sul Cantico dei Cantici, Parle I, I-XXXV (Roma, 2006); Id., Sermoni sul Cantico dei Cantici, Parle II, XXXVI-LXXXVI (Milano, 2008) . See also, Bernardo di Chiaravalle, Gli scritti mariani, nuova traduzione della edizione critica cistercense con introduzione e note di mons. Paolino Limong i (Roma, 1980); Raugel 1935. 155 Cecchini 2000; Gasparri 2015. 156 For the "antiquarian" elements of "gothic" art see Lucherini 2010. 1 50

151

31

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

gestis (c. 1150) provide, along with the Testamentum (1137), ample descriptions of

wanted to have Bernard in his close circle of trusted friends during the illness that

the works done in Saint-Denis. 157 Innocent II must also have witnessed the construc-

eventually led to his death. 164 The famous passage from the Apologia ad Guillelmum (chapter 12), written by Bernard to his student William of Saint-Thierry, has long been considered as an

tion since he was hosted by Suger during his exile. The consecration of the church, indeed, took place in 1140 (two years after Innocent II's return to Rome), and in (one year after the probable conclusion of the mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere and

expression of Bernard's theories on art. 165 However, as Conrad Rudolph has more recently demonstrated, Bernard was

the death of Innocent II).

not expressing an aesthetic judgment, but rather he was manifesting his worries

1144 a new choir was inaugurated with a double ambulatory and radial chapels

pecially, in coming up with the ideological justification for the architectural and

that the decoration of monasteries might be distracting for the monks and lead to excessive expenses. 166 Even if Bernard understood the function of art in churches 167

ornamental innovations in the church. 158 He traveled frequently and visited Rome,

and welcomed in a mystical sense the poetics of light, 168 he could not justify the

Montecassino, southern Italy, but also Normandy, Burgundy and southern France.

presence of decorations in monasteries. 169 Monastic churches, in fact, were only for

The works that he saw in Italy, in particular, conditioned his artistic choices, such

monks and not destined to serve the public, as were pastoral churches where the

as in the recovery of antiquity, as evident in the project to take the columns from

abbot accepted the use of images following the criteria of necessitas and utilitas.170

the Baths of Diocletian to Saint-Denis as spolia of papal Rome. 159 Even the numerous

Monks, who could read, were meant to concentrate on prayer since they could un-

inscriptions disseminated around the church, in the symbolic interior and exterior

derstand the stories of the sacred scriptures, without the help of distracting images.

spaces, on the windows and on the liturgical objects,

evidence a precise strategy

Bernard's preoccupations were mainly turned to the material customs that defined

in line with Suger's time. Together they constitute a true and proper «program of

monastic life (food, drink, clothing), and his critiques regarded excess riches rather

graphic display», 161 meant to exalt, together with the sacred spaces, the dominus, or

than art, and, in fact, the Apologia includes art and architecture (maiora) in a process

the patron of the project. Above all, Suger justified the reconstruction of the choir through the aesthetic of light162 and defined, with the term more anagogico, the aes-

that starts with private practices (parva). 171 With regards to Bernard's notion of art, it can be said that he recognized the

thetic experience in the contemplation of a work of art that can be described as a

formositas (beauty) of images and understood their evocative and emotional power,

movement of spiritual ascent, from the material to the immaterial. 163

which was able to distract monks, but also to 'attract' the illiterate if correctly guid-

Suger had a defining role in the development of the decorative project and, es-

160

Much has been written in the attempt to identify and analyze a theory of art in

ed.

the works of the two abbots, while highlighting their disagreement, although this should be traced back to an institutional controversy between Citeaux and Cluny. Especially after the failure of the Second Crusade, which was vigorously supported by Bernard, the two abbots were close and supported one another. Suger, in fact,

157

For the edition and translation of the works of Suger, see Panofsky 1979 [1949], 40-81 (De Administratione), 82-121 (De Consecratione). New edition and French translation in Suger, Oeuvres. 158 Lieber Gerson ed. 1986; Rudolph 1990a. 159 Lucherini 2010, 98-102. 160 Many of the lost inscriptions can be found in Suger, De rebus in administratione. The first to consider this important documentary heritage related to the images was Panofsky 1979 [1946]; see also Thun0 2011. 161 On the definition of «program of graphic display», see Petrucci 1986, XXI. 162 Suger, De consecratione, IV, ed. Panofsky 1979 [1946], 82-121. 163 Id., De rebus in administratione, XXXIII, ed. Panofsky 1979 [1946], 62-65.

32

Norton 2006, 2 and note n. 6. For a bibliographic review, see Bemardus Claraevallensis, Apologia ad Guillelmum abbatem, ed. Amerio (Milano, 1984); Rudolph 1989; Rudolph 1990b, 13-19. 166 Rudolph 1988, 125-132; Rudolph 1990b, 10-12, 306-309. 167 Bemardus Claraevallensis, Apologia ad Guillelmum abbatem, XII, 28, ed. Amerio (Milano, 1984), 210: «I agree, let us put up with these things which are found in the church, since even if they are harmful to the shallow and avaricious, they are not to the simple and devout», translation by Rudolph 1990b, 11. 168 Simi Varanelli 1979, 126. 169 Bemardus Claraevallensis, Apologia ad Guillelmum abbatem, XII, 29, ed. Amerio (Milano, 1984), 210: «But apart from this, in the cloisters, before the eyes of the brothers while they read - what is that ridiculous monstrosity doing, an amazing kind of deformed beauty and yet a beautiful deformity?», translation by Rudolph 1990b, 11. 1 70 Simi Varanelli 1979, 129. 171 Lawrence 1995, 42-45; Gajewski 2011, 44. 16 4

1 65

33

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

In tum, Suger, in De consecratione ecclesiae Sancti Dionysii and in De rebus in ad-

biblical exegesis underlying the iconographic programs exhibited in the windows

ministratione sua gestis, records the reconstruction activity and decoration of the

of the choir and in the sculptures of the portals. 178

church of Saint-Denis, as well as the administration of the abbey and its properties. In the second part of De administratione, Suger describes the reconstruction justify-

Suger, therefore, by decorating and embellishing his church, believed that he was reproducing the path that brought from material realities (marble, precious

ing it theoretically according to the Neoplatonic theory of Pseudo-Dionysius the

stones, gold, and silver), that were ever more brilliant and resplendent in beauty, to

Areopagite, following a process that from material reality leads to the spiritual. 172

spiritual realities that, through an anagogical process, could lead to God. Natural

However, it was not the direct reading of Pseudo-Dionysius' works that inspired

light, symbol of divine light, was the privileged vehicle for this process, by means

Suger, whose use of light symbolism, in a generic and conventional manner, was

of which one may reach spiritual beatitude. It is not possible to ignore that the ar-

actually indebted to the interpretation given by Hugh of Saint-Victor. In particular,

guments of Suger (and of Hugh of Saint-Victor) are remarkably close to Bruno of

in the Commentarii in Hierarchiam coelestem, written before 1125 and updated after

Segni' s approach and are its natural continuation. The aesthetic experience activa t-

1137, Hugh had laid the ground for the incorporation of Pseudo-Dionysian think-

ed by the resplendent beauty of art objects allows for the soul to be lifted to God and to detach itself from mundanity.

173

ing into the theological-contemplative Christian tradition of Augustinian imprint. Hugh wrote: «If we wish to raise the mind's eye towards invisible realities we have

to consider images of visible things as references for knowledge»; 174 an axiom that 175

Bernard's position is in contrast to Suger's (and of followers of Hugh of SaintVictor) especially in practice; both, in fact, recognize the potential of aesthetic expe-

For Hugh, in fact, the experience of the

rience. Suger adhered to a form of traditional monasticism that accepted an en-

sensible world, with visible forms as images of invisible beauty, activates the pro-

gagement with worldly life, while Bernard was dedicated to an austere and re-

cess of the soul's elevation. 176 Aesthetic experience is spiritual experience and leads

formed approach of monasticism, which renounced mundanity. For Bernard, all

to knowledge through emotive participation. Here emerges the process outlined in Hans Belting's definition of iconic presence: «Iconic presence is presence in and as a

that belonged to the material world, including the furnishings and decorations of the church, constituted a distraction from the divine, that could only be reached

picture. The physical presence of a picture in our world refers to the symbolic pres-

through privations. Art, for Bernard, was thus a spiritual distraction. By contrast,

ence which it depicts. Similar to body and voice - and different from writing - the

Suger accepted monastic art, because it functioned in a comparable way to an exegetical reading of Scripture. It was not an art meant for the illiterate, but rather for

places him far from the Cistercian world.

picture involves a representation which produces an impression of presence». 177 In the context of the controversy provoked by the Cistercians on the role of monastic art, Suger's appeal to Hugh of Saint-Victor's med~ation of Pseudo-

the litterati, namely educated monks. In reality, art served both categories because it was intellectually accessible for monks and visually accessible for the laity. 179

Dionysius' ideas was instrumental. In this way Suger was able to justify art as a

Bernard and Suger, however, as monks, pursued the same aims: the detach-

spiritual aid for the literate clergy due to the exercise of deciphering the complex

ment from mundanity and the achievement of ascesis; both, in fact, had experienced worldly distractions in an analogous way.1so The art of the twelfth century is therefore strongly based on the principles of

Panofsky 1979 (1946), 19-23. On Pseudo-Dionysius and Suger, see Dell'Acqua 2014, with bibliography. For an indepth discussion of Pseudo-Dionysius and his impact on the figurative Christian culture, see Dell' Acqua, Mainoldi ed. 2020. 173 Zinn 1986; Kidson 1987; Rudolph, 1990a. 174 Hugo de Sancto Victore, De vanitate mundi, PL 176, 715A-C. 175 De Bruyne 1975, 203-254: 213, 238; Subacchi 2016, 231. 176 Hugo de Sancto Victore, In Hierarchiam caelestem commentaria, PL 175, 949B. 177 Belting 2016, 235. On the notion of 'iconic presence' in medieval art, see Belting 2001 (1990); Belting, Foletti, Lesak ed. 2019. For an anthropological examination of images, see Belting 2004 [2001). 172

II

rhetorical construction, the elaboration of imagines agentes, 181 and of the performa-

178

Rudolph 1990a. Rudolph 1990b, 197. 18 °For instance, the two monks were involved, around 1140, in the circulation of precious gems in the possession of Henry I of England which led to their reuse for the monumental gold cross of St. Denis. See Norton 2006, 2. 181 Carruthers 1990; Carruthers 1998; Carruthers 2013. 119

35

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

tive dimension of vision. 182 For the individual, inserted within his or her own envi-

not far from figural, and more broadly, visual works. 192 On this matter, Peter Dami-

ronment, these elements generated a transformative aesthetic experience through

an and Bruno were in sync. 193 If the intent is to find a common element in the art produced in Reform con-

an emotive response. 183 According to John Dewey «environment» is «the whole scheme of things [... ] the imaginative and the emotional». 184 Indeed, the environ-

texts, one should not look to visual representations used for the legitimization of

ment conditions the emotions 185 and, as studies on proxemics have shown, a greater

power, or to ideological terms, or to the formal recovery of decorative elements

or lesser distance determines meaning.

To understand what Dewey intended as

from antiquity, or to the iconographic subjects that also characterize certain works.

the aesthetic quality of experience, it is necessary to refer to Thomas Alexander's

Each of these elements can, from time to time, be examined on the basis of its ab-

ontological framework, according to which, human organisms are corporeal beings that depend on the environment in order to live. 187

sence/presence or major/minor adherence to the ideological principles of the Re-

Art produced in the context of reformed environments seems therefore to be

these years within the context of the Church Reform: the attention to emotive par-

based on the desire to solicit the emotions, that is, to intervene by means of matter

ticipation, even if selective, of the public and the construction of (decorated) envi-

(decorated space, but also art objects), on the individual, activating the senses and

ronments capable of containing and soliciting such participation. William of Saint-Thierry, the Cistercian abbot to whom St. Bernard had sent his

186

triggering a process of transformation/understanding. In the psychology of the Victorines «the joy felt in experiencing sensuous harmony was a prolongation of phys-

form. One element, however, seems to unify the various artistic works produced in

ical pleasure, it was rooted in the affective life, and grounded in an ontologically

Apologia, modified Gregory the Great' s maxim that had indicated the government of souls as the art of arts. 194 He stated that ars est artium ars amoris (the art of arts is

real correspondence between the structure of mind and the structure of matter».188

the art of love), 195 thereby revealing a powerful cultural change, 196 in which the

According to Richard of Saint-Victor, a pupil of Hugh, contemplation is «a state of

emotive dimension was privileged. The art of the Reform was conceived and made to involve the spectator in the

clear insight and admiration at the spectacle of wisdom», it has an aesthetic character that, through beauty, lifts the soul to ecstasy as it is completely absorbed in 189

the object. 190

environment in which he is immersed, to accompany him along the way to knowledge, and to guide him through colors, but also through sound and more

emotions of the audience. 191 In a similar manner, the reformed liturgy, which was

generally through the participation of the senses, 197 which affect the emotions and the mind. If a reformed art exists, it may be characterized as a progressive and con-

increasingly more spectacularized and participatory, as demonstrated, for example,

scious attention on the part of the ecclesiastical patrons to the experiential practices

by the practices of consecration and the sermons for the dedication of churches, was

of the faithful/observers, who are immersed in aesthetic contemplation and made

Not by chance, the art of this period had close ties to theater, which moved the

participant to the process of the soul's elevation, according to a process that at the same time was being developed in the context of liturgical activities. 182

Biernoff 2002. On the aesthetic experience, see Dewey 1934. On the ensuing extensive debate about the theme, see at least Goldblatt 2006; Russo ed. 2007. 184 Dewey 1934, 333. 185 Dewey 1931; Dreon 2007. 186 Hall 1966. 187 Alexander 2002, 5. For a more extensive examination of Dewey's work and its relevance for philosophical and anthropological debates, see Dreon 2012; Dreon 2020. 188 Eco 1986 (1959], 66. 189 Ricardus de Sancto Victore, Benjamin Major, I, 4, PL 196, 67. 190 Eco 1986 (1959], 67. 191 Bino 2017. 183

36

Mehu 2007; Mehu 2016. Hamilton 2010, 89-117, 162-226. 19 4 Gregorius Magnus, Regulae pastoralis, PL 77, 13C: «ars est artium regimen animarum». 195 Guillelmus Santi Theoderici, Tractatu s de natura et dignitate amoris, PL 184, 379C. 196 Stella 2021, 291-302, esp. 294. 197 Hugo de Sancto Victore, De tribus diebus, XII-XIII, PL 176, 8200-8210. On the five senses, especially during the twelfth century, see Palazzo 2017 (2014], 77-83.

1 92

193

37

CHAPTER2

5. MARIA IN TRASTEVERE

2.1. Historical Sources The origins of the church of S. Maria in Trastevere go back to the year 38 BC when a miraculous event allegedly took place in which a Jons olei, a 'spring of oil', suddenly appeared on the east side of the Tiber, and flowed for one day. 1 The legend was first mentioned by Cassius Dio in Roman History,2 dated to the third century. Cassius' most probable source was Livy. 3 In the fourth century, St. Jerome, 4 commenting the Chronicon Eusebiano, 5 gave the Christian version of the story, placing the Jons olei at the site called taberna Meritoria trans Tiberim, that is, according to medieval belief, a place where retired soldiers (milites emeriti) met. 6 Jerome wrote that the large Jewish community in Trastevere interpreted it as a sign that God's grace would soon flow onto the world, while Christians interpreted the event as a prophecy of the coming of Christ (fig. 2). 7 Because of the spring, the taberna Merito-

ria, became a meeting spot for the first Roman converts to Christianity. In this place, or its immediate vicinity, Julius I (337-352) built the church of S. Maria in Trastevere. It was located near the Tiber and its commercial activities, in the quarter traditionally inhabited by the Jewish community. The church was probably built in the De Spirito 1995, 260; Leggenda 2015; Bartoli 2017, 76-78, 80, 92-93. Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Historiae Romanae, XL VIII, 43, 4, ed. H. Baldwin Foster, transl. by E. Cary, vol. V (Cambridge, MA-London, 1961), 311: «Now many events of a portentous nature had occurred even before this, such as the spouting of olive oil on the bank of the Tiber, and many also at this time. Thus the hut of Romulus was burned as a result of some ritual which the pontifices were performing in it; a statue of Virtues, which stood before one of the gates, fell upon its face, and certain persons, becoming inspired by the Mother of the Gods, declared that the goddess was angry with them ». See Bartoli 2017, 77, n . 5; Zuccari 2021, 232-235. 3 Osgood 2006, 197. 4 Hyeronimus Stridonensis, lnterpretatio chronicae Eusebii Pamphili, Romanorum II, regnavit Octavianus Caesar, PL 27,541. 5 Eusebius Caesariensis, Chronicon liber secundus, PG 19, 521. 6 Orosius and Paulus Diaconus repeat the story reported by Jerome. See Paulus Orosius, Historiarum libri septem, VI, 18 and 20, PL 31, 10476, 1054A (also CSEL 5, 413, 420); Paulus Diaconus, Historia romana, 7, 8, MGH 49 (1978), 60; Cecchelli 1933, 10; Mirabilia urbis Romae 2004, 176-177. 7 Osgood 2006, 197. 1

2

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

sixth century, when for the first time the titulus Santae Mariae appeared,8 but the

the mosaic, contrary to Roman tradition, showed the apse and not the entrance,

church was restored and embellished in the ninth century by Gregory IV. 9 In 1091

thereby emphasizing the decoration commissioned by Innocent II. 15 Nevertheless,

the building was damaged by a strong earthquake10 and it remained in poor condition until the twelfth century when the basilica was entirely reconstructed.

Dale Kinney has observed that the watercolor copy of the mosaic made by Antonio Eclissi in 164016 seems to show a round window rather than an apse.17 In this aspect,

The controversies that followed the schism of 1130 complicated the subsequent

it differs from the preliminary sketch in the British Royal Collection that shows an

history. During the papacy of Callixtus II (1119-1124), the building was entrusted to Pietro Pierleoni who had supported the election of the pope. In 1123, Callixtus II

unusual view of «two sides of a prism with no indication of masonry, and a roof».18 Both drawings seem to reflect the restoration dated to the end of the sixteenth cen-

transferred a station in the Circumcision procession (celebrated on the first of Janu-

tury, which had strongly altered the face of Innocent and probably also the church

ary), from S. Maria ad Martyres (better known as the Pantheon) to S. Maria in

model. Sible de Blaauw has argued that Innocent II and his biographers (in particu-

Trastevere, thus restoring the original route of the ancient liturgical procession11

lar Cardinal Boso) appropriated Anacletus II's architectural interventions at the

which was celebrated one week after the Christmas procession of S. Maria Maggiore. In 1130, on the 1411, of February, after the death of Honorius II (1124-1130), who

basilica of San Paolo, 19 at the Lateran, and at S. Maria in Trastevere as a way to can-

does not seem to have been involved in the history of S. Maria in Trastevere, Gre-

«more plausible» that the basilica was designed and initiated by Pierleoni and only

gorio Papareschi (Innocent II) and Pietro Pierleoni (Anacletus II) were both elected

successively finished and decorated by Innocent II, who was therefore not the

as pope, creating a schism. As we have seen, Anacletus forced Innocent to flee and governed Rome until 1138, the year of his death. The close connections of the

founder. 21 We cannot exclude the possibility that Anacletus II was the promoter of the

Pierleoni family with the Trastevere quarter and the fact that Pietro Pierleoni was

first rebuilding of the church, as already argued by Kinney 22 and Krautheimer. 23

cardinal of S. Maria in Trastevere have led scholars to assign to him the first re-

However, more recently, Kinney has convincingly suggested that these arguments

building of the church.

are principally based on intuitions regarding what Pierleoni might have done as

More recently, Alison Perchuk has suggested that the second basilica may be attributed to Anacletus II, and that it was then finished by Innocent II who only

pope (or cardinal), and on the conviction that the official accounts written during

12

13

cel his memory. 20 In the case of S. Maria in Trastevere, De Blaauw believes that it is

added the apse mosaic. 14 Her arguments are essentially based on an observation by

the pontificate of Innocent II have suppressed or dissimulated Anacletus' works. 24 Since Innocent II came from the other powerful Roman family in Trastevere 25

Elizabeth Lipsmeyer, who noted that the model of the church held by the pope in

called after the papal election 'de Papa' or Papareschi - when he regained posses-

-

sion of the city in 1139, he undoubtedly had a damnatio memoriae of Anacletus II 8

Cecchelli 1933, 26-28. 9 Cecchelli 1933, 30-35; Kinney 1975a, 93-189. 10 Egidi 1908, 88: «Anno D. MXCI, [ind. XIIII] in hac quippe die noctisque silentio transtiberim et Rome ingens terre motus fuit». 11 Egidi 1908, 88-89: «Sec. XII. 1 january K. I. Anno dominice incarnationis millesimo. CXXID, indictione I, data est statio diei octavi Natalis Domini ecclesie S. Marie trans Tiberim a domino Romane Ecclesie pontifice Calixto, et ho assensu, beneplacito precibusque ornnium episcoporum, cardinalium, diaconorum toriusque Romani cleri. quam ipse primum cum prefa tis dominis ornnibusque Lateranensibus scolis sollempniter et maxima Romani populi turba circumdatus celebravit. et ut de cetero a Romanis pontificibus annuatim sollempniter ageretur precipue mandavit». The liturgical station occurs during the Cresh Festivity, fixed in S. Maria in Trastevere by Gregory IV (827-844) who built a chapel ad similitudinem Praesepi sanctae Dei Genitricis quae appella tur Maioris, imitating the chapel of S. Maria Maggiore, see De Blaauw 1994 [1987], 62. On this topic see also Parlato, Romano 2002, 61-62. 12 On schism see Pellegrini 1968; Palumbo 1995 [1942] . 13 Krautheimer 1980, 212-214, 217-218, 226. 14 Perchuk 2016, 204-210; Perchuk 2018, 45.

40

15

Lipsmeyer 1981, 178; Kinney forthcoming. Vat. Barb. Lat. 4404. 17 BAV, Barb. Lat. 4404, fol. 16; Waetzoldt 1964, 51-53: 53, n. 526, fig. 296. 18 Osborne, Claridge 1996, 238-239, fig. 100. Kinney forthcoming. 19 Camerlenghi 2018, 153-156. Nicola Camerlenghi demonstrated that the dividing wall in the transept of S. Paolo, credited to Innocent II by Boso, was built by Anacletus II. 20 De Blaauw 2014. 21 Ibid., 148. 22 Kinney 1975a, 323. 23 Krautheimer 1980, 212-214, 217-218, 226; see also Parlato, Romano 2002, 63-64. 24 Kinney forthcoming. 25 di Carpegna Falconieri 2004, 410-416, esp. 410: «[Innocenzo II] apparteneva a una famiglia de! rione di Trastevere, in seguito individuata dal cognome ' de Papa' o Papareschi, famiglia che solo nella seconda meta de! secolo XII, solidamente impiantata al vertice della societa romana, adotto come nome di famiglia ii titolo portato dal loro piu illustre congiunto»; Wickham 2013, 288-289. 16

41

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

tipope were invalidated. In fact, the Liber Pontificalis reports that Innocent II, who

mater caput ecclesiarum (mother and leader of all the churches), which was the seat of the pope, vicarius Christi. In the twelfth century, the basilica held a privileged role

died in 1143: «ecclesiam beatae Dei genitricis Mariae tituli Calixti totam innovavit et construxit». 27 Nevertheless, not only do written sources confirm that Innocent II

even vis-a-vis St. Peter. 33 There followed the symbolic association of the two buildings and the respective secular histories and politics that grounded their origins in

rebuilt the church from its foundations, but also archaeological evidence shows that

Roman Christianity. Benedictus Canonicus also wrote in his Liber Politicus that Innocent II had re-

ratified in the Second Lateran Council.26 All acts, decisions and activities of the an-

he raised the ground-level of circa 1,50 meters.

28

Guidobaldi' s studies have highlighted that the church was raised, following a

built the church and decorated it with mosaics (aureis metallis). 34 Since Benedictus

rebuilding practice common to many Roman churches during Paschal II's pontifi-

wrote the Liber Censuum around 1140 -in any case before the death of Innocent II in

cate, with the support of a good part of the aristocracy. 29 These works raised the level of the city, in particular, along processional routes and partially also along the

September 114335 - the apse mosaic, or at least part of the apse mosaic, was realized

city's pilgrimage routes, thereby transforming not only the Roman people's vision

by 1143. Finally, the Acta consecrationis, which reports the solemn dedication by

and perception of their monuments, but also the impact of the architecture on the urban landscape. 30

Innocent III36 that took place in the year 1215, tells us that work began in 1140 and was finished in 1148. This information is partially confirmed by the tomb inscrip-

The earliest manuscript of the Legenda in consecratione sante Marie trans Tiberim (twelfth- thirteenth century), narrates the phases of the consecration of the church

tion of Innocent II. The epitaph, today displayed on the porch of the church was composed for the

performed by Innocent III. The reconstruction of the church was entirely attributed

tomb of Innocent II in Santa Maria in Trastevere. He had originally been buried in

to Innocent II who had the old building razed to the ground in order to build the

the Lateran basilica, in a porphyry sarcophagus 37 destroyed in 1308 by a fire, and

new one. The text also contains the lives of saints and martyrs that correspond to

was only subsequently transferred to S. Maria in Trastevere (fig. 3).38 Scholars date

the liturgical feasts celebrated in the church. The manuscript also mentions both the

both the inscription and the tomb between 1308 and 1315, years that correspond to

dedication of S. Maria in Trastevere and of the Santissimo Salvatore in Laterano. The legenda, conceived for the consecration of S. Maria in Trastevere in the context

the damage to the first tomb of Innocent II (1308), and the death of Clement V (1315), who transferred the remains of Innocent II to S. Maria in Trastevere. The text

of the Fourth Lateran Council, intended to show Rome as the new Jerusalem, reaf-

of inscription reads (fig. 4): HIC REQ(U)IESCU(N)T / VENERABILIA OSSA /

firming the primacy of Rome and of the pope on Christianity.

S. Maria in Traste-

S(AN)C(T)IS(S)IME MEMORIE / D(OMI)NI INNOCENTI! P(A)P(AE) / II DE OOMO PA-

vere was therefore placed on the same level as the church of the Lateran, cunctarum

PARE/SCORUM QUI PRESE(N)/TEM ECC(LESI)AM AD HO/NORE(M) D(E)I GENITRIO / MA-

31

32

while the pope was still alive, which means that the church was almost completed

Herklotz 2000, 193-203; Longo 2012b. LC, II, 169: «Innocentius papa II, dominus meus [... ] Ecclesiam sanctae Mariae Trastiberim novis muris funditus restauravit et absidem ejus aureis metallis decoravit». See also Fabre 1892, 13, n. 3. 3s The Liber censuum, the administrative records of the papal camerarius, was probably written no later than 1143, because it is dedicated to Cardinal Guido de Castello, elected pope Celestino II in 1143, see CT, IV

33 26

Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio, ed. J.B. Mansi, Florentiae-Venetiis 1759-1768, (reprint

facsimile, 54 voll., Paris, 1901-1962), XXI, 535. LP, II, 384. «Constructed the entire church of the blessed mother of God Mary of the titulus of Calixtus», translation by Kinney 2016, 353 and note n. 6. 28 Krautheimer et al. 1937-1977, III, 67-68. 29 This project was an ongoing enterprise within the broader development of Rome as the capital of an international papacy. The development was undertaken with the support of part of the city's aristocracy. See Perchuk 2016, 54. 30 Guidobaldi 2014; Kinney forthcoming. 31 BAV, Vat. Lat. 10999, fols. 143r-152v. The Legenda was largely published by Bernard Schimmelpfenning, Legenda/Schimmelpfenning 1998; Legenda/Schimmelpfenning 2000) and by Bartoli (Legenda/Bartoli 2017, 91110) who also provided a translation (Leggenda 2015). The manuscript is now available online: http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.10999. 32 Bartoli 2017; Zuccari 2021, 232-233. 27

42

34

(1946), 15. BAV, Vat. Lat. 8429, fols. 160r ff.: «De postrema Dedicatione Insignis Basilicae S.e Mariae Transtyberim [... ] ann. 1215 [... ] Excerpta [... ] De perantiquo Lectionario MS: in pergameno composito ad Auctore Innocentij III Coevo, quod asservatur in Archivio Se Mariae, quodque premittit narrationi de consecratione historiam aedificationis Basilicae sub Innocentio II [... ]». Various scholars saw or consulted the Acta dated to the thirteenth century, see Panvinio 1579, 66-67; Ugonio 1588, 137r-137v; Panciroli 1600, 253; Boldetti 1720, I, 97. Kinney 1975a, 214-215. 31 Deer 1959, 146-154. 38 LP, II, 385, n. 2; Kinney 1975a, 209; Herklotz 2001, 147-148. On the reuse of sarcophagi during the Reform, see Quintavalle 2012, 94-98.

36

43

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

RIE SICUT E(ST) A FU(N)/DAME(N)T(IS) SU(MP)T(IBUS) P(RO)P(R)IIS RE/NOVA VIT S(UB)

damentis renovavit». 46 In light of the documentary sources, the reconstruction of

A(NNO) D(OMINI) M(ILLESIM)O C(ENTESIM)O / XL ET O(BIIT) A(NNO) D(OMINI)

the basilica seems to have begun after the end of the schism, that is, according to

MCXL/VIII.39

the Legenda, in 1138,47 and the date of 1140 (also for the beginning of the work) ap-

Until now, the text has not been properly edited. Most scholars have tran-

pears reliable. If this were the case, it would be unlikely that the church was fin-

scribed the second line from the bottom as et co(mpleta est) anno Domini MCXL VIII, 40 according to this reading the year 1148 refers to the end of the building works.41

ished by the time Innocent II died, 48 even if when the pope was still alive, golden tesserae (aureis metallis) that decorated the apse were mentioned.49 It is in fact possi-

Only Renzo Montini suggested the transcription obiit, 42 which was accepted by John Osborne and Amanda Claridge. 43 A direct examination of the inscription reveals the

ble that the mosaic was begun but not finished. The pope personally paid for the construction expenses (sumptibus propriis)so

correct reading of the abbreviation sign with three points in a vertical line followed

and, according to Mallerini, he left to «a certain brother, bishop of Sabina, funds

by the sign 7, for et and of the O with oblique stroke crossing the letter, as a com-

necessary to complete the church».s1 The same information is reported in the Leg-

mon abbreviation for obiit. Moreover, the formula completa est is incorrect because

enda in consecratione sante Marie trans Tiberim, which compares Innocent II and the

the subject is Innocent II, so we must read: «et o(biit) a(nno) D(omini) MCXL/VIII».

prophet David who wished to build the temple, he too only after having conquered

The year 1148 therefore refers to the pope's death and not to the completion of the building. The inscription reports an error, because we know from other sources that

his enemies (Saul).s2 Innocent, like David, had begun construction at his own expense, according to the will of God: «Non edificabis mihi templum».s3 And like Da-

Innocent II died in 1143. 44 Considering the time that passed between the death of

vid, who did not see the building's completion and had bequeathed funds to his

Innocent II and the construction of the new funerary monument (1308-1315), the

son, Innocent II «left money to his brother, the bishop of Sabina, who completed the

date of the pope's death could have been confused with the end of the reconstruc-

church and brought it to the state in which it is now».54 But Innocent II could have commissioned Peter, cardinal bishop of Albano

tion of the church, or the year 1148 may just be the scriptor's error of who added V to the date - MCXLIII (1143) in roman numerals. The Necrologium of the basilica, under the year 1141, reports at two different dates (24th April and 10 1h August) that the church was under construction. 4s Moreo-

from 1142, to finish the church.ss Indeed, Peter of Albano has been traditionally identified as a Papareschi, and the brother of Innocent II, although there are no documents proving this hypothesis.s6

ver, in the Necrologium entry for the day of Innocent Il's death, September 24th, 1143, it reads: «Papa Innocentius II hob. i. p., qui eccl. S. Marie Transtyberim a fun-

39

«Here lie the venerable bones of the Lord Pope of most holy memory, Innocent II, from the house of the Papareschi . At his own expense he restored from its foundations this church to the honour of the Mother of God, Mary, in the year 1140 and died in 1148», translation by Osborne, Claridge 1996, 234. 40 Forcella 1869-1884, II, 338, n . 1036; De Rossi 1899, fol. l; Marucchi 1902, 435; Cecchelli 1933, 35-37, 143; Krautheimer et al. 1937-1977, ill, 67; Armellini 1942, II, 788; Ki1mey use the transcription edited by Kuttner, Garcia y Garcia 1964, 115-178, esp. 144, n . 84; Matthiae 1967, I, 313; Kinney 1975a, 209, n. 54; Tiberi a 1996, 5152, 200, n . 11; Parlato, Romano 2002, 63. Other transcriptions do not complete the text, see. Galletti 1760, I, Cl. I, n . 46, XXXVI. 41 Wickham 2013, 417, note n. 118. 42 Montini 1957, 190-195, esp. 195, note n . 165. 43 Osborne, Claridge 1996, 234-235, n . 97. 44 Egidi 1908, 98; di Carpegna Falconieri 2004, 410-416. 45 Egidi 1908, 92: 24°' April «VIII K. M. Anno dominice incarnationis MCXLI., indictione !III., quando edificabatur ecclesia, Sasso diaconus ob(iit)»; 96: lQlh August: «N. I. A. Anno dorninice incarnationis MCXLI indictione IIII, quando edificabatur ecclesia, Leo diac. ob(iit)».

44

Egidi 1908, 98. Legenda!Bartoli 2017, 107. 48 This hypothesis was suggested by Kinney, 1975b, 42-53. 49 LC, II, 169: «Innocentius II dominus meus [ ... ] ecclesiam sanctae Marie trans Tiberim novis muris funditus restauravit et absidem eius aureis metallis decoravit»; see Wickham 2013, 417, n. 118. 50 Robert Favreau studied the utterance sumptibus propriis in the paper "Les commanditaires et leur depenses", presented at the Conference Epigrafia medievale. Scritture, spazi e committenti, organized by F. De Rubeis, N . Giove and S. Riccioni (Venice, 21 -22 march 2013), unpublished. 51 Mallerini 1871, fols. 28r-28v: «Iste pro Ecclesia complenda sumptus necessarios cuidam fratri suo sabinensi Episcopo reliquit, qui ad eum finem Ecclesiae fabricam prout videtur deduxit». See BAV, Vat. Lat. 8429, fols. 160r-160v; Kinney 1975a, 216, note n. 76. 52 Legenda!Bartoli 2017, 106. 53 lCr 17, 4. 54 Leggenda 2015, 59. Legenda!Bartoli 2017, 108: «Et sicut ille pro tempio faciendo reliquit expensas filio suo, sic iste pro ecclesia complenda impensas cuidam suo fratri Sabiniensi episcopo reliquit qui, sicut stat, ecclesiam complevi». 55 Kinney 1975b; Parlato, Romano 2002, 63. 56 Johannes Matthias Brixius did not find any proof of the relation between Innocent II and Peter, bishop of Albano. Brixius 1912, 93, n. 75. Moreover, it remains to be explained why both the Acta consecrationis and the

46

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

Finally, we can only assert with absolute certainty that the historical sources at-

The nave is supported by two rows of eleven columns, beneath an architrave,

tempt to attribute the reconstruction of the church (and its decorative program) to

and is flanked by two aisles with bricks and un-refined mortar, in the so-called

Innocent II. According to these sources we should consider and verify the decorative program of the mosaic as the expression of Innocent II's papacy. In any case, at

technique of falsa cortina6 2 (fig. 6). The internal granite columns are reused, probably from the Temple of Isis or the Baths of Caracalla. 63 The nave, which is at the same

the death of Innocent II the church and apse mosaics were not yet finished. Other

height of the apse arch, terminates at west with a view on the apse through the tri-

parts were added during the papacy of Eugene III (1145-1153) who built the bell tower and during the papacy of Alexander III (1159-1181) who finally consecrated the church. 57 The last consecration, the most spectacular one, was made by Innocent

umphal arch, which was designed to perfectly frame the apse mosaic. The triumphal arch, supported by two columns, and with matching Corinthian

III in 1215.

an elevated transept, presbytery, and choir. Originally the nave was illuminated by monofore windows. At the western end, near the entrance, they were disposed ir-

58

2.2. Architecture, Restoration, and Conservation

capitals,64 separates the nave from the eastern end of the church, which consists of

regularly, while towards the choir they corresponded to the spaces between the columns.6s In the aisles there were small windows and the transept was illuminated

The church was built on the same foundation and on the same plan of the early Christian basilica, 59 with the addition of a non-protruding transept to the west (fig.

by monofore windows, since filled in, the shape of which is preserved in the frames

5).60

the transept. The transept and the clerestory had, in fact, at least six monofore windows

The construction might have, in the first place, involved the leveling of the old basilica. The new building reused the fourth century foundations, walls, and colon-

at either side of the apse mosaic. There were three similar windows at each end of

topped by semicircular arches of small bricks arranged radially. Each end wall had two 'rather ample' windows, which measured 2,6 meters high and 1 meter wide. 66

nades and perhaps also the fa~ade. New foundations were laid for the apse and the transept, which were completed up to the roof-level of the latter, allowing for the

The windows in the north wall were closed in the sixteenth century when the Car-

decoration of the spaces to begin, in particular that of the apse mosaic. At the same

dinal Altemps had an organ built against the interior side of the wall. The windows

time, work began on the north-east corner of the nave, including the wall of the fa~ade, the first part of the colonnade, and the lower portion of the bell tower. Sub-

in the south wall were perhaps closed later, but nevertheless before 1780, when an old wooden coretto was attached to the wall and threatened to fall. 67 One of the

sequently, the walls of the nave were raised to the level of the cornice. And finally,

ogival windows that are present in each half of the west wall, is partially outlined

the rest of the colonnade, the cloister's walls, and the roofs of the central and lateral

by the twelfth century mosaic. The southern window was closed by Martino

naves, the portico, and the window areas of the bell tower were built.

Longhi to make a new window that looks into the Altemps Chapel, and the north-

The homogeneity of the masonry suggests that the construction phases must have been completed in rapid succession. Documentary evidence suggests that work was completed before September 1143. 61 Necrologium refer to a 'Sabinensis episcopus' if Innocent II bequeathed the completion of the church to the bishop of Albano. 57 Knutter, Garcia y Garcia 1964, 115 ff., 143 ff.; Krautheimer et. al 1937-1977, III, 67; Luciani 2000, 137. 58 Kinney 1975a, 335-347; Bartoli 2017. 59 Coccia et al. 2000. 60 Kinney 1975b; Kinney forthcoming. I would like to thank Dale Kinney for allowing me to consult his forthcoming work for the Corpus Cosmatorum , II, which I cite here. 61 Kinney forthcoming.

46

ern window may have been blocked during the same period. This leaves the eastAvagnina et al. 1976-1977. Kinney 1986. 64 Pensabene dated the capitals to the 2"d century, see Pensabene 2015, 913, notes nn. 455, 456. 65 Krautheimer et al. 1937-1977, III, 65-71, esp. 68; Kinney 1975a, 244-262. 66 Mantelli 2011, 189, fig. 186. 67 ACSMT, Armadio XI, Fabbriceria, Basilica e Canonica, Documenti estratti dall' Archivio di S. Maria in Trastevere riguardanti le spese fatte dalla S. M. di Clemente XI nella detta Basilica, Busta No. 2 - 1: «Essendomi io infras(cri)tto Architetto [ ... ] portato a riconoscere ii coretto esistente nella chiesa [ ... ] e precisamente nella crociata, ed incontro all'Organo; qua! visita si e fatta stante ii dubbio di sua poca sicurezza [ ... ] 14 Aprile 1789. Francesco Rust Perito Arch». The choir was removed by Vespignani: ACSMT, Armadio XI Fabbriceria, Esercizio 1871 al 1873, Restauro della venerabile Basilica di S. Maria in Trastevere, Canto dei lavori di Arte Muraria eseguiti dal Capo d' Arte Vincenzo Valorosi, at 5868.08. Kinney forthcoming.

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

em walls, above the lateral naves, as the only location where there are still open

Claussen's third phase of the Roman revival, called renovatio triumphans, includes S.

windows in the transept. Even these windows, however, were reworked in the

Crisogono and S. Maria in Trastevere. 73 This phase started with the papacy of

nineteenth century when the original openings were widened.68 The twelfth-century church was, therefore, illuminated in a way different from

Callixtus II, while the architecture embodied the aesthetic of power, a kind of new triumphalism, and spolia signified continuity with imperial Roman antiquity. Dale

how it is now, and was progressively more luminous towards the presbytery. The

Kinney has recently suggested a different approach to the reuse of spolia, in the

ciborium and the schola cantorum were in the presbytery; only the columns and plu-

light of semiotic theory. 74 Unfortunately, between the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of

tei remain. The church, in fact, had a confessio that was elevated by a step from the central

the seventeenth century, various alterations to the original architecture were carried

nave and a further elevation of the floor of the altar and of the seating for the clergy

out, including the construction of the present ceiling of the transept and the nave,

in the apse, accessible through five steps. The altar a cassa that superimposed the

and the replacement of the nave windows with three large windows on each side. 75

confessio followed a tradition that took hold in the twelfth century, was commis-

Further changes took place during the restoration campaign led by Virginio

sioned by Innocent II and functioned as the celebrative fulcrum. 69 This was a functional solution for the processional liturgy, as emphasized by the floor decoration

Vespignani between 1865 and 1869. He modified the windows of the fac;ade and altered the original pavement and the furnishings of the presbytery, including the

that allowed for the celebrants to pass through the schola cantorum, to pause before

steps. As we have seen, Vespignani also changed the windows of the choir, the fic-

the confessio, and ascend to the presbytery. 70 The organization of the internal archi-

tive mosaic frieze along the trabeation and the mosaic in the intrados of the trium-

tectural space followed that of the church of S. Clemente, with the sole exception

phal arch. 76 The result is that today our perception of the ecclesiastical space and our vision

that at S. Clemente, the highest part of the presbytery was circumscribed in a rectangular area in front of the apse. At S. Maria in Trastevere, instead, the raised area

of the mosaic are greatly altered. During the Middle Ages, the mosaic was more

was more extensive and would have been able to host a large number of clerics. In

clearly visible. The transept was more luminous, with windows in at least three

addition, as at S. Clemente, the parapets had to protect the anterior part of the po-

walls: two in each short wall and one in each half of the west wall, with an addi-

dium, and also, the faithful' s access to the raised floor had to take place from the

tional three under the apse mosaic. The effect on the observer, and his visual experience, were the exact opposite of that experienced today. Vespignani's large win-

lateral nave. The main parts of the buildings, columns, arches, floor, wall, apse mosaics, and

dows, in fact, illuminate the central nave, while the apse remains obscure except

portions of furnishings were made in the same period (fig. 6). The columns, the reused ionic capitals and the frame along the trabeation are quotations of early

when electric lights are turned on. In the twelfth-century church, by contrast, light was progressively concentrated

Christian decorations such as those of the church of S. Maria Maggiore, in which

towards the transept, the apse, and therefore the mosaic must have appeared as a

the ionic style is systematically used. 71 According to Krautheimer, S. Maria in Trastevere, SS. Quattro Coronati, and S. Clemente, constitute a 'second renewal' of

true and proper luminous triumph at the end of a journey towards the light: «In the twelfth century, with light suffusing the transept from every direction, the gold and

Antiquity as an expression of the political renovatio of Roman church architecture. 72 Kinney forthcoming. Zuccari 2021, 238-239. 7 °Claussen 2002, 316-325. 71 Onians 1988, 67-68. Here a complex corbel alternates with a simple one that is reduced to the same height. The use of Roman trabeation, cut to obtain corbels, can also be noted in the bell tower of S. Maria Nova, see Montelli 2011, 121, note n . 467, 336 tav. 12. 72 Krautheimer 1980, 161-175. 6B

69

48

Poeschke 1988; Claussen 1992, 89-91. For a detailed discussion of these interpretations, see Kinney 2006; Claussen 2007; Claussen 2008. 74 Kinney 2011. 7 s This period saw the construction of both the Al temps Chapel and the winter choir. 76 Kinney 1975b; Parlato, Romano 2002, 64-65.

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Stefano Riccioni

colored tesserae must have shone more clearly, beckoning the viewer forward out of the gloom of the nave».77 2.3. Mosaic Conservation

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

the apse arch. Only the lower part of the apse conch was restored, including the procession of the lambs.83 During the campaign led by Vespignani, the mosaicist Pietro Palesi concentrated on the ornamental and not figurative elements. 84 The last restoration (1990-1991)85 revealed interesting information about the

The mosaic is preserved in almost its original state. Due to an absence of doc-

technique and materials used, as well as the extent of earlier restorations (fig. 9). In

uments, it is unclear what restorations were undertaken for the apse (fig. 7). Since the wood ceiling in the transept was remade in the late sixteenth century, during

the apse arch, the lower parts of the ox, the angel and the lion were shown to have been reworked, while the eagle of St. John was left substantially intact 86 (fig. 10). In

the time of Cardinal Santorio, Guglielmo Matthiae thought that the upper level of the arch was also restored, but he was not able to prove this hypothesis. 78 In any

the apse conch, areas of early restoration include the face and a part of the bust with the right hand of Julius I, the neck and one small part of the bust of Pope Cornelius,

case, the drawings made by Antonio Eclissi during the seventeenth century show the mosaic in good condition79 (fig. 8).

the left part of the face and the neck of Innocent II, as well the gold background as far as the ear of St. Lawrence, whose garments were also partially reworked. 87 To-

We have, however, information regarding a restoration that took place during the papacy of Clement XI (1700-1721). The work cost a thousand scudi8o and the

day, if we compare the images of Julius I and St. Lawrence, they show different

mosaic, which was described as being in poor condition, probably required the consolidation of the wall with the iron clamps, still visible today. 81 Matthiae argued that if this level of the mosaic had been restored, the traces would have been lost during another restoration campaign that took place in 1819,

gestures: Julius I is blessing while St. Lawrence is acclaiming. But according to Eclissi's drawings, both saints are acclaiming. 88 We must conclude that the present iconography is not original and it was changed after the seventeenth century. This detail has previously gone unnoticed, 89 but, as we will see, it is important to understand the symmetrical composition of the mosaic.

involving the tribune and the external facade. At this time, according to Matthiae,

Chemical analysis of the mosaics indicated that all the other tesserae were of a

the central part of the apse arch was remade, from the angel (St. Matthew) to a large

type datable to the twelfth century; technical analysis showed that they belonged to

part of the eagle (St. John). Fewer interventions were made in the apse conch, but

a single campaign of work. In fact, in Cavallini's mosaics, the tesserae were fused

the two saints on the aisles of the conch were significantly altered; it is possible that this phase also saw the restoration of the right side of Innocent II's face.82 Other restorations, conducted by mosaicists Gaetano Ruspi and Nicola Roccheggiani between 1823 and 1824 under the direction of Vincenzo Camuccini, did not concern

77

Kinney forthcoming. Matthiae 1967, I, 421-422; Croisier 2006d, 311. 79 Antonio Eclissi, BAV, Barb. Lat. 4404, fols. 13-16; WRL, Inv. nn. 8944, 8945 (arch apse), 8946 (apse); see Osborne, Claridge 1996, 236-239. 80 Moretti 1767, 94v: «16 Decembre (d. 0 an(no) 1714) [ ...] detto Pontefice negli anni passati aveva spesi nella chiesa per i mosaici raggiustati mille scudi ». The job was likely assigned to the mosaicist Pietro Paolo Cristofari, see Kinney forthcoming. 81 Tiberia 1996, 191-194, figs. 90, 91. Tiberia believes that the clamps are nineteenth century. 82 Matthiae 1967, I, 421-422; II, Grafico del restauro di S. Maria in Trastevere, s.n.; Croisier 2006d, 311 . 78

50

Giacomini 2005, 129-130. Most of these works were made on the frescoes of Cavallini . Archivio di Stato di Roma, Camerlengato, parte I, tit. IV, busta 45, fasc. 339, in particular the letter of Michele Kock (24 September 1924) about restoration: «della parte dritta nel nichione della tribuna non compreso l'angolo il tutto fino alla prima finestra inclusivo ancora ii sesto di questa e di sopra le pecore fino alla meta della tribuna, cu si pone le fascie e altro atorno», see Giacomini 2005, 130. During my research in the State Archive in Rome I checked the quoted documents but did not find more information. 84 ACSMT, Armadio XI, Restauri di Pio IX, Giustificazioni 1872, Filza No. 25, 39. 85 Lotti 1996; Tiberia 1996. 86 Tiberia 1996, 187-191, 192, fi g. 84. 8 7 Id. 1996, 187, 190, fi g. 83. BB Antonio Eclissi, BAV, Barb. Lat. 4404, fols. 13-16; WRL, Inv. n . 8946 (apse); see Osborne, Claridge 1996, 238-239. 89 Matthiae 1967, I, 421-422, II, Grafico de! restauro di S. Maria in Trastevere, s.n. The drawing of Matthiae does not note the change to the hand of Julius I and does not mark as restored the central portion of St. Lawrence' s body. The drawing of Tiberia does not mark the hand of Julius I as restored, see Tiberia 1996, 187, 190, fig. 83. Those drawings have led to the erroneous impression that the present gesture of the saints is original.

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Stefano Riccioni

with soda ash, as was typically done during the thirteenth century. 9o The observa-

CHAPTER3

tions conducted during the last restoration also revealed only one working phase

THE MOSAIC DECORATION

and a particular attention to the colors, obtained through the use of tesserae distinguished by chromatic characters, dimensions, forms, and placement on the mortar.

The mosaic is organized around a central vertical axis with symmetrically composed horizontal levels (fig. 7). 1 The central axis is marked by a vertical succession of motifs, all of which refer to Christ. At the apex of the framing arch is a gold cross with pendant alpha and omega (fig. 11); in the soffit of the conch is a Christogram, combining th.e first two letters of Christos (Chi, Rho); just below the Christogram is a tiny cross; at the upper level of the conch is a velarium with the hand of God holding a crown of flowers, in the center of the conch is (fig. 12) a bulky male figure wrapped in a gleaming gold mantle; and, at the bottom, a cross-nimbed lamb (fig. 13). Below the mosaic decoration is the papal throne, that on the contrary of the papal chair of S. Clemente,2 does not seems to be symbolically connected to it (fig. 14). 3

The vertical axis is intersected horizontally by four distinct levels of images: the upper level of the arch, the central level of the conch and the arch, a monumental inscription, and a frieze of lambs (fig. 15). Starting from the apse arch, the main themes of the artistic program will be described, considering the axial and horizontal organization of the decoration.

3.1. Apse Arch: the Apocalypse and the Prefiguration of Christ In the apse arch a row of apocalyptic symbols tops the wall above the arch: the four winged creatures, 4 as attributes of the four evangelists, and seven candlesticks (fig. 16). 5 The angel (Matthew) and the eagle (John) hold crowns while the lion (Mark) and the bull (Luke) hold books. The lower part of the figure of the lion is a 1

Kinney 2002. Riccioni 2006, 80-81. 3 Gandolfo related the papal chair to the consecration of Innocent III, dating it to 1215 (Gandolfo 1980). This dating was not accepted by Claussen (Claussen 1987, 81) and was recently revised by Gandolfo who moved it to the 1260s (Gandolfo 2015, 43-44). 4 Apoc IV, 6-8. 5 Apoc IV, 5. 2

90

Tiberia 1996, 209-212; Verita 2000, 56.

52

Stefano Riccioni

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

restoration. Although it was customary from the ninth century onwards to show all

frontal frame of the apse conch. 13 In any case, the wide diffusion of the iconography

the evangelists with books, 6 the visual program of the apse arch of S. Maria in

of the prophets with written scrolls extending the length of their bodies, can be un-

Trastevere draws on early Christian examples such as the triumphal arch of S. Maria Maggiore. 7 The same iconography is also found in the apse arch of S. Clemente,

derstood as an 'epiconographical' novelty created during the Church Reform in order to signify speaking images and thereby teaching the congregation of the faith-

finished before 1118 (fig. 17).8 Like at S. Clemente, in the apex of the apse conch

ful to partake in the representation by guiding the right interpretation of the artistic

mosaic, the groups of clouds imitate animal figures, some of which even have eyes; from one of these clouds a human face appears (fig. 18).

program. The mosaic also uses early Christian images, such as the bird on the palm be-

At S. Maria in Trastevere, Matthew and John have a nimbus and are close to

hind the shoulders of Isaiah, which can be identified as a phoenix, despite the a b-

the center of the arch with the candlesticks and the cross with the alpha and omega,

sence of the radiant halo. This is a traditional image in Roman apse decoration from SS. Cosma and Damiano to S. Prassede and S. Cecilia, and is a symbol of Paradise

while Mark and Luke, on the far right and left, are not nimbed. Below the evangelists, their names are inscribed on plaques with polychrome frames (only the in-

often associated with the Maiestas Domini. The bird also symbolizes the resurrection

scription below the eagle is entirely original). The iconography of the mise en page of the text is absolutely new, even when compared to the mosaic of S. Clemente.

of Christ. 14 Near the prophets are two cages (fig. 23). Here too an iconographical

Below the evangelists, to the left and right of the arch, the prophets (fig. 19) Isaiah and (fig. 20) Jeremiah, dressed as ancient Romans, are identified by labels:

the conch decoration is of the same design, with a round drinking cup attached to its exterior (fig. 24). The bird within the cage symbolized the spirit imprisoned in

ISAIAS P(RO)PH(ET)A and HIEREMIAS P(RO)PH(ET)A, and by quotations on their scrolls

the body, incarnated during the material life but desirous to return to the sky (the

written in white capitals on a red background. Isaiah: ECCE VIRGO CONOPIET ET

celestial world). 15 In this regard, Peter Damian's passage in De Gloria Paradisi in

9

parallel can be found in the mosaic of S. Clemente, where a cage on the right side of

PARIET FILIUM, and Jeremiah: CHR(ISTU)S D(OMI)N(U)S CAPTUS E(ST) IN PECCATIS N(OST)RIS. 10 The 'epiconographical' meaning of the colored text will be discussed

which the soul desires to leave its corporeal prison and aspires to return to its celes-

below. The iconography of the prophets on the apse arch comes from the apse mo-

Trastevere, the position of the cage (near both prophets) and the text scrolls guide

saic of S. Clemente (figs. 21-22) and its origins can probably be traced to the dia-

our understanding of these symbols. In this case, the cage beside Jeremiah does not

tial motherland after its terrestrial exile is emblematic. 16 However, in S. Maria in

logue between the Roman reformers and the abbey of Montecassino. 11 The same iconography of Isaiah and Jeremiah may have been used in the partially lost mosaic on the apse arch of Salerno Cathedral, 12 according to the inscription along the

6

Ihm 1960, 135. This iconography was employed in the triumphal arch of S. Paolo fuori le Mura (fifth century) and was widely u sed in apse arches during the ninth century, for example in the church of S. Marco. 7 In S. Maria Maggiore both the other evangelists, John (eagle) and Luke (bull), restored, hold a crown and not a book, unlike at S. Maria in Trastevere. Moreover, two figures are positioned near the throne pre pared for the Advent of Christ, the Etimasia. Next to the throne are, probably, St. Pe ter (on the left) and St. Paul (on the right) with open books. See Cecchelli 1956, 198, tav. XL VIII; Karpp 1966, tav. 2; Taubert 2001 (1990], 221. See also Leclercq 1922; Nilgen 1968. 8

On the mosaic of S. Clemente see Riccioni 2006 (with a comprehensive bibliography). Is VII, 14: «Ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet £ilium ». 10 Lam IV, 20: «Christus Dorninus, captus est in peccatis nos tris ». 11 Riccioni 2006, 18-20. 12 On the Salemo mosaic see Kitz inger 1972b; Iacobini 2005. 9

54

13

See the description of P. Del Pezzo, Contezza dell'origine, aggrandimento e stato dei seggi della cittii di Salerno, original manuscript in the Library of the Badia of Cava dei Tirreni, Arca XIII, ms. 142; Braca 2003, 115. According to Braca the description of Del Pezzo demonstrates that the inscription was not placed at the base of the apse conch. The oldest transcription of these verses was made b y Marsilio Colonna 1580, 77. See also Mazza 1681, 42. The edition used here is that published in Acocella 1966, 27: «Da Mattahaee Pater Patris hoe de t e t innuba mater I ut pater Alphanus maneat sine fine beatus I Ecce Dei natum sine matre Deum generatum / praedicunt va tes nasci de virgine matre I sic Christus natus nostros removendo reatus I vivit cum patre in coelo et cum virgine matre». See also Kitzinger 1972b, 152, note n . 11 . The verses were replaced on the mosaic during restoration in 1950. On the prophets in the Salemo mosaic, see Pace 1997, 195-196; Iacobini 2005. 14 Physiologus Y, IX; B, IX; ed. F. Zambon (Milano, 1975), 45-46; Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Exaemeron, ed. C. Schenkl, CSEL, 32.1 (Pragae-Vindobonae-Lipsiae, 1897), V, 23, 79, symbol of resurrection; Rabanus Maurus, De Universo, PL 111, 246B. See van den Broek 1972; Voisenet 2000, 124; Cattabiani 2000, 515-526. It is also possible that the phoenix is a symbol of the sponsa Christi related to the Virgin in the apse conch, especially since the phoenix is on the same side as Mary; see Iacobini 1989, 128-129. 15 Hjort 1968, 21-24; Mihalyi 1999, 893-894. 16 Petrus Damianus, Hymnus de Gloria Paradisi, PL 145, 861D-864A.

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

mean the spirit imprisoned in the body but rather Christ as avis coelestis (celestial bird) captured by the sins of men because of the incarnation.

of Advent24 and, with a variation, in the Office of the Annunciation. 25 The text was also frequently used in exegetical comments to support the incarnation of Christ and the mystery of the Trinity. 26 Bruno of Segni quotes the text in this sense in his

Isaiah's scroll contains an explicit reference to the Conception of Christ, taken directly from the Vulgate. 17 Since the early Christian period, this formula had also

De laudibus beatissimae Virginis Mariae; 27 Honorius Augustodunensis and Rupert of Deutz use Isaiah in their commentaries on the Song of Songs. 28 Finally, St. Bernard quotes the text in two situations: as a sign of the Advent of Christ, 29 and in his work on the Assumption of the Virgin. 30

been used in polemical texts against heretics and the Jews, is such as the sermon

The quotation in the scroll of Jeremiah at S. Maria in Trastevere does not corre-

Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos written in the fifth century by Quodvultdeus,19 but ascribed to St. Augustine during the Middle Ages, when it was developed as a 'prophet play' and used in several epigraphic contexts. 20 This quotation became common between the end of the eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth century21 as can be seen in the Disputatio de fide Christiana by Gislebertus Crispinus, who used the same formula four times. 22 However, before this text can be assigned a polemical value as corning from the 'prophet play', Jeremiah's quotation has to be taken into account. Normally, after Isaiah's quotation, the play gives Jererniah's answer: «Hie est Deus noster, et non aestimabitur alius absque illo or adversus eum». 23 This text was used as a liturgical formula in the Antiphon of the first Sunday

spond with the answer given by the prophet in the drama. It is taken from Lamentations (Threni)31 and was often interpreted as a reference to the Passion of Christ who takes on the sins of all men, to expiate them through his sacrifice. 32 During the

3.2. Inscriptions

17 Is VII, 14: «Vi rgo concipiet et pariet £ilium, et vocabitur nomen eius Emmanuel, quad est interpretatum 'Nobiscum Deus'». 18 Tertullianus, Adversus Marcionem, Ill, 13, PL 2, 338A-B; Id., Adversos Judaeos, IX, PL 2, 616C-617A; Zacchaeus Christianus, Consultationum Zacchaei christiani et Apollonii philosophi libri tres, II, 4. Quid Judaeis respondendum sit, PL 20, 1114B; Evagrius monachus, Altercatio inter Theophilum christianum et Simonem judaeum, PL 20, 11700; Hyeronimus Stridonensis, Epistola LVII. Ad Pammachium. De optimo genere interpretandi, PL 22, 574; Id., Liber hebraicarum quaestionum in Genesim, PL 23, 973D-974B; Augustinus Hipponensis, Contra Faustum manichaeum, Ill, PL 42,282; Paulinus Aquileiensis, Contra Felicem Urgellitanum, PL 99, 371C. 19 In the Sermon against the Jews, Quodvultdeus introduces witnesses from the Old Testament to persuade the Jews of the coming of Jesus. One of them is Isaiah, who answers with the words: «Ecce inquit: Virgo in utero concipiet et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen eius Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum ' Nobiscum Deus'». See, Quodvultdeus Carthaginiensis, Opera tributa . Contra Iuaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, ed. R. Braun, CCSL 60 (Turnhout, 1976), 241. Braun accepts the version accipiet for concipiet using the manuscripts P and R; the version concipiet is mentioned in the commentary as specific to the other manuscripts. The quotation of Isaiah is close to the Vulgate, without the expression in utero. See Favreau 1997, 225-227. 2°Favreau 1997, 225-227. 21 Bruno Signensis, Commentaria in Matthaeum , PL 165, 76C-76D, 169C-170A; Petrus Cluniacensis, Tractatus adversus Judaeorum inveteratam duritiem, PL 189, 585D-0587C; Id., Tractatus adversus sectam Saracenorum, PL 189, 703A-703D. 22 Gislebertus Crispinus, Disputatio de Judaei cum Christiano de fide Christiana, PL 159, 1018, 1020, 1027, 1029. 23 Thomas 1950, 107-110; Quodvultdeus, Co ntra Iudaeos, 241; see Favreau 1997, 227.

56

eleventh and twelfth centuries, we find confirmation of this interpretation in the writings of Peter Damian,33 Rupert of Deutz34 and Gerhoch of Reichersberg (a pupil

Corpus antiphonalium officii, 6 voll., ed. R.-J. Hesbert, R. Prevost, Rerum ecclesiasticorum docum enta, series maior, Fontes, 7-12 (Roma, 1963-1979), I, 4-5, n . 1. The text of the sermon is also used in the Office for the Wednesday and Saturday of the third week of Advent (Ibid., III, 191, n . 2557). 2s Ibid., III, 191, n. 2558. 26 Tertullianus, De carne Christi, IX, PL 2, XVII, 781C; Novatianus, De Trinitate, IX, PL 3, 901A-905C; Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Expositio in psalmum David CXVIII (C) , PL 15, 1309B; Hyeronimus Stridonensis, Commentaria in lsaiam, PL 24, 107B, 144B; Augustinus Hipponensis, De consensu evangelistarum, XXVI, Idololatria per Christi nomen et Christianorum fidem juxta prophetias eversa, PL 34, 1061; Gregorius Magnus, Homilia in Ezechielem, Homilia Prima, Prophetam expositurus sanctus Doctor de prophetiae temporibus et modis praefatur, PL 76,

2•

786B, 792C. 21 Bruno Signensis, Commentaria in Lucam, PL 165, 342C-343B; Id., Sententiae, V, De laudibus Beatissimae Vir-

ginis Marine, PL 165, 10228. 28 Honorius Augustodunensis, Expositio in Cantica canticorum, PL 172, 3510; Rupertus Tuitiensis, Commentaria in Cantica canticorum, PL 168, 871A-909A. Bernardus Claraevallensis, De adventu Domini, Sermo II, PL 183, 41A-41C. 30 Id., In Assumptione B.V. Mariae, PL 183, 4338-4330. 3 1 Lam IV, 20: «Spiritus oris nostri Christus Dorninus captus est in peccatis nostris». 32 Augustinus Hipponensis, De Civitate Dei, XXXill, De Christo et vocatione Gentium quae Jeremias et Sophonias prophetico Spiritu sint praefati, PL 41, 591-592; Hieronymus Stridonensis, Dialogus contra Pelagianos, 23, Exempla alia Sanctorum in Scripturis, PL 23, 560C; ld., Commentaria in Ezechielem, PL 23, 105C-105D; Id., Commentaria in Za.chariam, PL 25, 1515C-1515D; Isidorus Hispalensis, Defide catholica ex Veteri et Novo Testamento contra Juda eos, XXIII, Comprehensus est, PL 83, 479B; Amulo Lugdunensis, Epistola seu Liber contra Judaeos ad Caro/um regem, PL 116, 179B; Rabanus Maurus, De laudibus Sanctae Crucis, PL 107, 253C; Id., Commentaria in Jeremiam, PL 111, 1259B-1261A; Paschasius Radbertus, In Lamentationes Jeremiae, PL 120, 12290, 1230C, 1231A, 1231B. 33 Petrus Damianus, Opusculum II, Antilogus contra Judaeos ad Honestum, IV, Confirmatur Christum vere esse Filium Dei, PL 145, 56C: «Et Hieremias: 'Spiritus, inquit, oris nostri Christus Dominus captus est in peccatis nostris: cui diximus: In umbra tua vivemus in gentibus (Thren. IV)' . Et per beatum Job ipse Dominus in passione positus conqueritur [... ]». Id., De Quadrigesima et Quadriginta duabus mansionibus Hebraeorum, VII, Quare tentatio virtuti admisceatur, PL 145, 557B; ld., Collectanea in Vetus Testamentum, XIX. In epistola ad Hilde-

29

brandum, PL 145, 1061C-1061D.

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

of Rupert of Deutz). 35 Even if Peter Damian quotes the text in a treatise against the

3.3. Rethinking Antiquity - The Amorini

Jews, and there are three more quotations in polemical works, 36 we cannot assume that the triumphal arch bears a specific polemical message against the Jews. In a general sense, both Isaiah and Jeremiah's texts were used to support the struggle of the Church against 'heresy' 37 and incorrect interpretations of the Bible. As in the mosaic of S. Clemente, 38 the texts and images of the prophets recall the 'authority' of correct interpretation, but are also adapted to convey different messages; in the case of S. Maria in Trastevere, this is the enthronement of and marriage between the Virgin/Ecclesia and Christ. Another interpretation is possible. The texts written on both scrolls could also be related to the Jons olei, in fact, the appearance of oil was believed to prophesy the birth of Christ. The font of oil also mentioned in Mirabilia Urbis Romae, which was composed between 1140 and 1143 by Benedictus Canonicus, 39 in fact, was counted

Under both the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah a couple of amorini support agarland of fruits and flowers (fig. 25). In each of the spaces above the garlands is a kan-

tharos with two birds, apparently doves. This is a motif deriving from Greek and Roman antiquity, as can be seen in the sarcophagus of the Museo Torlonia in Rome (fig. 26). 42 The front of the sarcophagus is decorated with two large garlands of fruits and flowers, supported at garlands are two masks. Such subject matter was common to an entire typology of funerary monuments described by Altmann as 'Guirlanden-Sarkophage'43 and was also used in architectonic decoration during the time of Augustus. 44 The arrangement with birds over the garlands is very cornmon. 45 In Rome, there are examples

among the prophetic omens of the Sibyl who appeared on the ara coeli to the em-

in the collection of the Villa Pamphilj: two fragments from the same architectural frame (fig. 27), 46 and on the front of two sarcophagi (fig. 28).47 The kantharos with

peror Octavian Augustus, revealing to him the birth of Christ as he who would

two birds on each side is also a frequent decorative motif on Roman funerary ara. 48

succeed the emperor: «Octavian marveled greatly at this, and he heard a voice from

However, the iconographic theme at S. Maria in Trastevere is original and has sev-

heaven saying, 'This is the Virgin who shall conceive the Savior of the World'».40

eral novelties. For one, the putti, which are normally seen standing, are here seated

The scrolls could therefore echo the prophecy that indicated Christ as the heir to the Empire and the pope as his vicar, thereby affirming the primacy of the Roman pa-

on a stool and do not hold a garland, but rather a wide ribbon that contains fruit

pacy. Such an affirmation is evident in the Fourth Lateran Council and in the consecration ceremony for S. Maria in Trastevere performed by Innocent IIJ.41

elaborating them with a certain liberty. Finally, Gregory VII was buried in an an-

34

Rupertus Tuitiensis, De Trinitate et operibus eius, LXXXVIII, PL 167, 1418D-1419A; Id., Comm entaria in Apo-

calypsim, PL 169, 845A. 35

Gerhohus praepositus Reicherspergensis, Commentarius aureus in psalmos et cantica f erialia, PL 193, 1277C1278B. On the relations between Gerhoch and Rupert of Deutz, see Curschmann 1988. On the importance of Gerhoch for the Reform movement north of the Alps, see Classen 1960. 36 Hieronymus Stridonensis, Dialogus contra Pelagianos, 23, Exempla alia Sanctorum in Scripturis , PL 23, 560C; Isidorus Hispalensis, De fide catholica ex Veteri et Novo Testamento contra Juda eos, XXIII, Comprehensus est, PL 83, 479B; Amulo Lugdunensis, Epistola seu Liber contra Judaeos ad Carolum regem , PL 116, 179B; Petrus Damiani, Antilogus contra Judaeos ad Honestum, PL 145, 56B-56D. 37 On the concept of 'heresy' in the Middle Ages and more specifically during the Gregorian Reform, see M. Lambert 2002 [1992]. On the discussion about ' heretical' Jews and pagans, see Kessler 2007, 26-38. 3 8 Riccioni 2006, 68-71. 39 Mirabilia, CT, Ill, 26; Marvels, 14. On Benedict's authorship of the Mirabilia see Romano 2010. For previous discussion and new interpretation, see Mirabilia, CT, Ill, 3-16; Accame, Dell'Orso 2004; Kinney 2007; Riccioni 2011a. 40

Marvels, 18. The verse: «[audivit] Hee virgo concepit salvatorem mundi», is a variant found in the codex of the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome F. 73, see Mirabilia, CT, III, 28, n . I. 19. 41 Kinney 1975a, 345-346.

58

and flowers. This indicates that the mosaicists were looking at ancient models, but tique sarcophagus decorated with garlands, even if these were not supported by amorini. 49 This element of the mosaic is a clear quotation from antiquity and thus corresponds with the architecture of the church, which, as we have seen, reuses

spolia from Roman buildings. As we have considered it is also a visual strategy typical of the Church Reform.so

Visconti 1884, 340-341, n. 458; Monum enti del Museo Torlonia, sez. 73, tav. CXVII, n. 458. The sarcophagus in Greek marble comes from the Via Nomentana and d ates from the third century. 43 Altmann 1902; Toynbee 1934, 202-230, tavv. XLV-XL VIII; Matz 1958, 48-61; Faszikel 1996. 44 Fulran Squarciapino 1950, 86ff.; Traversari 1971, 69-70. 4s On garlands, see Honroth 1971. 46 Messineo 1977, 107, n. 127, tav. LXXXIII, 127a, 127b. 4 7 Bonanno 1977a; Bonanno 1977b. 48 See the funerary altar of Amemptus, 41-50, Paris, Louvre Museum, Turcan 1995, 110, figs. 127-128. 4 9 Montini 1957, 183-187. so See the discussion about ' antiquity' in chapter 1.3. 42

59

Stefano Riccioni

3.4. The Intrados On the intrados of the arch, a design of flowers and fruit rises from two symmetrical vases at the lower sections of the apse conch (fig. 29). Starting from the lower level on the left side, there is a Roman vase with flowers, a white dove inside

The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

and as an evocation of simplicity.56 The earliest Christian authors, from Tertullian to Isidore of Seville, commented upon these images of the dove, giving particular attention to this bird without wickedness as an embodiment of simplicity. 57 In the Old Testament the dove is an image of undefended grace, 58 especially in the Song of Songs when the poet calls his love «my dove».59 In the light of the main theme of the

a circular frame, pomegranates (some of them open showing seeds), flowers with grapes, a magpie on a shoot of flowers and grapes, a flower in a circular frame, and

Songs, as written in the book of Christ and in the scroll of Mary, the significance of

flowers with fruit (fig. 11). In the center of the soffit is the Christogram, combining

the dove is clarified. The allegorical interpretation of the bride in the Song of Songs

the first two letters of Christos in the Greek alphabet (Chi, Rho). On the right side,

as the Church marrying Christ gives ecclesiological significance to the dove as a symbol of the Church: «Columba vero ecclesia est». 60 A bird is also an image for the

from the Christogram down to the base are citrus fruit, ears of wheat, a flower in a

apse, the marriage of Christ with the Virgin/Ecclesia adapted from the Song of

circular frame (directly opposite that on the other side), (fig. 30) a magpie opposite that on the other side, pine-cones, (fig. 31) a white dove inside a circular frame (op-

on the Song of Songs, he describes the bride (i.e. the church, the dove) as the soul

posite that on the other side) and flowers coming out from a vase at the base of the

which longs for God, the bridegroom. Yet in his comment to the Song of Songs Ber-

intrados. This pattern is similar to that in the mosaic of S. Clemente, although there

nard does not associate the Virgin to the bride. The Church is called a dove because of her simplicity, purity and charity, and her fidelity to her sole husband. 61 This

we find a garland in imitation of Roman and early Christian decoration (figs. 3233).51 Moreover, compared to S. Clemente, the pattern of S. Maria in Trastevere is reversed. For example, here lemons, ears of wheat and figs are on the left while in S. Clemente they are on the right. The most relevant difference, however, concerns the doves in circular frames and the magpies. Deriving ultimately from antiquity, these motifs were elaborated in S. Clemente and adapted once more in S. Maria in Trastevere for a different purpose. The two symmetrical white doves are at the same level as the heads of the saints and are emphasized by being placed in a circular frame with a red edge.

soul, which is consistent with this imagery. In Bernard of Clairvaux's commentary

context also could explain the red/gold markings as a symbol of the blood shed by the martyrs and, furthermore, of the sacrifice of Christ. 62 On the intrados the conceiver of the program wanted to introduce the theme depicted in the apse conch, also providing a visual key to the images. Positioned above the dove, the magpie seems not to have a symbolic significance, but is simply naturalistic decoration. Its qualities do not bear any relationship to the iconography of the rest of the mosaic. In biblical exegesis the magpie is a bird associated with the picus (woodpecker) because it speaks like human beings. 63

Moreover, they have red and yellow/gold markings on the neck, wings, and tail. This is a new iconography and it is not possible to find similar examples. 52 The dove

Rabanus Maurus, De Universo, PL 111, 249A; Gregorius Magnus, Moralia in Job, I, 1, 2, PL 75, 529D-530A; Eucherius Lugdunensis, Liber Formularium spiritalis intelligentiae ad Uranum , V, PL 50, 750B; Mt 10, 16. 57 Testini 1985, 1164-1168; Voisenet 2000, 133; Ciccarese ed. 2002, 337. 58 Ps 54, 7; 67, 14; Is 38, 14; 59, 11; 60, 8; fer 48, 28; Nah 2, 7. 59 Ct 1, 15; 2, 14; 4, l; 5, 2; 6, 9. 60 Eucherius Lugdunensis, Instructionum ad Salonum I, De evangeli Marci, ed. K. Wotke, CSEL 31 (Turnhout, 1894), 120; Quodvultdeus Carthaginiensis, Liber promissionum et praedictorum Dei, I, 7, 11, 12, 19; II, 5, 8, ed. R. Braun, CCSL 60 (Turnhout, 1976), 20, 28, 78; Bruno Signensis, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 164, 1273C; Id., Sententiae, II, De ornamentis ecclesiae, PL 165, 968A-B. 61 Augustinus Hipponensis, Enarratio in Psalmum LXVII, 17, ed. D.E. Dekkers, J. Fraipont, CCSL 39 (Turnh out, 1956), 880-881; Bruno Signensis, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 164, 1273C; Bernardus Claraevallensis, Sermones in Cantica Canticorum, Sermo LXII, PL 183, 1077D. 62 Cattabiani 2000, 321; Pastoureau 2007, 134. 63 Isidorus Hispalensis, Etymolgiarum sive Originum ll. XX, ed. W.M . Lindsay (Oxford, 1911), t. II, I. XII, VII, 46: «Picae quasi poetricae quod verba in discrimine vocis exprimant ut homo( ... ]»; Rabanus Maurus, De

56

is mentioned several times in the Bible, as a symbol of peace after the Flood, as the bird of penance, 53 as the purity of Christ, 54 as a representation of the Holy Spirit,55

51

See the mosaics in Naples: Baptistry of S. Giovanni in Fonte; Rome: S. Maria Maggiore, SS. Cosma e Damiano, S. Agnese, S. Lorenzo fuori le mura; Ravenna: mausoleum of Galla Placidia; Capua: tomb of S. Matrona. Biagetti 1933; Taddei 2002; Riccioni 2006, 37-38. 52 See Kirsch 1914. 53

Rabanus Maurus, De Universo, PL 111, 249 A-B; Id., Allegoriae in universam Sacram Scripturam , PL 112, 899. Gregorius Magnus, Super cantica canticorum expositio, II, 11, PL 129, 498. 55 Joh I, 32; 1 Tim II, 4. 54

60

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Stefano Riccioni

We could hypothesize a connection with the cornix (crow), also a symbol of the Virgin in the Song of Songs, which was black because it had been burned by the sun.

CHAPTER4

64

THE MOSAIC DECORATION: APSE CONCH

4.1. The Glory of the Triumphant Church

If the apse arch is considered as a frame, a kind of introduction to the main theme of the narrative (fig. 34), its conch contains the core message of the discourse. The decoration is based on a symmetrical schema; each image corresponds with another on the other side of the apse. The conch is organized on four levels: the upper with the symbolic sky; the central with Mary and Christ on the same throne surrounded by saints; below, the procession of the lambs from Jerusalem and Bethlehem; and the monumental inscription at the base. This organization of images is based on the model of early Christian mosaics, but during the twelfth century it was also re-organized and adapted according to the rules of rhetoric in order to emphasize an ecclesiastical message. Interest in rhetoric, known as ars dictaminis during the Middle Ages, was essentially based on 'classical' texts and especially on the Rhetorica ad Herennium, supposedly written by Cicero. Ars dictaminis 1 was a kind of 'theory of composition' and its antiquity gave it authority: auctoritas antiquitatis. 2 As a theory of composition, rhetoric influenced poetry, preaching, the arts of memory 3 and the writing of letters.4 During the eleventh century, ars dictandi was among the first subjects taught in the school of Montecassino, introduced by Alberic. 5 The close relationship be1

Camargo 1991, 17-28; Bolgar 1982, 79-86. Murphy 1974, 89; Freedborg 1982; Carruthers 1990, 189-220. 3 Yates 1966. Mary Carruthers demonstrated that the techniques of rhetoric, used during the classical age, were also adopted by monks to create a map of loci, a kind of mnemonic archive. See Carruthers 1990; Carruthers 1998. 4 Baldwin 1928; McKeon 1942; Murphy 1974; Parkes 1976. 5 Alberic, monk and teacher at Montecassino, composed the Dictaminum radii [Alberici Casinensis Flores rhetorici, ed D.M. Iguanez, H.M. Willard (Montecassino, 1938)]; Alberic of Montecassino, "Flowers of Rhetoric", transl. J.M. Miller, in Reading in Medieval Rhetoric, ed. J.M. Miller, M.H. Prosser, T.W. Benson (Bloomington, Indiana, 1973), 131-161. He was among the first medieval philosophers to connect classical rhetoric to the writing of letters, helping create the ars dictaminis. On the origins of the ars dictaminis, see Murphy 1971a; Bloch 1972, 593-594; Murphy 1971b, 56-64, for Alberic of Montecassino, 67-69; on the birth of the ars dictaminis in Bologna see Licitra 1977. 2

Universo, VIII, 6, De avibus, PL 111,247: «Picae [...]. Per ramos enim arborum pendulae importuna garrulitate sonantes». See Voisenet 2000, 128; Cattabiani 2000, 309-310. 64 Ct I, 4-5. This symbolic meaning was endorsed in the Latin liturgy, during the Office of the Virgin, with the song Nigra sum sed formosa, see Corpus antiphonalium, I (Roma, 1963), 286, n. 106c; 287, n . 106c; 290, n . 106e; 371, n . 126b). Mystics interpreted the sun as the love with which the souls of the saints burned; see Charbonneau-Lassay 1975 [1940], 498-500. We find the same biblical theme in the writings of Saint Ambrose, who compared the Church to the crow because of her maternal love; see Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Exaemeron, V, ed. C. Schenk!, CSEL, 32.1, s. VIII, 18, 58, 184-185; Voisenet 2000, 128.

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

tween the Roman reformers and the abbey of Montecassino, which has been proven

bands), 12 also accepted by Honorius Augustodunensis. 13 Since Jesus died at the hara

by scholars, 6 can also help explain the novelties in church decoration of this period.

nona, the number nine is also the symbol of the Passion and Salvation. 14 Honorius

The apse mosaic of S. Clemente, for example, was strongly based on the ars dictaminis7 and the same model of decoration was used in S. Maria in Trastevere, with

shows the relationship between the hour of the death of Jesus and the history of Original Sin. At the hara nona Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of

some adaptations imposed by the completely new message. The main components

Eden but at the same hour they received salvation, because Christ died three hours

of the decoration will be described starting from the upper level and moving down.

after the crucifixion, which occurred at the hara sesta. 15 The symbolic significance of this section lies in the connection between the apse arch, that shows both the sym-

4.2. The Symbolic Sky and the Shadow

bols of Christ, alpha and omega, and the prefiguration of the Conception written in

At the upper level of the conch decoration are three bands of curtains divided

the scrolls of prophets, and the apse conch. But there is more. In this representation, as is also the case at S. Clemente, the

into nine folds finishing in nine arches that connect the curtains together; in the

central part of the 'celestial vaults' is entirely crossed by a triangular shadow. With

lower level, the hand of God connects the supernatural with the earthly (fig. 35).

its peak is at the top and its base at bottom, the shadow connects the celestial sequence from the Alpha and Omega, to the small cross, and to the divine hand that

This decoration too is a quotation from the mosaic of S. Clemente. 8 The pattern of a half canopy with radial fields was often used to symbolize heaven in Hellenistic and Roman art, as well as in early Christian mosaics. In my opinion, the signifi-

ideally crowns Christ. The restoration of the mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere has not revealed any

cance of the pattern here lies in the symbolic connotations of the numbers nine (the

darkening due to an alteration to the state of conservation. 16 The shadow was inten-

number of curtains) and three (the number of bands). In the Bible the number nine

tionally created. Starting from the platonic myth of the cave, the theme of the shadow has of-

9

is featured in the parable of the Drachma and it is the number of angelic orders in heaven, 10 according to the elaborate interpretation of Gregory the Great.n Moreo-

fered numerous points of departure to philosophy and literature 17 and especially to

ver, the symbolic significance of the number nine is related to the Trinity (the three 12

On the interpretation of the number three as a symbol of the Trinity, see Meyer 1975, 117-123.

Honorius Augustodunensis, Speculum ecclesiae, PL 172, 1015A-B: «Post haec sunt a nobis glorificanda beatorurn spirituum novena agmina miranda, in quibus expressum est signaculum Dei similitudinis, quique feliciter perfruuntur claritate summae beatitudinis. Hii digni sunt semper faciem Patris cernere, et quia sol et luna mirantur ejus pulmritudinem, jugiter in eum prospicere. Ex quibus tres, scilicet Michahel, Gabriel, Raphahel, Patrem et Filiwn et Spiritum sanctum suis nominibus praeferunt; alii ter trino numero sanctam Trinitatem exprimunt». 14 Beda venerabilis, Super Acta Apostolorum expositio, II, 13, ed. M.L.W. Laistner, CCSL 121 (Turnhout, 1983), 18, 110-115: «Tria enim tempora quibus Daniel in die flectere genua sua, et adorare legitur, tertia, sexta, et nona hora, ab Ecclesia intelligitur. Quia et Dominus tertia hora Spiritum sanctum mittens, sexta ipse crucern ascendens, nona animam ponens, easdem horas nobis caeteris excellentius intimare et sanctificare dignatus est»; Honorius Augustodunensis, Gemma animae, Ill, CXIII, PL 172, 5810: «Hora sexta ideo missa celebratur, quia hora sexta Christus pro nobis in cruce immolabatur». 1s Id., Sa cramentarium, IV, PL 172, 741C: «Hora nona missam celebramus, quia hora nona de paradiso homo ejectus exsulavit: quern Christus hora nona in cruce exspirans ad vitam revocavit». Id., Speculum ecclesiae, 926D: «Sexta hora homo mandatum Dei comedendo transgreditur, hora VI Christus pro praevaricatione ejus crucifigitur». 1 6 In the case of S. Clemente I was able to verify such a solution during a site visit in 2017 with the conservator Luca Pantone, who I would like to thank, on occasion of the cleaning of the mosaics carried out under the supervision of Dr. Morena Costantini of the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Roma. I would also like to thank father Thomas McCharty and father Stephen Hutchinson, who granted me access to the mosaic. See Riccioni 2021.

13

For a short bibliography, see at least Gregoire 1971; Bloch 1986; Cowdrey 1986 [1983]; Avagliano ed . 1997; Cowdrey 2000; Toubert 2001 [1990] . 7 Riccioni 2006, XVIII-XIX, 5-7, 35-36, 77. 8 Riccioni 2006, 63-64. 9 Lehmann 1945, 9-14, figs. 35-38. 10 Le 15, 1-10: «Decern vero drachmas habuit rnulier, quia novern sunt ordines angelorurn. Sed ut cornpleretur electorurn nurnerus, homo decimus est creatus [... ]». 11 Gregorius Magnus, Homiliae in Evangelia, horn. XXXIV (Le. XV, 1-10), ed. R. Etaix, CCSL 141 (Turnhout, 1999), 7, 305, rr. 148-116: «Novern vero angelorurn ordines dixirnus, quia videlicet esse, testante sacro el oquio, scirnus angelos, archangelos, virtutes, potestates, principatus, dorninationes, thronos, cherubim, atque seraphim. Esse narnque angelos et archangelos pene ornnes sacri eloquii paginae testantur. Cherubim vero atque seraphim saepe, ut noturn est, libri prophetarurn loquuntur. Quatuor quoque ordinum nornina Paulus apostolus ad Ephesios enurnerat, dicens: Supra omnern principaturn, et potestatern, et virtutem, et dominationern (Eph. I, 21). Qui rursus ad Colossenses scribens, ait: Sive throni, sive potestates, sive principatus, sive dorninationes (Col. I, 16). Dorninationes vero et principatus ac potestates jam ad Ephesios loquens descripserat; sed ea quoque Colossensibus dicturus, praernisit thronos, de quibus necdurn quidquarn fuerat Ephesiis locutus. Durn ergo illis quatuor quae ad Ephesios dixit, id est principatibus, potestatibus, virtutibus atque dorninationibus, conjunguntur throni, quinque sunt ordines qui specialiter exprirnuntur. Quibus dum angeli et archangeli, cherubim atque seraphim, adjuncta sw1t, procul dubio novern esse angelorurn ordines inveniuntur» . See Meyer 1975, 141-142. 6

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The Visual Experience of the Triumphant Church: the Mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere

Stefano Riccioni

the figurative arts. 18 But until Giotto in the Trecento, shadows do not seem to have had a place in medieval decoration, which rejected images' corporeity.19 As at S. Clemente, the shadow at S. Maria in Trastevere is also not a cast shadow. Rather, it is a darker area, or an attached shadow that results from the subtraction of light that had a precise symbolic value, which was not necessarily negative or tied to

during the Annunciation is divine virtue (virtus Altissimi). 31 This famous passage has prompted many different interpretations of the shadow: as a magical fecundating force, as divine protection, or as a symbol of Christ as the embryonical image of God created in the body of the Virgin. 32 This last idea, above all, is important for

obscurity, darkness, or evil. Research on the recurrence of the terms nubes, obumbra-

understanding the function of the shadow in the mosaic of S. Maria in Trastevere because, in the Song of Songs, the bride (Church) sits in the shadow of her spouse. 33

re, tegmen, umbra, umbraculum, velamentum, in the Vulgate has provided an interpretation of umbra as the presence and protection of the Lord. 20

Moreover, in the Old Testament, the cloud is also the image of God often manifested in a stormy light cloud, that ascends the body of the Virgin Mary. 34 As we shall

In the Vulgate, God protects the faithful with his wings or with a shadow, in this way, projecting himself materially onto them and covering them. 21 In Exodus, Moses on the Mount Sinai is protected by a cloud, which is the glory of the Lord. 22

see later on, this meaning reiterates the visual and sonorous message of the apse conch.

The passages in Exodus that regard God's protection (or his presence) symbolized by a cloud are identical to those found in Psalms. 23 But in Psalms, divine protection

4.3. The Central Message: Visualizing the Church

is also indicated with the term tegmen that can be associated to shadow 24 as revealed in Psalm 56 (57), 2 25 which is similar to Psalm 60 (61), 5, which instead uses the term

conch, with the Virgin Mary on his right and Peter on his left. Around them are

velamentum. 26 In the Gospel of Matthew, the shadow that passes over Peter, James,

saints, martyrs, and popes; on the left: Innocent II, St. Lawrence, and Pope Callixtus

and John during the Transfiguration of Christ, is God who speaks. 27 The same is true in the Gospel of Mark 28 and Luke. 29 In Ezekiel, in the parable of the cedar, all the birds of the sky, all the beasts, and people make their home in the tree's shad-

(fig. 37); on the right: St. Peter, Pope Julius I, and St. Calepodius (fig. 38); all identi-

ow.30 In the Gospel of Luke, moreover, the shadow that descends onto the Virgin

Considering the vertical axis alone (fig. 36), Christ occupies the center of the

fied by labels under their feet. This disposition of images coincides with the rule of symmetry based on the rhetorical organization of visual 'speech'. Although Christ is in the very center, the central image of the apse could be Christ with the Virgin Mary (fig. 39). They are seated in the same throne and Jesus embraces the Virgin as if she were his wife. The presence of the Virgin to the right

Diodato 2002. 18 Baxandall 1995; Gombrich 1995; Stoichita 1997. 19 Stoichita 2000, 44. 20 This research was conducted in the Patrologia Latina Database and of the Databa se of Latin Dictionaries, and also in the online versions of the Glossarium media! et infima! latinitatis and of the Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus. 21 Ps 35 (36), 8; Ps 56 (57), 2; Ps 60 (61), 5; Ps 90 (91), 1. 22 Ex 24, 15-18. 23 Ps 77 (78), 14; Ps 104 (105), 39. 24 Ps 35 (36), 8. 25 Ps 56 (57), 2: «Et in umbra alarum tuarum sperabo, donec transeat iniquitas». 26 Ps 60 (61), 5: «Inhabitabo in tabernaculo tuo in scecula; protegar in velamento alarum tuarum». 27 Mt 17, 5: «Adhuc eo loquente, ecce nubes lucida obumbravit eos. Et ecce vox de nube, dicens : Hie est Filius meus dilectus, in quo rnihi bene complacui: ipsum audite». 28 Mc 9, 7. 29 Le 9, 34. 30 Ez 31, 6: «Cumque extendisset umbram suam, in rarnis ejus fecerunt nidos omnia volatilia cceli: et sub frondibus ejus genuerunt omnes bestice saltuum, et sub umbraculo illius habitabat ccetus gentium plurimarum». 17

66

of Christ has a precise symbolic meaning. Peter Damian, in a famous letter to Desiderius of Montecassino, in which he explains the reasons for the presence of Peter to left of Christ and of Paul to the right, in figural representations, says that «earthly

Le 1, 35: «Et respondens angelus dixit ei: Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi . Ideoque et quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei». 32 Stoichita 1997, 67-87, esp. 67-68: One of the interpretations for the expression virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi «originates from the notion that the Greek word (episkazein) used by Luke, and the la~e_r Latin ver~ion (obu_mbrare), only partially translate the now archaic meaning of the prosaic Eastern (Semitic) express10n that mspired this extract. It refers to the shadow's magical faculty in general, and in this instance to its fertili zing

31

power in particular». Cant 2, 3: «Sponsa. Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios. Sub umbra illius quern desideraveram sedi, et fructus ejus dulcis gutturi meo». 34 On the cloud as symbolic bearer of Christ at Incarnation, and as symbol of divine grace and illumination also related to the Virgin, see Deshman 1995, 10-13, 24-25, 33-34, 66-69.

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Stefano Riccioni

life signifies the left side of God, whereas the heavenly life signifies the right». 35

If we understand the couple on the throne as the central image, the vertical axis

Moreover, he goes on by citing the words of the bride in the Song of Songs, which

does not at first seem to be observed. In fact, Ursula Nilgen suggested that this

are repeated verbatim in the scroll of Mary, who is seated to the right of Christ, as in the mosaic:

composition was the result of a change to the original iconography after the death of Anacletus IJ.38 According to this hypothesis, Anacletus placed the image of the

«'His left hand is under my head, and his right will embrace me'? Now, the left is said to be under the head because the present life, which is undoubtedly the 'head' of thoughts, is trod under the mind as something despised among any of the elect. But the right side the bride of God is said to embrace, because when a faithful and holy soul is kindled to its burning desire by t , , as if with certain divine embraces. Therefore, the one who, when still surrounded by the frailty of the flesh, is known to have ascended to a heavenly life, is properly called the son of the right hand. God almighty always stretched out this son of the right hand, as if he were his own right hand, across the entire breadth of the world, and through that hand he gathered up the adoptive peoples to the unity of faith». 36

Madonna of Mercy at the center of the apse (fig. 40). The Madonna of Mercy is the largest of the five early medieval Marian icons in Rome. 39 The icon originally venerated in Trastevere, now is in the chapel at the end of the right aisle, the Altemps Chapel. The icon was probably executed during the papacy of John VII (705-708), even if the proposed dating has varied from late sixth century to ninth century.40 It is an encaustic panel depicting the Madonna and Child represented hierarchically on a throne; she holds the Christ Child in her lap, and is flanked by two angels, whereas at her feet, is the kneeling figure of a pope who is almost entirely cancelled. The image was specially venerated by Anacletus II who wanted a reproduc-

Even William of Saint-1hierry, who was a close friend and counselor of Ber-

tion of the icon in the Chapel of St. Nicholas in the Lateran Palace (figs. 41-42). 41

nard of Clairvaux, interpreted the gesture of the embrace in his commentary to

Unfortunately, the Chapel of St. Nicholas was destroyed in the eighteenth century

Song of Songs:

and its frescoes are known only from copies. These paintings show us that it was

«The bride, therefore, has the groom's left hand below her head, when her soul, entirely vowed to God, receives, as aide, detachment from temporal consolations and contempt for the goods it does not possess. The right hand is the spiritual consolations that embrace her, and that at the same time, maintain her in the present and confirm, for the future, certainties, and eternal promises. The left hand and the right hand hold her close to the heart of the groom, when the good use of temporal goods and the pious enjoyment of eternal ones, and all the rest, contribute in her favor for the love of God».37

possible to reproduce an old image - and perhaps to imitate its style as well - in a new symbolic context. To support this hypothesis, Nilgen suggested that St. Peter's nimbus, still visible but not marked with colored tesserae, was 'cancelled' in order to change the iconography. According to this hypothesis, under Innocent II, the celebration of the

Madonna of Mercy was iconographically replaced by the 'synthronos' theme42 to symbolize the close connection between the image of Peter (fig. 43) and the pope,

35

Peter Damian, The Letters of Peter Damian 151 -180, VII, Letter 159, translated by O.J. Blum and J.M. Resnick (The Fathers of the Church Mediaeval Continuation) (Washington D.C., 2005), 97. 36 Id., Opusculum XXXV, De picturis principum apostolorum, PL 145, 591C-D: «Quis autem nesciat, quia vita terrena