medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (12. April) is the feast day of:
1) Julius I, pope (d. 352). J. became bishop of Rome, his native city, on 6. February 337. For most of his pontificate he was in conflict with Arian and Arian-leaning bishops, primarily in the East. J. is credited in the _Liber Pontificum_ with the erection of the church that later became Santi Apostoli as well as of two buildings bearing the name of Julius: the _basilica Iulii_, a ceremonial hall later demolished to create space for the erection of_Aula concilii_ in front of the Lateran palace, and the _titulus Iulii_, later Santa Maria in Trastevere. During J.'s pontificate, Christmas came to be celebrated in Rome on 25. December. Today is his _dies natalis_. He was buried in the cemetery of Calepodius on the Via Aurelia.
In this view of the twelfth-century apse mosaic of Santa Maria in Trastevere, J. is the second pope on St. Peter's left:
http://tinyurl.com/2sp4ru
2) Zeno of Verona (d. ca. 371). Well educated and seemingly from a Latin-speaking part of northern Africa, Z. became bishop of Verona in 362. He is the author of a body of sermons of some literary polish and, as Verona's principal patron saint, a fixture in the city's historic folklore.
Today is Z. of Verona's feast day in the general Roman calendar. In his own diocese he has since 2004 been celebrated liturgically on 21. May, the anniversary of his translation in 807 to what is often thought to have been a
predecessor of the former abbey church in Verona dedicated to him and now known as San Zeno Maggiore. This newer church, built from ca. 1138 to 1178 and incorporating some elements of a tenth-century predecessor, is one Italy's major "romanesque" monuments. It is also noteworthy for some later ornamentation (of which more later). An illustrated, Italian-language account of it is here:
http://it.geocities.com/giulianoverona/top/sanzenobasilica.html
And a three-page "visit", with expandable views, is here (to continue from page to page, click on "Prosecuzione della visita" at lower right):
http://tinyurl.com/2wdsx9
Some external views:
http://tinyurl.com/r23sw
http://tinyurl.com/qbdhp
Facade and main portal:
http://tinyurl.com/lvcbh
http://tinyurl.com/qxff4
Reliefs on the facade:
http://tinyurl.com/nwsx9
Various detail views may be seen in the Italian-language account on this page (though the first image is of the cathedral of Ferrara):
http://www.arte-argomenti.org/saggi/nicolo.html
A Thais page on reliefs on the main portal:
http://www.thais.it/scultura/vrszeno.htm
Forty-eight bronze panels survive on the door. Slightly expandable views of a number of these will be found here:
http://www.verona.com/index.cfm?Page=Guida§ion=luoghi&id=578
Much better ones, as well as expandable views of the portal reliefs and of other features, will be found on the five pages starting here:
http://tinyurl.com/ed9rt
Some interior views:
http://tinyurl.com/ruooj
http://tinyurl.com/oksvl
http://tinyurl.com/hx74x
http://tinyurl.com/kwh2l
The locally famous "San Zen che ride" ("Smiling Saint Zeno"):
http://tinyurl.com/gt3nl
San Zeno Maggiore's frescoes include this set, with a well known George and Dragon:
http://tinyurl.com/kfldn
The crypt is the tenth-century one, rebuilt in the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/94281/
As its name implies, San Zeno Maggiore is not the only Veronese church dedicated to Z. Here's a view of the facade of the originally twelfth-century San Zeno in Oratorio, otherwise known as San Zenetto ("Little Saint Zeno"):
http://www.verona.com/index.cfm?page=immagini_dettaglio&id_immagine=1033
An illustrated Italian-language account of this church:
http://www.verona.com/index.cfm?Page=Guida§ion=luoghi&id=99
Inside is this fourteenth-century statue of Z.:
http://www.verona.com/index.cfm?page=immagini_dettaglio&id_immagine=1037
3) Alferius (d. 1050). Today's less well known saint of the Regno was a noble of the principality of Salerno who in the early years of the eleventh century founded the abbey of the Santissima Trinità at today's Cava de' Tirreni (SA) in coastal Campania. He and his three immediate successors are all considered saints. Their cults were confirmed in 1893.
Best,
John Dillon
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