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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On Tuesday, March 15, 2005, at 1:16 pm, chris crockett wrote: > the French experience in this period (c. 1050-1150) is complicated > enough ; i > strongly suspect that Italy is a Real Mess. A safe guess. When was Italy not so? > Geographical Proximity was definitely a factor, obviously. In the case of the stylistically very similar frescoes at Novalesa and at Sant'Angelo in Formis we are of course dealing with just the opposite. Hence my mild surprise. > the relatively spectacular frescos of the very modest priory of > Berze-la-Ville, not far from Cluny (it was a vacation spot for the > Abbot, i > believe) > > http://www.art-roman.net/bourgogne/bourgogne.htm Thanks. These _are_ relatively spectacular. In recompense, here's a site with expandable .jpgs showing some of the frescoes in the crypt of the cathedral at Anagni (mostly 12th-cent.): http://www.santamelania.it/arte_fede/anagni/apoc_anagn.htm e.g., this one of the apse: http://www.santamelania.it/arte_fede/anagni/imgs/02r_03_02.jpg or this: http://www.santamelania.it/arte_fede/anagni/imgs/01n_03_02.jpg or this: http://www.santamelania.it/arte_fede/anagni/imgs/06r_03_02.jpg > very likely reflect the style of the lost frescos once in Cluny II > (or is it > III?). > > this is, i believe, an analogous situation to the one we have at > St. Angelo in > Formis, viz-a-viz the lost frescos at Montecassino. > > except that the St. Angelo frescos are really, really *first* rate. > my All > Time Favorites, as a matter of fact. > > the problem with the Priories Theory for Cluny is that it doesn't > seem to have > extended much beyond Burgundy. <SNIP> > so, i wouldn't rule out entirely the possibility that a Mother > House could > influence a Daughter quite far removed geographically, and > certainly a Mother > as prominent and powerful as Montecassino. The problem here is that while Montecassino was the mother house of Sant'Angelo in Formis, it was _not_ the mother house of Novalesa. The early history of Novalesa, as presented to us in its Chronicle, focuses on early _transalpine_ influences (when founded, the monastery was in Frankish territory). In the eleventh century Novalesa had become a priory of its own successor at Breme in southeastern Lombardy. And though the distance between Breme and Montecassino is certainly less than that between Novalesa and Sant'Angelo in Formis, it is still substantial. The connection, I would guess, lies in Hildebrand's Rome, where both Montecassino's abbot Desiderius (responsible for the wall paintings at Sant'Angelo in Formis) and Aldradus, abbot of (Novalesa and) Breme were active together in the 1060s. Quite possibly they commissioned the same painters (if these were like the contemporary mosaicists working in central Italy, they would be what we would think of today as family firms) to adorn their abbatial churches. And, of course, their priories, some of whose paintings are still with us. Best again, John Dillon ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html