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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]> > 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. i understood that. > > 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. more so in the experience of an actual visit rather than merely a virtual one. the building really is *quite* small --12 feet wide or so(?), in my '60s memory. as i said, i believe that the place wasn't simply a priory but some sort of "summer residence" of the abbot of Cluny. otOh, it is interesting to speculate about how many other modest priories might have had similar spectacular decoration, now lost without a trace. my reading of the style at Berzé is that it is not *quite* first rate --while technically Competent, there is a certain "muddiness" to the Vision, a lack of Clarity. the execution is, however, Consistent throughout. and (the 4th "C" in my Criteria), it is a style of considerable Complexity, which we may assume is a reflection the state of things prevailing at the Mother House, here not too far away. >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 also a style of considerable Complexity, lacking a bit of Clarity, executed Consistently, in a technically Competent manner. >> 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. > [J.D.] 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. yes, there you go. in the absence of texts, we must assume that it was this sort "networking" which played a key role in many such connections, especially between monuments considerably removed from each other geographically. the world of High Churchmen in the 11th and 12th cc. was really rather a small one, as i see it, and if we can put two of them together in the same place at the same time we have some pretty strong circumstantial evidence to butress a theory of the conditions which resulted in the connections evident from a consideration of the style alone. keeping in mind Suger's statement that he "brought the finest workmen from all regions" (i paraphrase) to work at St. Denis, and closer to my own interests, it is very tempting to seek an explaination for the remarkable variety of styles present on the Royal Portal of Chartres (at least four, and perhaps five, very distinct styles, some realised by more than one "master") by the fact that the Bishop who held office at the time the project was begun and, mostly, completed was Godfrey of Leves (d. 1149), one of the most remarkable and well-traveled (i.e., well-networked) of all his French contemporaries. best from here, c "Lots of useless other data points just enlarge the consciousness of the agrieved showing how particular the pain is." --Burma Shave ********************************************************************** 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