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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (3. January) is also the feast day of: Daniel of Padua (d. ca. 304?). On 26. December 1075 in the suburban monastery of Santa Giustina at Padua an ancient marble sarcophagus was unearthed and declared to contain the remains of a hitherto unknown Daniel, deacon and martyr. On 3. January of the following year the city's bishop effected a translation of the saint in his sarcophagus to Padua's then cathedral; within a week, he compensated Santa Giustina by commissioning and donating to the monastery an oratory dedicated to D. Probably not very long thereafter an account of this invention and translation was written (BHL 2090); surviving in shorter (late eleventh- century) and longer (after 1117) versions, this linked D. to Padua's legendary protobishop saint Prosdocimus and placed his martyrdom in the second century; modern scholars think it more likely that D. was a victim of the Great Persecution. A twelfth-century sequence belonging to D.'s cult is said to be Padua's oldest surviving example of religious poetry. Padua's basilica of Santa Giustina: http://tinyurl.com/dc4jj was severely damaged in an earthquake in 1117 and has since been rebuilt several times. Its late antique Oratorio di San Prosdocimo contains a reconstructed pergola shown here: http://www.abbaziasantagiustina.org/abbazia/orario.htm and in several of the views here: http://tinyurl.com/aslw8 The site of the oratory to D. granted in 1076 is now occupied by Padua's church of San Daniele: http://tinyurl.com/ajz2z In 1592 D. was translated to Padua's present cathedral. He is one of Padua's patron saints. Probably his most famous monument is his statue by Donatello executed between 1445 and 1450 as part of the decor of the high altar of Padua's basilica of Sant'Antonio. A view of the entire ensemble, with D. at upper right: http://www.wga.hu/art/d/donatell/2_mature/padova/2altar01.jpg There's a full-length front view of this statue in the _Bibliotheca Sanctorum_, vol. 4, at col. 475; partial views are here: http://santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/90275/90275.JPG http://tinyurl.com/cbu2c For further reading: Attilio Simioni, _Storia di Padova_ (Padova: Giuseppe e Pietro Randi, 1968), esp. pp. 111, 188-91, 208. Ireneo Daniele, "Daniele di Padova, santo, martire,", in _Bibliotheca Sanctorum_, vol. 4 (1964), cols. 474-76. idem, "Le due leggende sull'invenzione e traslazione del corpo di san Daniele levita martire padovano," _Atti e memorie dell'Accademia patavina di scienze lettere ed arti_, n.s., 98 (1984-1985), 81-114. idem, "Analisi critica delle due leggende sull'invenzione e la traslazione del corpo di san Daniele, martire di Padova," ibid., n.s., 100 (1987-1988), 25-44. Andrea Tilatti, _Istituzioni e culto dei santi a Padova fra VI e XII secolo_ (Roma: Herder, 1997), esp. pp. 167-203, 292-301. Best, 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