medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Diana Wright <[log in to unmask]>
> Wotthehell is meant by "oriental" -- & how is it more oriental than any of a
number of other basilicas in Rome?
certainly not my area of expertise, but i suspect that this article, like many
of those by this most important architectural historian of the middle decades
of the 20th c., is of some historiographic importance in the evolution of our
ideas about what was going on during these "Dark Ages".
[log in to unmask]&dpi=3&config=jstor" target="_blank">http://www.jstor.org/view/00029114/ap020170/02a00070/0?frame=frame&[log in to unmask]&dpi=3&config=jstor
"Rome has long been commonly considered an isolated architectural proviince in
E.C. times. It is supposed to be in no way related eiter to Near Eastern and
Byzantine architecture or to the architecture of the Occident during the
centuries between 400 and 800. This supposition is proved erroneous as soon
as one examines closely the single monuments in Rome and the development of
E.C. architecture there taken all together. Recent research on the contrary
has proved that there is a very strong relation between E.C. basilicas in Rome
and in the Orient: one of these basilicas, the Church of S. Giovanni a Porta
Latina forms the object of this study.
"....upon closer examination....there are still preserved in the structrue
itself large remains of an Early Christian basilica, sufficient to trace its
entire outlines.
"These consist of the exterior polygon of the main apse, the wall above it,
the walls above and next to the apses in the side choirs, and the lower
section of the side wall in the left aisle under and next to the Campanile at
the north corner of the church.
"...the basilica... is never mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis before
Hadrian I. But...this mention is of vital importance for it clearly states
that Hadrian *restored* the basilica....'_renovavit_' can only mean that a
basilica must certainly have already existed and that it could not have been a
building of recent construction....[from this reference in the L.P.] we may
assume that the basilica must have been founded before the middle of the sixth
century....the marble floor...[and] several brick stamps with the name
[THEODERICO] confirm...that the basilica might have been erected about 500....
The type of the choir parts of the building is also a convincing indication
for the date 500, as in Ital it seems characteristic of Ravennatic churches of
this period...
"Thus the type at first glance seems to suggest a definite relation of S. G.a
P.L in Rome with Ravennatic architecture.... but...[it] seems to be more
closely connected to E.C. architecrture at Byzantium and in its near
vacinity."
The measurement system used suggests a Byzantine foot rather than a Roman one:
"One might even suggest that an Eastern architect was at work here.
"Thus S. G. a P.L. forms a clear instance of direct Near Eastern influnence in
Rome.[3]"
"3. Near Eastern means in this article always the Near Eastern provinces of
the Roman Empire..."
"This is not an isolated example of such an influence:... Sto. Stefano Rotondo
[c. 470]... S. Agata dei Gota [c. 470]... S. Apostoli [c.560]... S. Lorenzo
f.l.m. [590] and S. Agnese f.l.m. (625-38)... S. Nereo ed Achilleo [c.800]...
Sa. Sinforosa in Via Tiburtina..."
"Thus S. G. a P.P. is but one among a considerable group of N.E. churches
which were constructed in Rome from 450 to 800. Our conception of E.C.
architecture in Rome is entirely altered by this realization, for these Roman
churches erected under N.E. influence form but a link in the chain of N.E.
churches which were erected all over Europe in this same period....Silchester
or Hexam... S. Juan de Banos...S. Miguel de Escalada... Romainmotier and St.
Johann in Munster... Rome, therefore, is not an isolated province in E.C. as
is commonly assumed. It participates in the whole rich development of
Occidental architecture under N.E. influence in the earliest M.A.
And...Rome...may well have played an intermediary role and it is possible that
many of the N.E. influences in Occidental architecture (esp. in England) came
by way of Rome."
c
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