medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (19. December) is the feast day of:
Berard, bp. of Teramo (d. 1123). Today's less well known saint from the Regno is said to have belonged to the family of the counts of Pagliara (in the vicinity of the Gran Sasso). After entering monastic life at Montecassino B. became abbot of the not yet Cistercian monastery of San Giovanni in Venere near Chieti in today's Abruzzo. Supposedly against his will, late in 1115 he was elected bishop of Teramo (TE; also in Abruzzo). In that office he displayed great piety, charity, and simplicity of spirit. His Vita (BHL 1175) is attributed to an early thirteenth-century successor; perhaps not surprisingly, it also lauds B.'s administrative ability and reforming zeal.
Teramo's late antique to early twelfth-century cathedral (therefore B.'s cathedral church) was destroyed by fire at the end of 1155 or the beginning of 1156. Known today as the church of Sant'Anna and outfitted with a very plain modern facade, it has few remains above ground but is functional beneath. Three views follow:
http://www.contidimonteverdebasso.it/ChiesaSantAnna.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/bs3d6
http://www.turiteramo.it/images/antica_volta.jpg
Its successor, begun in 1158, is dedicated to the BVM and to B., whose relics are retained here. Increasingly brief Italian-language accounts of this building, which was restored in the early 1930s, are here (several also illustrated):
http://www.tercas.it/calendari.asp?id=81&action=article
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duomo_di_Teramo
http://www.diocesiteramoatri.it/arte/cattedrale.asp
http://www.concapeligna.it/Comuni/TERAMO/davedere/da_vedere.htm
(The view there is of Sant'Antonio.)
http://tinyurl.com/32gwae
http://www.abruzzoheritage.com/magazine/2002_05/a_it.htm
http://www.cesn.it/patrimonio%5Farchitet/abruzzo/teramo.htm
B.'s church is in two main parts, one from the twelfth century and the other, attached to the former at a slight angle, from the thirteenth. There are two facades, both of which are composites evidencing different periods of construction. A view of the older facade (on Piazza Martiri della Libertà):
http://tinyurl.com/y7wwo4
A view showing the newer facade (on Piazza Orsini):
http://tinyurl.com/24xjz2
The figure in the niche on the viewer's right represents B.:
http://tinyurl.com/ca4t6
Detail view:
http://tinyurl.com/2t36u7
Multiple exterior views (many expandable) are here:
http://www.medioevo.org/artemedievale/Pages/Abruzzo/Teramo.html
Ten pages of views here, interior as well as exterior, showing sculptural details, wall painting, and works of art (the latter including a very important earlier fifteenth-century altar frontal by Nicola da Guardiagrele and a noteworthy altarpiece from slightly earlier in the same century by Jacobello da Fiore):
http://tinyurl.com/3aj7jj
A view of the altar frontal ('paliotto'):
http://www.monterinaldi.it/cards/100/romandini.jpg
An Italian-language account of the frontal:
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antependium_di_Teramo
The interior emerged in September from an extensive campaign of restoration that went on for several years. Herewith a relatively recent view from before the work started:
http://tinyurl.com/y2vn29
Views from sometime in 2006:
http://217.59.54.135/Comune/news/news_apri.asp?cn=160
The restorer's illustrated presentation of the completed work:
http://tinyurl.com/25rpg2
Finally, some views of the abbey church of San Giovanni in Venere at Fossacesia (CH) are here:
http://www.abruzzovacanze.net/vr.php/it/95
http://www.medioevo.org/artemedievale/Pages/Abruzzo/Fossacesia.html
http://www.abruzzoverdeblu.it/?id=28
http://www.comune.fossacesia.ch.it/page_select.asp?id=68
An English-language account of the abbey is here:
http://www.abruzzoheritage.com/magazine/2000_12/200012_a.htm
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post lightly revised)
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