The sight of Rome shone brightly in the eyes of the Jubilee pilgrims in 1300, as the main basilicas displayed dazzling mosaics above the entrance. Nowadays, only in Santa Maria in Trastevere and in Santa Maria Maggiore those mosaics survive, as well as small fragments that we can ascribe to a few contexts. However, written sources document at least twenty examples. Early Christian and High Middle Age cases are rare (only those of San Pietro in Vaticano and Santa Prassede are known), but from the Age of the Gregorian Reform the number increases. During the 12th century, the facades of San Bartolomeo all'Isola, Santa Maria Nova and San Giovanni in Laterano were enriched with mosaics. In the first half of the 13th century, it was the turn of Santa Maria in Trastevere and of an update of the façade of San Pietro. Between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th, the facades of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Santa Maria Maggiore and again that of San Giovanni in Laterano were decorated with mosaics. The front of San Paolo fuori le mura was the last one, from the time of Pope John XXII (about 1325). The particular fortune of this phenomenon is mainly due to the invention and diffusion in Rome - in the 12th-14th centuries - of the 'cavetto', a wall strip with a concave profile crowning the façade. It was designed to increase the monumentality of the building's front wall and to tilt the mosaic decoration down towards the entrance, limiting the exposure of the tesserae to the atmospheric agents (a drawback which is probably at the origin of the scarce diffusion of outdoor mosaics in the rest of the West and in the Christian East). The proven presence of the 'cavetto' at the top of the facades of Roman churches is therefore an important indication in favor of the original existence of mosaic coverings; sometimes it is the only one in our possession.

/Ai pellegrini del Giubileo del 1300 la vista di Roma doveva apparire costellata di decorazioni musive risplendenti sopra l’ingresso delle principali basiliche. Oggi sopravvivono soltanto gli esempi di Santa Maria in Trastevere e di Santa Maria Maggiore, oltre ad esigui frammenti riferibili ad un numero limitato di altri contesti, e però le testimonianze documentate dalle fonti sfiorano la ventina. I casi paleocristiani e altomedievali sono rari (si conoscono soltanto quelli di San Pietro in Vaticano e di Santa Prassede) ma con l’arrivo della stagione della Riforma si registra un aumento considerevole di testimonianze. Durante il XII secolo si arricchiscono di mosaici le facciate di San Bartolomeo all’Isola, Santa Maria Nova e San Giovanni in Laterano. Nel corso della prima metà del XIII secolo sarà la volta di Santa Maria in Trastevere e di un aggiornamento del prospetto di San Pietro. Fra la fine del XIII secolo e gli inizi del XIV verranno mosaicate le facciate di Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Santa Maria Maggiore e di nuovo quella di San Giovanni in Laterano. L’ultima impresa sarà quella della fronte di San Paolo fuori le mura, del tempo di Giovanni XXII (1325 ca). La particolare fortuna del fenomeno, nella Roma dei secoli XII-XIV secolo, si deve soprattutto all’invenzione e alla diffusione del ‘cavetto’, fascia muraria dal profilo concavo posta a coronamento della facciata, atta ad aumentare la monumentalità del prospetto, orientare la decorazione musiva verso l’ingresso e limitare l’esposizione delle tessere agli agenti atmosferici (inconveniente che, verosimilmente, è all’origine della scarsa diffusione dei mosaici in esterno nel resto dell’Occidente e nell’Oriente cristiano). L’accertata presenza del ‘cavetto’ in cima ai prospetti delle chiese romane rappresenta quindi un indizio importante in favore dell’originaria esistenza di rivestimenti musivi, talvolta l’unico in nostro possesso.

Un'arte ostentata: decorazioni musive sulle facciate delle chiese di Roma (IV-XIV secolo)

Piazza, Simone
2023-01-01

Abstract

The sight of Rome shone brightly in the eyes of the Jubilee pilgrims in 1300, as the main basilicas displayed dazzling mosaics above the entrance. Nowadays, only in Santa Maria in Trastevere and in Santa Maria Maggiore those mosaics survive, as well as small fragments that we can ascribe to a few contexts. However, written sources document at least twenty examples. Early Christian and High Middle Age cases are rare (only those of San Pietro in Vaticano and Santa Prassede are known), but from the Age of the Gregorian Reform the number increases. During the 12th century, the facades of San Bartolomeo all'Isola, Santa Maria Nova and San Giovanni in Laterano were enriched with mosaics. In the first half of the 13th century, it was the turn of Santa Maria in Trastevere and of an update of the façade of San Pietro. Between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th, the facades of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Santa Maria Maggiore and again that of San Giovanni in Laterano were decorated with mosaics. The front of San Paolo fuori le mura was the last one, from the time of Pope John XXII (about 1325). The particular fortune of this phenomenon is mainly due to the invention and diffusion in Rome - in the 12th-14th centuries - of the 'cavetto', a wall strip with a concave profile crowning the façade. It was designed to increase the monumentality of the building's front wall and to tilt the mosaic decoration down towards the entrance, limiting the exposure of the tesserae to the atmospheric agents (a drawback which is probably at the origin of the scarce diffusion of outdoor mosaics in the rest of the West and in the Christian East). The proven presence of the 'cavetto' at the top of the facades of Roman churches is therefore an important indication in favor of the original existence of mosaic coverings; sometimes it is the only one in our possession.
2023
Viae Urbis. Le strade a Roma nel medioevo
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/5026060
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