Portal of the Filarete
The Filarete portal is the middle of five entrance portals on the front of St. Peter in Rome .
The monumental two-winged bronze gate was created between 1433 or 1439 and 1445 by the Florentine sculptor and architect Antonio Avelino , called Filarete, and his workshop.
In six large fields, Christ Pantocrator and Mary , including Paul and Peter , are shown, the key is presented to Pope Eugene IV, and in the lower fields the martyrdom of the two apostles : the beheading of Paul and the crucifixion of Peter. Important events from the client's vita are shown between the six main images. The floral frieze contains scenes from Greek mythology , from the fables of Aesop , scenes from Roman history handed down by Livy and from Virgil's eclogues .
The images on the portal follow a learned theological iconography shaped by early humanism . Problems of the time in which the Council challenged the papacy's claim to primacy should be conveyed figuratively .
The gate usually remains closed and is only opened on certain festivities.
Dimensions and material
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The two wings of the gate are each 6.35 m high and 1.79 m wide. Bronze plates are attached to a wooden core. Originally, the panels were decorated with colored enamel , but hardly any traces have been preserved. The inside of the door is also clad with bronze sheet metal and, apart from a narrow strip at the foot of a wing, has no artistic design.
Client
The gate was donated by Pope Eugene IV. Condulmer, who commissioned it in 1431 to furnish Alt-Sankt Peter, the predecessor of today's St. Peter's Church. The gate was intended as a renewal of the old Porta Argenta (The Silver Gate) to Old Saint Peter, which was donated by Pope Honorius I in the 7th century and stripped of its silver paneling during the decline of Rome in the Middle Ages. The gate was installed in 1445, two years before the donor's death.
Between 1618 and 1619, under the reign of Paul V, the top and bottom of the door wings were attached with two wide strips, which he used to mark his name and coat of arms, in order to adapt them to the dimensions of the new building of St. Peter. In 1620 they were installed in their current location. 1962, during the pontificate of John XXIII. the portal was restored.
The pictures
Both wings of the portal are divided into two rectangular and two square picture fields, which are framed by a lively tendril frieze and separated between the pictures by four narrative picture strips.
Christ Pantocrator and Mary
The two images above show Christ enthroned, his right hand raised in blessing, while the left hand rests an open book on his knee. The veil behind the splendid armchair is framed by an antique festoon with three cherubim heads. Mary's throne on the opposite side stands in a niche based on Roman architecture with a semicircular apse calotte, which is also framed by a festoon with angels' heads.
Paul and Peter
The two figures of the apostles stand out plastically against a flat background reminiscent of the punched gold background of medieval holy images. Paul, a book in his left hand and a raised sword in his right hand, turns to Peter on the table next to him. To the right of Paul is an ancient amphora with lily stems, an attribute that is more likely to be expected on an annunciation scene than on an apostle picture. Peter also holds a book in his left hand. With his right hand he hands the keys to Pope Eugene, who kneels in front of him, an indication of the power of the keys of the Roman popes, according to Mt 16: 13-19. With this panel, Filarete still follows the medieval image of the founder with his portrayal of the protagonists from a perspective of meaning .
The martyrdom of Paul
The events of the condemnation, arrest and execution of Paul are told in a sequence of scenes. On the left side of the picture a Roman officer takes the instructions from the emperor. Nero is enthroned in a magnificent aedicule . It is equipped with a tropaion as a symbol of its power. This is followed by the arrest by a command led by horsemen and finally the beheading of Paul. The executioner, whose first blow only left a gaping wound on Paul's neck, strikes a fatal blow with his sword.
The sky is animated by all sorts of birds, it opens and Paul appears to offer Plautilla, who is kneeling on a wooded hill, a veil soaked in his martyr's blood. Plautilla, as the Legenda aurea tells , was the mother of St. Flavia Domitilla , she was baptized by Peter and witnessed the beheading of Paul. Before the execution she had given Paul her veil to blindfold his eyes when he was beheaded.
The martyrdom of Peter
The counterpart to the beheading of St. Paul sets the scene for the martyrdom of Peter. Emperor Nero sits enthroned high above the Tiber in his palace, which Filarete suggests as an aedicule richly decorated with reliefs and trophies. According to tradition, Simon Peter was crucified during his reign. At his feet the arrest of Peter takes place, the escort by a mounted troop of Roman soldiers to the place of execution and finally the crucifixion by four executioners. They nail Peter with his head down to the cross, as it is handed down in the apocryphal so-called Acts of Peter . In the foreground of the relief a panorama of Rome “beyond the Tiber” unfolds, with the Cestius pyramid , the tomb of Hadrian and another pyramid, which has been interpreted as Meta Romuli . The two ancient pyramids were considered tombs of the mythical city founders Romulus and Remus in the mediaeval imagination . According to the apocrypha of Peter, the apostle's execution took place “inter duas metas”, i.e. H. in Rome on ancient soil.
A female figure leans against the Cestius pyramid, recognizable by the inscription ROMA as the personification of the city of Rome. A tree grows between Hadrian's mausoleum and the second pyramid with three shields with emblems hanging in the branches . The tree is interpreted as the legendary terebinth tree under which the apostle was temporarily buried before his final burial under today's St. Peter's Basilica. The signs in the tree use their emblems to indicate the three continents known at the time: the Egyptian solar boat stands for Africa, the scorpion , in medieval iconography a symbol for the synagogue and Judaism , symbolizes Asia and ROMA stands for Europe. The iconography here still corresponds to the ancient tripartite division of the world, while the solar barge indicates the budding interest of the early humanists in Egyptian culture.
Events from the pontificate of Eugen IV.
The four narrow reliefs between the six large picture fields depict the lifting of the oriental schism and the coronation of Sigismund of Luxemburg as emperor.
- The Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos steps out of his residence, travels across the sea in a galley, lands in Italy and is received by the Pope.
- Abbot Andrew, with a delegation of oriental and Egyptian schismatics, receives the rules of faith laid down by the Florentine Council from the Pope.
- Coronation of Emperor Sigismund
- Emperor and Pope ride to the Lateran , where they are received by a representative from the city and their entourage.
The signatures of Filarete
Filarete has documented his authorship in creating the portal in several places. Above the scene of the martyrdom of St. Paul stands on a narrow bar flanked by two Florentine lilies , a coat of arms with a Latin cross and an eagle [with a snake?] Inscription: OPUS - ANTONII - DE - FLORENTIA. (= Work of Antonius from Florence ). In addition to the scene with the beheading of Paul, genii present a medal with Filarete's head in profile, it bears the circumferential inscription ANTONIUS - PETRI - DE - FLORENTINA - FECIT - MCCCCXLV. (= Antonius des Peter from Florence made [them] in 1445. )
Finally, at the very bottom on the back of the left wing of the door, there is a narrow picture frieze which, as an early “precursor to a film credits ”, tells us who was involved in the work. Those involved celebrate the completion of their work with wine, music and dance. Flanked by two horsemen, led by Filarete with a circle, the whole named team dances a high-spirited dance.
The dance is flanked by two horsemen: on the left side sits a man, his name is PATRVTIVS, on a donkey, the wineskin hangs on the saddle and with his right hand he lifts the wine jug. The dancing men, named AGNOLVS - IACOBVS - IANNELLVS - PASSQUINVS - IOHANNES - VARRVS - FLORENIE, are ANTONIVS ET DISCIPVLI MEI (= Antonius and my students ). One is also informed about the depicted event in writing that flows out of Filarete's mouth: CETERIS OPERE PRETIVM PASTVS FVMUS VE MINI HILARITAS. The pan flute player at the end of the group is enthroned on a dromedary, his name is PIO VI, the camel is called DROMEDARIUS and under the donkey is the puzzling note: APO CI.
reception
Vasari criticizes the portal's artistic quality. In his vite he writes: “If Pope Eugene IV. In his decision to have the portal of St. Peter in Rome executed in bronze, had taken care in his search for the most excellent artists for this work ... the portal would not be like that sloppily executed, as it turns out in our time. ” Gregorovius , on the other hand, is less concerned with Filarete's technical inadequacy - he calls it“ a hard, profane and unsuccessful product ”than with Filarete's unprejudiced amalgamation of sacred and theological topics, for the taste of the 19th century, improper ancient tales of gods.
Today the portal is considered an early example of the reception of antiquity during the Renaissance, in which the latest knowledge of the architecture of the Romans, of Roman realities as well as knowledge of the humanistic scholar scene at the Curia about ancient history, mythology and literature were incorporated. It reflects the upheaval between the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern era. While an up-to-date knowledge of antiquity, the accuracy of nature observation and an exact reproduction of the topography of Rome point to the beginning of the Renaissance, the small-scale nature, the love of detail and the unreality in the design are as reflected in the figure of the Pope at the feet of St. Peters shows, still arrested in the Middle Ages.
Remarks
- ↑ “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you will bind on earth, that will also be bound in heaven, and whatever you will loosen on earth, that will also be loosened in heaven. "
- ↑ see Joachim Gnilka: Petrus und Rom , 2002, p. 111, note 6
- ↑ accordingly translated: With the wages for this work we had a meal and happiness.
- ↑ quoted from: Mori, Gioia: Rom in 14. Century. In Rome. Edited by Marco Bussagli. Königswinter 2004. p. 361.
- ^ Gregorovius: History of the city of Rome in the Middle Ages. From the 5th to the 16th century. Vol. 1. Stuttgart 1886. p. 312.
literature
- Ulrich Pfisterer : Filaretes historia and commentarius: On the beginnings of humanistic history theory in pictures , in: The silent discourse of pictures, ed. v. K. Krüger, R. Preimesberger and V. von Rosen, Munich and Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag 2003, pp. 139–176.
- Luise Stöckhert: The Peter and Paul Martyrs on Filarete's bronze door of St. Peter in Rome: a preliminary form of the panorama as a statement of church politics . Frankfurt a. M. 1997. (Europäische Hochschulschriften. Series 28. Vol. 294.) ISBN 3-631-30204-5
- Ursula Nilgen: Filaretes bronze door in St. Peter: For the interpretation of picture and frame . In: Actas del XXIII. Congresso internacional de historia del arte. Granada 1976-1988. 1978, pp. 569-585.
- Wolfgang von Oettingen : About the life and works of Antonio Averlino called Filarete. A study. Leipzig 1888.
