San Pietro al Monte
San Pietro al Monte is a Romanesque-style monastery that is secluded in the Valle dell'Oro (Gold Valley) above the Italian village of Civate in the province of Lecco .
The monastery complex of the former Benedictine abbey consists of three buildings: the basilica consecrated to the Apostle Peter , the oratory consecrated to St. Benedict and ruins of the dwellings. The motto ora et labora, engraved on two stone portals, testifies to the Benedictine monks . The impressive frescoes in the Basilica of San Pietro, the theme of which is the return of Christ in glory and the triumph of the righteous after the Revelation of John , are among the most important examples of Romanesque painting in Lombardy .
location
The monastery is located at an altitude of 630 meters on a grassy plateau of a foothill of Monte Cornizzolo . It can only be reached from the village of Civate on foot in about an hour's hike through a thick forest.
history
The legend of San Pietro al Monte says that the last Longobard king Desiderius founded the monastery in 772 as a thank you for the wonderful healing of the eye of his son Adelchis through a spring of healing water that still gushes near the church. The late antique and early medieval remains of the tower, the chapels, the columns and the walls date from between the 5th and 8th centuries.
The first written mention comes from the 9th century and describes that Abbot Leutgario lived there with thirty Benedictine monks from the Pfäfers monastery from Switzerland. The Milanese Bishop Arnolfo III. wanted to be buried in San Pietro al Monte in 1097, after he had spent the last years of his life there and probably had initiated the structural changes of the 11th century.
The Church of San Pietro
The ground plan of the church is unusual because the entrance was moved from west to east with the construction of a new apse in the 11th century . The building now has two apses at the ends of the nave: the ciborium with altar is in the western one , the eastern one forms a veranda with two chapels on either side of the entrance.
Access is via a staircase to a large semicircular anteroom, illuminated by arched windows, on the level of the church, above an anteroom one floor below, at the level of the crypt , in which pilgrims could spend the night. The entrance is decorated with frescoes: the heavenly Jerusalem is depicted in the central vault . One of the two chapels is painted with saints, the other with angels.
At the western end of the nave is the ciborium decorated with stucco , in which the crucified Christ is depicted between Mary and John and which shows the evangelist symbols above the capitals , while the dome is painted with figures of saints.
The eastern fresco above the door shows a vision of the Revelation of John with an ornate composition of the Majestas Domini , surrounded by St. Michael and an angel piercing a dragon symbolizing the devil. The presence of other figures, with blessed and damned souls, makes it difficult to interpret the fresco.
The crypt decorated with stucco is accessible via a staircase on the south wall and is supported by stone columns with stucco capitals. It contains a picture of Our Lady asleep and frescoes of the wise virgins.
Detail of the scene of the apocalypse: the dragon with seven heads
Detail of the scene of the apocalypse: angels killing the dragon
Relief depicting a chimera
Front of the ciborium
crypt
Detail of the Dormition of the Blessed Mother
Description of the artistic equipment
The extensive and complex Romanesque decoration is still preserved in the Basilica of San Pietro al Monte. The stucco work and frescoes follow the same sophisticated symbolism, which is based on church teaching, so that a very theologically trained mind is assumed behind the designs.
If you enter the church from the stairs, you stand in an anteroom that surrounds the southern apse and in this way forms an external corridor. Above the passage to the church there is a fresco showing the Traditio Legis et Clavis (handing over of the law and the key to Peter and Paul) and thus the justification of the church and the authority of the Pope .
Inside, the nave is preceded by a kind of narthex , which is divided into three areas by four arched columns. In the arched doorway within the entrance area, a scene is depicted that shows Abraham embracing his people ( Abraham's lap ). On the walls of the entrance corridor there are scenes depicting Popes Saints Marcellus I and Gregory the Great receiving groups of believers. Under the two scenes there are fascia with depictions of a Christian symbol, the fish .
The fresco in the arch above shows the heavenly Jerusalem with the corresponding iconographic elements: In the middle, Christ sits on a globe with the lamb at his feet. A river rises beneath this and immediately divides into four watercourses, while twelve gates open on the inside of the surrounding city wall, from which the heads of angels peek out. The scene is continued in the cross vault that follows , in whose fields there is an allegorical representation of the four rivers of earthly paradise . In the lower sections, the pairs of pillars are connected by two walls that show a stucco griffin and a chimera , both symbols of evil, depicted the moment they flee the church.
The hierarchy of angels (in the southern apse) and the People of the Elected (northern apse) can be seen in the two small apses on either side of the entrance corridor . A large fresco is attached above the three arcades of the inner narthex, which are decorated with decorative stucco work, which sums up the meaning of the whole cycle: The depicted scene reproduces the beginning of the twelfth chapter of the Revelation of John very precisely. To the left you see “a woman clothed in the sun; the moon was under her feet ”. She has just given birth to a son who is immediately brought to the center of the scene, to the throne of God, so that he is not swallowed up by the huge dragon that spreads all over the lower part of the fresco. The threat is averted by the Archangel Michael and his helpers, who pierce the dragon with their lances and thus throw him down to earth.
The altar, which is located in front of the southern apse, is covered by a ciborium, the architectural structure of which is strongly reminiscent of that of the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan. The ciborium consists of four pillars with capitals with high reliefs made of stucco with the symbols of the four evangelists. In the four gabled fields that connect the columns, there are stucco reliefs of the crucifixion , the visit of Mary to the tomb of Jesus, the Ascension of Christ and the handing over of the scrolls and keys. All scenes are provided with further decorative elements. The inside of the dome of the ciborium is filled with a fresco, which in turn places the Lamb of God in the center. This is surrounded by ten men and eight women - all with a Nimbus provided - possibly related to the Apocalypse in the context, but on their interpretation of the research is divided.
Also on the railing of the stairs that lead to the crypt are three stucco reliefs that show a griffin and a lion within a network of vines, then two lions and two lions transforming into fish. These illustrations are to be read as a reference to man's path to salvation.
The decoration in the crypt should be v. a. honor the mother of God. The crypt is divided into three naves by two rows of columns. At the end of the middle nave there is a modest masonry altar with stucco scenes from the life of Mary attached to the sides: the presentation of Jesus in the temple, the crucifixion - which has just been renovated - and the death of Mary.
Among the representations still preserved in the crypt, that of St. Agnes is noteworthy, carrying a torch to which a container for oil is attached. Perhaps this is a reference to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins .
The internal design of the church is generally set in the last of the 11th century and the first decades of the 12th century. In research there is no consensus on the number or origin of the performing artists.
Significant stylistic differences can be seen between the creator of the Heavenly Jerusalem with his influences from Northern European, Ottonian art and the master of the Apocalypse , in whose work Byzantine influences of the second half of the 11th century are visible.
The San Benedetto Oratory
The small building with a square floor plan and three apses contains three frescoes over the original altar. It was probably not only used for baptism, but also for funerals and prayers. The frescoes on the altar show St. Benedict holding a book with the words ego sum benedictus aba (s) , St. Andrew with the words ego sum lux mundi and John the Baptist.
Since the oratory is not always open, it can only be visited during the week by prior arrangement or on public holidays when the Friends of St. Peter are present.
literature
- Antonio Giussani: L'abbazia benedettina di S. Pietro al Monte sopra Civate - Corno 1912
- Oleg Zastrow: L'arte romanica nel comasco , Lecco - Casa editrice Stefanoni 1972
- Carlo Marcora: Gli stucchi di S. Pietro al Monte sopra Civate , Lecco 1974
- Vincenzo Gatti: Abbazia benedettina di S. Pietro al Monte Pedale sopra Civate , Milano - Note Guida 1980
- Carlo Castagna: In hoc monasterio quod dicitur Clavate , Oggiono - Cattaneo 1987
- Carlo Castagna: Frammenti per un restauro , Oggiono - Cattaneo 1992
- Paolo Tentori: Ipotesi di ricostruzione del fregio ornamale sull'affresco esterno alla porta orientale di S. Pietro al Monte di Civate , Archivi di Lecco - (XVII) 3 1994
- Alessandra Guiglia Guidobaldi: Article “Civate”, available online: “Enciclopedia dell 'Arte Medievale” - Treccani , 1994
- Carlo Castagna: Un monastero sulla montagna , Annone - Riga, 2007
- Monika E. Müller: Omnia in mensura et numero et special disposita. The wall paintings and stucco work of San Pietro al Monte di Civate (Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 2009).
- Sandro Chierici: Romanische Lombardei , page 155–197, with ill., Würzburg: Echter Verlag 1978, ISBN 3-429-00604-X .
- Carlo Castagna: La Cultura di Civate , Oggiono - Cattaneo, 2011.
- Carlo Castagna…: e un monastero a valle , Annone - Riga, 2014.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ O. Zastrow, 1972.
- ^ A. Guiglia Guidobaldi, "Il problema delle due absidi contrapposte del San Pietro a Civate", Commentari 29, 1978, pp. 22-31
- ↑ Alessandra Guiglia Guidobaldi: Article “Civate”, available online: Civate in “Enciclopedia dell 'Arte Medievale” - Treccani , 1994
- ↑ http://www.uibk.ac.at/theol/leseraum/bibel/offb12.html
- ^ Carlo Castagna: Un monastero sulla montagna, Riga 2007, pp. 108-110
- ^ Carlo Castagna: Un monastero sulla montagna, Riga 2007, p. 124
- ↑ Alessandra Guiglia Guidobaldi: Article “Civate”, available online: “Enciclopedia dell 'Arte Medievale” - Treccani , 1994
Coordinates: 45 ° 50 ′ 5.2 ″ N , 9 ° 19 ′ 10 ″ E