Sant'Ambrogio (Milan)

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Sant'Ambrogio in Milan

Sant'Ambrogio is an early Christian church in Milan in northern Italy .

history

Tombs of Ambrose, Protasius and Gervasius

In Roman times the area outside the city gate Porta Vercellina , on which the current church stands, served as a cemetery. After the Edict of Milan by Emperor Constantine , which in 313 AD the persecuted Christians a . a. allowed the building of their own churches, burial chapels and memorials to some martyrs were built here, including Victor , Nabor and Felix .

Directly north of the chapel of Victor, the Milanese Bishop Ambrosius had a large, three-aisled basilica built between 379 and 386 for the veneration of the martyrs Nabor and Felix as well as Gervasius and Protasius , the church Ss. Nabore e Felice . Only a few remains of this transeptless church, which roughly corresponded to today's building, have survived: the four red columns made of porphyry that support the ciborium above the altar , some column bases and a fragment of the decoration of the apse .

After his death, Ambrosius was buried next to Gervasius and Protasius. The church was named Basilica Ambrosiana early on . The great importance of this church is evident from the fact that a number of bishops received their episcopal ordination here at the grave of their holy predecessor.

In 784 a Benedictine abbey was founded in the immediately adjacent area of ​​today's Catholic University , which five years later received its confirmation from Charlemagne , who expanded it with a community of canons . The previous church was too small for these new requirements: the monks added a new choir room with a crypt underneath at the east end in the 8th century . In the 9th century the aisles were given apses and the atrium was laid out. Bishop Angilberto II donated a golden altar attachment around 846, the work of Volvinius . A little later, inspired by the example of Alt St. Peter in Rome , the right church tower was built, which is still called Campanile dei Monaci (Tower of the Monks) today. With its square floor plan, it is one of the first, if not the first church tower in Lombardy .

Between 1018 and 1050 the ancient pillars were encased and converted into pillars with upstream services . This made it possible to equip the naves with a vault , whereby the weight could be diverted downwards via the services. A little later, the atrium was redesigned in Lombard form and the crossing tower and finally the second bell tower ( Campanile dei Canonici , between 1123 and 1144) were built. In addition, some yokes that collapsed in 1196 were rebuilt in the western part of the church.

Canon building

In the 15th century, the Victory Chapel was connected to the church. The end of this century can be seen as the greatest heyday of the monastery. In 1497, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza , as curator of the monastery, suggested that the Benedictines be replaced by Cistercians from the Chiaravalle Abbey near Milan . The canons' buildings of Bramante to the north of the church date from this period .

Floor plan 1847
Ground plan 1911

In the 16th and 17th centuries, some side chapels were added and the interior was given a baroque style. After the French occupation in the wake of the revolution , the monastery was dissolved and briefly served as a hospital. But under Austrian rule a new bloom began. A purifying “restoration” was carried out in 1856–1890 with the aim of reconstructing the Romanesque state. On April 23, 1874, the church was elevated to a minor basilica . In 1921 the Catholic University moved into the monastery buildings. An Allied bombing raid in August 1943 caused severe damage, but this was repaired in 1951.

architecture

Atrium

The atrium in front of the church used to be the place where u. a. gathered the catechumens together during the service , as they were not yet allowed to attend Holy Mass in the church. The current shape of the atrium dates back to the middle of the 12th century (mentioned as a new atrium in 1174 ). The capitals of the columns show flowers or Christian symbols. The fighting animals symbolize the struggle of good against evil. The pillar arcades surrounding the courtyard continue in front of the church facade in the three slightly lower arches of the narthex with Lombard decorative elements ; on the floor above, the five arcades of the Benediction Loggia , from which blessings were donated, are staggered according to the roof pitch .

A few frescoes , some of them from the Middle Ages, have been preserved on the walls of the atrium . There are also numerous grave slabs.

From the atrium you have a good view of the two church towers. Such double tower facades appeared for the first time shortly beforehand on Old St Peter in Rome and the second church in Cluny in Burgundy and were subsequently frequently copied because of the great importance of these two places. The left tower, begun in 1123/28, remained unfinished for a long time; You can still see the additions from the 19th century on the masonry. The right tower is dated around 840.

Nave

The three-aisled nave has no transepts and today ends in a staggered choir (a choir flanked by two apses reconstructed in 1864). The elevation is unusual: the cross-section shows a flat, unstaggered roof pitch of the long house, which is broadly based according to Longobard tradition. The expanse of the room is reduced by the galleries above the aisles. The building type therefore follows neither that of the basilica nor that of the hall church .

Furnishing

Inside you come across two pillars, which are said to have been brought from Constantinople in 1007 by Archbishop Arnolf as a gift from the Byzantine emperor Basil II . The bronze serpent was then seen as an image of the brazen serpent of Moses or even as this itself, but was probably more an ancient attribute of the god Asclepius . The cross on the other pillar is more recent.

The nearby pulpit is one of the important pieces of equipment. It was rebuilt between 1204 and 1212 after a vault collapse from fragments over an early Christian sarcophagus from around 390 . This stone coffin, which was probably wrongly associated with the name of the Roman army master Stilicho , is richly decorated with reliefs, they show: Christ as the teacher of the apostles , the Ascension of Elijah, Moses with the tablets of the law, bust medalless of the former buried couple and the adoration of St. three Kings. The lectern made of gilded copper (11th century) symbolizes the evangelists Mathäus (human) and Johannes (eagle).

The Romanesque altar canopy from the early 12th century rests on early Christian porphyry columns. The stucco reliefs in the gables show the handover of the keys to Peter and the mission to Paul (west side), Ambrosius between the St. Gervasius and Protasius (east), St. Benedict (south) and perhaps St. Scholastica (north). The altar under this canopy, the famous paliotto , with the world's only surviving Carolingian altar panel, created 824 to 856 indicates the golden front ( frontal ) Christ with the Apostles, to the silver side stories from the Gospels and on the back Episodes from the life of Ambrosius. An inscription names the goldsmith Volvinus as the manufacturer.

Behind the altar ciborium extends the choir, the actual prayer room of the monks. The wooden choir stalls from 1494 are at the transition to the Renaissance. A marble cathedra (bishop's throne) from the 9th century stands in the apse axis. The mosaic in the dome above was recombined from fragments from the 8th to 9th centuries in the 11th or 12th century, and has been considerably supplemented and restored over and over again, most recently after the significant bomb damage in 1943. The central depiction of Christ is entirely from a recent era Time. It is flanked by the two martyrs Gervasius and Protasius and the archangels Michael and Gabriel. The mortal remains of numerous saints can be found in the church: In addition to the aforementioned Ambrosius, Gervasius, Protasius and Victor, also Marcellina , the sister of Ambrosius. In addition, Emperor Ludwig II is buried in the church.

To the south of the choir is the entrance to the Victorkapelle S. Vittore in Ciel d'oro . This early Christian burial chapel is richly decorated with mosaics from the time it was built, one of which depicts Ambrosius with individual features - a rare image that is largely believed to be authentic.

organ

View of one of the organ works

The organ was built in 1951 by the organ building company Balbiani-Vegezzi Bossi (Milan). The instrument is distributed over three cases in the church interior. It has 38 stops on three manual works and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I Positivo Espressivo Cc 4
Salicionale 8th'
Gamba 8th'
Corno Camoscio 8th'
Eufonio 8th'
Flauto armonico 4 ′
Nazardo 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Flautino 2 ′
Terza 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Cornetto
Clarabella 8th'
Clarino 8th'
Vibrators
II Grand'Organo Cc 4
Principals 16 ′
Principals 8th'
diapason 8th'
Flauto 8th'
Dulciana 8th'
Unda maris 8th'
Ottava 4 ′
Quintadecima 2 ′
Ripieno
Tromba 8th'
III Espressivo Cc 4
Principals 8th'
Bordone 8th'
Quintante 8th'
Viola d'orchestra 8th'
Concerto Viole 8th'
Fugara 4 ′
Corno di notte 4 ′
Ripieno
Voce corale 8th'
oboe 8th'
Vibrators
Pedals Cg 1
Basso 32 ′
Contrabbasso 16 ′
Subbasso 16 ′
Basso 8th'
Violone 8th'
Bordone 8th'
cello 8th'

gallery

  • Porphyry columns from the Ambrosian basilica (4th century)

  • Marble wall inlays of the late antique apse decoration (5th century?)

  • Altar attachment of Volvinius (9th century)

  • "Tower of the Monks" (9th century)

  • Atrium (12th century)

  • "Tower of the Canons" (12th century)

  • Destruction in 1943

  • Fighting animals on capital in atrium

  • West side: Brazen Serpent (AT), 11th century

  • Pulpit (13th century) over sarcophagus (4th century)

  • Apse mosaic (12th century)

  • Illustration of Ambrose from the chapel of San Vittore in ciel d'oro (5th century)

literature

  • Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Romanesque. Architecture - sculpture - painting . Cologne 1996, p. 82.
  • Heinz Schomann: Lombardy (Reclam's Art Guide Italy I, 1) Stuttgart 1981, pp. 270–283
  • Anna Elisabeth Werdehausen: Bramante and the monastery S. Ambrogio in Milan = Roman studies of the Bibliotheca Hertziana 2. Werner publishing company , Worms, 1990. ISBN 978-3-88462-078-6 .

Web links

Commons : Sant'Ambrogio (Milan)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A. Calderini: La basilica milanese dei Ss. Nabore e Felice. In: Ambrosius , Rivista Liturgico-Pastorale XXXVI, Suppl. To No. 6, 1960, pp. 144 ff .; Nabore e Felice. In: Bibliotheca Sanctorum 1ff., Rome 1961 ff., Col. 689–693
  2. ↑ Schomann, p. 272.
  3. ↑ see article in the Italian Wikipedia under the links
  4. ↑ Information on the organ

Coordinates: 45 ° 27 '44.9 "  N , 9 ° 10' 32.7"  E