Santa Maria Antiqua

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Crucifixion: Jesus with open eyes, in sleeveless Kolobion, next to Maria and Johannes as well as Longinus (with lance) and Stephaton (with vinegar sponge). Fresco in Theodotus Chapel, AD 741–752
Floor plan of Santa Maria Antiqua and outbuildings, 1 church, 2 presbytery, 3 apse, 4 Theodotus chapel, 5 chapel of St. Doctors, 6 staircase to the Palatine Hill, 8 oratory of the 40 martyrs, 9 atrium

Santa Maria Antiqua ( Latin Ecclesia Sanctae Mariae Antiquae ) is a church at the foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome .

history

The church was built in the middle of the 6th century through the redesign of imperial buildings on the edge of the Roman Forum below the Imperial Palace on the Palatine Hill. These components probably belonged to the palace of Tiberius ; they were probably built in the 1st century AD by Emperor Domitian , who had the palace of Tiberius restored and a new reception hall added on the Vicus Tuscus , the ancient road from the Roman Forum to the Boarium Forum . In addition, he had a covered staircase to his palace built on the Palatine Hill or the one that Caligula had already built was restored.

In the 6th century AD, the building between the staircase ramp and the former temple district of Divus Augustus was converted into a Christian church without major architectural interventions: the previous reception hall was converted into a narthex and nave with presbytery ; the adjoining rooms were converted into the Theodotus Chapel and the Chapel of the Holy Doctors. The atrium in front of the lobby was retained. The small building in front of the atrium, belonging to the former spring shrine of the nymph Juturna , became the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs.

You can reach the church today past the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs and through the square atrium (20 × 19 m), the walls of which are loosened up by semicircular and rectangular niches. Remains of the ancient impluvium from the time of Caligula have been preserved in the atrium .

architecture

The church interior consists of a hall (32 × 19 m) with four corner pillars and two brick pillars each (later columns) with narrow entrances to the two rooms on both sides of the apse that serve as pastophoria . These forms of construction come from Byzantine church construction and indicate that the reconstruction was planned according to Eastern church models. The presbytery, which originally ended with a rectangular niche, received a flat rounded apse at the end of the 6th century. The antique marble cladding on the walls and the marble slabs of the floor have been retained.

For what reasons could this church, which has been called S. Maria Antiqua since 640, be established in an imperial building with direct access to the imperial palace? It has been proven that high Byzantine government officials resided in the former imperial palace on the Palatine Hill from the middle of the 6th century. It is known of the palace official Plato, who died in 686, that as curator palatii he had the staircase of S. Maria Antiqua on the Palatine Hill restored; he was the father of Pope John VII , who grew up on the Palatine Hill. At this time an imperial garrison was also stationed in Rome; one of the leaders, the Greek Theodotus, donated the wall paintings in the Theodotus Chapel in the middle of the 8th century. For these reasons, it is believed that S. Maria Antiqua was the church in charge of Byzantine and Greek palace officials and officers.

Still under Pope Leo III. S. Maria Antiqua was one of the deaconry churches that were responsible for distributing grain to the urban population until the 9th century. In their place, Sancta Maria Nova became a deaconry in the 10th century.

The church building directly on the slope of the Palatine, threatened again and again by rockslides, gradually fell into disrepair after the earthquake of 847. A new church was built over the buried church of S. Maria Antiqua in the 14th century, which was converted to Baroque style in 1617. This church of Santa Maria Liberatrice was demolished in 1899 to allow archaeological excavations and to secure the rediscovered architectural remains and wall paintings by S. Maria Antiqua.

Palimpsest fresco with four layers of paint (approx. 550–707)
Annunciation angel on the second central nave pillar on the left (around 700)

Interior

Through the extensive restoration measures of the last 30 years, several layers of valuable wall paintings , especially from the 6th to 8th centuries, have been secured in S. Maria Antiqua . They formed, “if only preserved in fragments, as it were a compendium of early medieval painting in Rome. For the most part, they are of high quality and astonishingly fresh and impressionistic. ”In 2012, the church was first made accessible to the public by Rome's Antiquities Authority and was shown during special tours. After another six-monthly closure from October 2015 to complete the restoration work, S. Maria Antiqua has been accessible again since March 2016. The frescoes of the church are of particular importance in terms of art history .

The best preserved murals include:

a) From the 6th century: "Maria Regina I" or Maria Augusta (Empress) in the bottom layer of the so-called palimpsest fresco on the wall to the right of the apse (552–579), by hollowing out the apse at the end of the 6th century . Century partially destroyed, so that today only visible: Crowned Mother of God with child on the throne with a dark-haired angel approaching from the right with a crown in veiled hands. It originally belonged to the Byzantine official building. The second layer of paint shows the head of the angel Gabriel with light hair from "Annunciation I" (end of the 6th century); this “beautiful angel” is painted with extraordinary virtuosity. From the third layer of paint (around 650) only the heads of the church fathers Basilios and John Chrysostom have survived. The head of Gregor von Nazianz can still be seen from the fourth layer of paint (around 707) .

b) The painting remains on the second pillar on the left (under Pope Martin I around 650), namely "Annunciation II", Deesis and "Maccabees", date from the 7th century .

c) beginning of the 8th century (under Pope John VII around 707): "Maria Regina II" until it was painted over around 770 in the apse dome; "Crucifixion I" on the apse wall; "Scenes from the Life of Jesus" on the side walls, including the "Adoration of the Magi" on the left; Frescoes in the Chapel of the Holy Doctors to the right of the presbytery.

d) Middle of the 8th century (under Pope Zacharias around 750): frescoes in the Theodotus chapel to the left of the presbytery with "Crucifixion II" and "Foundation image" on the front wall.

e) Second half of the 8th century (under Pope Paul I around 760): "Christ as Judge of the World " in the apse (as a replacement for "Maria Regina II"); “Great Assembly of Saints” in the left aisle; “The three holy mothers” Anna, Maria and Elisabeth as a niche picture in the left aisle; "Half figure of St. Abbakyros ”from the left atrium wall.

Oratory of the 40 Martyrs, state 2010

Oratory of the Forty Martyrs

In front of the atrium was the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs (10.5 × 8.5 m), which was built in a building in the 6th or 7th century to commemorate the forty soldiers who died as martyrs under Emperor Licinius in Sebaste / Armenia around 320 the 2nd century had been established.

Previously this cella had served as a living room and bedroom for sick people who had sought healing at the source of the nymph Juturna and the Lacus Juturnae belonging to the local Dioskurentempel .

The - poorly preserved - wall paintings inside show the torture of these forty martyrs and other saints.

literature

  • Maria Andaloro (ed.), Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo e l'area archeologica centrale: Santa Maria Antiqua, Tra Roma e Bisanzio. Mondadori Electa, Milan 2016, ISBN 978-8891807762 .
  • Hans Georg Wehrens: Rome - The Christian sacred buildings from the 4th to the 9th century - A Vademecum . Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2016, p. 291ff.
  • Werner Schmid: As much as necessary and as little as possible. The restoration of the early medieval wall paintings of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum. In: Thomas Danzl (ed.): Wall paintings in crypts, grottos, catacombs. For the preservation of mounted surfaces in environmentally damaged rooms. International conference of the German National Committee of ICOMOS in cooperation with the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt and the University of Fine Arts Dresden, Quedlinburg, Palais Salfeldt, November 3 to 6, 2011 (= booklets of the German National Committee of ICOMOS , vol. 56). Imhof, Petersberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86568-984-9 , pp. 165-170.
  • Hugo Brandenburg : The early Christian churches in Rome from the 4th to the 7th century. Regensburg 2013, pp. 251ff.
  • Filippo Coarelli : ROM - The archaeological guide , Darmstadt / Mainz 2013, p. 89ff.
  • Anton Henze u. a. (Ed.): Art Guide Rome . 5th edition. Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-15-010402-5 , pp. 103-104 .
  • Walther Buchowiecki : Handbook of the Churches of Rome , Hollinek, Vienna 1970, vol. 2, p. 433ff.
  • Per Jonas Nordhagen : The frescoes of John VII (AD 705-707) in S. Maria antiqua in Rome . Rome 1968.

Web links

Commons : Santa Maria Antiqua  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maria Andaloro (ed.), Maria Antonietta Tomei, Paola Filippini: Santa Maria Antiqua, Tra Roma e Bisanzio , p. 71 ff.
  2. ^ Hugo Brandenburg: The early Christian churches in Rome from the 4th to the 7th century. Regensburg 2013, p. 251.
  3. ^ Rudolf Hüls: Cardinals, Clergy and Churches of Rome: 1049–1130 (= Library of the German Historical Institute in Rome, vol. 48). Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1977, ISBN 978-3-484-80071-7 , p. 19.
  4. ^ Hugo Brandenburg: The early Christian churches in Rome from the 4th to the 7th century. Regensburg 2013, p. 253.
  5. ↑ Burkhard Jürgens: Jewel from the rubble of history , Domradio, October 5, 2012, accessed on March 18, 2016.
  6. ^ Deutschlandfunk: Oldest church reopened ( memento from March 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ Werner Schmid: As much as necessary and as little as possible. The restoration of the early medieval wall paintings of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum . In: Thomas Danzl (ed.): Wall paintings in crypts, grottos, catacombs. For the preservation of mounted surfaces in environmentally damaged rooms . Imhof, Petersberg 2013, pp. 165–170, here p. 165.
  8. ↑ Hans Georg Wehrens: Rome - The Christian sacred buildings from the 4th to the 9th century - A Vademecum . Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2016, p. 291f.
  9. ↑ Ursula Nilgen: A newly found Maria Regina in Santa Susanna, Rome - A Roman theme with variations. In: Karl Möseneder / Gosbert Schüssler (eds.): “Meaning in the pictures” - Festschrift for Jörg Traeger on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2002, pp. 231–245.
  10. ^ Gerhard Steigerwald: Purple robes of biblical and ecclesiastical persons as carriers of meaning in early Christian art . In: E. Dassmann / HJ Vogt (ed.): Hereditas. Studies on the Ancient Church History . tape 16 . Borengässer, Bonn 1999, p. 123-133 .
  11. ↑ Hans Georg Wehrens: Rome - The Christian sacred buildings from the 4th to the 9th century - A Vademecum . Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2016, p. 298f.

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 29 ″  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 9.2 ″  E