Hortus Artium Medievalium

In a monastery, the organization of buildings is fitted on monks’ life. Edifices are gathered around the cloister, centre of monastic space and of all circulations inside the monastery. Apart from this simple and practical plan, there are other forms of organization, where cult edifices are spread without apparent order, as in Lerins or La Novalaise. Why there are two so different types of organization of monastic space? Where do they find their origins? Through this paper, we take interest in architectural continuities that archeology shows between Roman pagan civilization and monachism of late Antiquity and Middle Ages. Classical buildings, especially the villa, which medieval monks inherited, influenced architectural compositions of monasteries which followed them.

Through the reform of Aachen, introduced by Louis the Pious and Benedict of Aniane, the Benedictine Rule became the normative model of the Carolingian monasticism. The Benedictine Rule leads to an adaptation of the architectural structures and cloistered building, which is reflected in the provisions of the synod and in the Carolingian Capitularies of the first half of ninth century, adapted to the new horizon coming from the Carolingian reform. The comments to the Benedictine Rule of Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel and of Ildemaro of Corbie are a testament to how it happened and they serve as an interpretative ideal tool. In this way, the life of the great abbeys in Europe - as well as the cloistered spaces and the cenobitic places of prayer, of work, of rest, of hospitality or of training - are explained to the monks who design their “cloisters” according to common construction modules always most recognizable and generalized.

Two protohistoric Liburnian graves are the most ancient structures discovered in this year’s campaign which was essentially focused on the sector IV, south of the abbey church of Saint Peter in Osor. This area is particularly rich in medieval built tombs of the monastic cemetery that developed next to the church and a mausoleum. The precise datation of this funeral building, which was being used in the 10^th century, is still to be determined, but it has been confirmed that its construction preceded the foundation of the monastery, for at least few decades. A great many monks have chosen the mausoleum as their burial site.

In the excavations of the first bay of the basilica other tombs were unearthed as well as the rest of the “inner” façade that divided the church from its vestibule. Further excavations of the building B have allowed us to establish its datation (11^th - 12^th century) and to discover some structures dating from Late Antiquity. The most important contribution of this campaign is the confirmation of the existence of the cloister south-east of the church as was suggested by the geophysical survey. Furthermore, the study of the eastern monastic building integrated in the Venetian city wall continued.

The archaeological research carried out on the site of Saint Peter’s monastery in Osor (Island of Cres, Croatia), has recently revealed a small building interpreted as a mausoleum. A distinctive feature of this building is that it contains masonry tombs built prior to its construction, and as a consequence arranged in a regular manner, which have been defined under the term formae. The rareness of this type of funerary installation - according to the inventories - in the Dalmatian Adriatic area, forces us to question its presence in this particular context. In addition, apart from the primary study of the monument itself, the presence of the formae provides us with the opportunity to ask a more general question as to the use of this particular funerary package by looking at discoveries elsewhere in Europe, both historically and more recently, with the aim of providing a comparative study. Through this initial overview we hope, therefore, to determine whether there exists a set body of characteristics, indicative of this mode of inhumation, particularly in terms of dating and use.

The essay is dedicated to the development of the cross-in-square plan (quincunx) in 9^th century architecture and to the relationships between the Byzantine empire and the West. The elaboration of the model presents different variants which prove the vitality of the research carried out by architects during the period. Following a historical path, the examples certified in the West are examined: Santa Maria delle Cinque Torri in Cassino, S. Miquel at Terrassa in Cataluña, the chapel of Germigny-des-Prés built by Theodulf d’Orléans and the chapel of S. Satiro commissioned by archbishop Anspert of Milan. These buildings present architectural similarities and differences and they stem from designs elaborated in Roman times. The examination of the political and diplomatic relations between the Byzantine empire and the Carolingian kings at the end of the 9^th century helps to understand the dissemination of the cross-in-square plan during this period of architectural history.

The analysis of unpublished documentation of the excavations carried out between 1927 and 1932 in the basilica, located in the above ground of the catacomb of St. Januarius at Naples, and the examination of existing structures, paintings and written sources are providing new evidences for the knowledge of the church. The basilica was built several decades after the transfer of the relics of St. Januarius performed by Bishop John I († 432), since the construction of the church resulted in the closure of the access of cubiculum G3 that was already occupied, until the vault, by a complex layering of masonry graves. The architecture of the basilica and the frescoes of the eastern arch of the apse suggest a date between fifth and sixth centuries A.D., while the masonry of the apse refers to the sixth century A.D. Contrary to what has been so far assumed, the frescoed arches found under the central nave of the basilica, seem to belong to an existing church, whose remains were covered at the time of its construction.

In 1940, the church of St. Gertrude of Nivelles was bombed and its roof destroyed by fire. The restoration work gave the opportunity to lead some archaeological research that brought to light its origins and the structures surrounding the mausoleum of Gertrude († 664). The present church has always been seen a homogeneous monument, the one which succeeded to the church burned in the early 11^th century and was consecrated in 1046. The development works, in and around the church between 2009 and 2011, led us to reopen the archaeological record of St. Gertrude. We found that the excavations of 1941 and from 1950 to 1953 had not been published extensively. New observations (using “stone by stone” surveys) were necessary to re-read the construction phases, and demonstrated that the current church keeps elevation parts that are anterior to 1046. At this stage of the study, we identify seven major phases, including the reconstruction dated 1046. The annular crypt, from the third phase, is one of the very first structures built in honor of the saint. The Westbau belongs to a different phase (V) still to be studied. The absolute chronology of the already identified phases has to be further clarified and strengthened by laboratory dating. However, the recent discovery of tiler kilns, at the foot of the Westbau, which last firing has been dated by archaeomagnetic method (around 940), could be put in relation with the construction of phase VI (the church destroyed by fire in the early 11^th century).

All the history books on the Middle Ages mention the famous « Charter of Huy from 1066 », the oldest surviving example of a freedoms charter north of the Alps. In granting this freedoms charter to the citizens of Huy, Théoduin, the Bishop of Liège, (1048- 1075) obtained in exchange the financial resources to achieve his objectives: the rebuilding of Huy-sur-Meuse and its collegiate church, which had been destroyed and ruined in 1053 by the count of Flanders. At the same time, the prelate was readying his own tomb. On August 1066, the grandiose inauguration ceremonies were held in the new church. The eulogy of this monument of Huy De constructione - de consecratione ecclesiae Hoyensis is perhaps missing, but the interdisciplinary approach makes it possible today to reconsider the matter: history, hagiography, architecture, art, liturgy and the sacred spatialization.

Founded by saint Martin towards the end of the fourth century, Marmoutier is one of the very first monasteries in Gaul. It was established on a Roman settlement in use since the first or second century AD and lasted until the French Revolution. Shortly afterwards, most buildings were destroyed, including the vast Gothic abbey church. However, written sources, iconography, standing remains as well as archaeological excavation make it possible to partly reconstruct the organization of the monastery and the transformations of the buildings. In particular, excavation uncovered the two abbey churches preceding the Gothic one. Identified in the seventies by Charles Lelong, these buildings are currently excavated as part of an archaeological research programme initiated about ten years ago. The earliest church was built c. 980 and its plan can be reconstructed with three naves. Several elements referring to liturgical use have been uncovered but their function is not easy to determine. This church was built with both quarry stone and ashlar. Later on, a large crypt was added, using mainly ashlar and showing a rich ornament. Then, the previous church was destroyed - but the crypt kept - to make way to a large Romanesque abbey church in the eleventh century. Finally, the nave was made longer at the same time as a new monastic chancel was laid out.

This paper summarizes the results of my M. A. thesis on the historical and architectural connections the monastery of San Benedetto in Salerno had with Montecassino. The object of the paper is the diffusion of the basilical plan in Campania and generally southern Italy in the Middle Ages - an issue often related to the rebuilding of the abbey of Montecassino by abbot Desiderius (†1087). Here I introduce the hypothesis that the reconstruction of San Benedetto, undertaken in the mid-eleventh century, has neither cultural nor material connections with Desiderius’ project. In fact, I believe that San Benedetto reveals a dependence on southern Italian architectural tradition, in which Byzantium had played a substantial role.

The former Benedictine abbey of St Mary in Arles-sur-Tech (France, Roussillon), founded during the reign of Charlemagne, has conserved its Romanesque church, which was twice dedicated in 1046 and 1157. The edifice stands out in the architectural landscape of the Catalan and more largely Southern Romanesque Ages, by means of its imposing choir with three apses facing west, matching another one that, nearly the same, faces east. This organization raises a lot of questions of different nature, in particular about the link with the previous early Christian and Carolingian edifices.

The Benedictine Abbey of Castione Marchesi, founded as the family monastery of Marquises Pallavicino, is one of the most important sources of information on the evolution of monastic art during the late Romanesque and Proto-gothic periods in Western Emilia (Emilia Occidentale) in Italy. The article discusses the date of construction of this monastic church, comparing it to neighboring coeval monuments, such as the Cistercian Abbeys of Chiaravalle della Colomba and Fontevivo, and the Cathedral of Fidenza. It is possible that the Cistercians transmitted to these monuments some elements from the early stage of French Gothic art that conformed from the very beginning to traditional Lombard Romanesque art, in particular at the Church of Castione Marchesi. The article also describes how the cloister of Chiaravalle della Colomba constitutes one of the earliest examples of reception of French Gothic in Italy, especially in a Telamon in the north-west angle of the structure. By the way, the layperson represented in a capital of the Church of Castione Marchesi may be one of the most rare and significant examples of lay connotation in a monastic ecclesiastic space.

Saint Peter’s church in Corgoloin appears today as a typical church in the outskirts of Cîteaux abbey, stemming from a wave of reconstructions apparently concentrated around the 2^nd quarter of the 13^th century. In this context, the church defines itself by an architectural and decorative synthesis - between Cistercian tradition and Gothic innovation - but also belongs to a locally rare type of churches said « with passages », and so raises, beyond its general conception, a lot of questions particularly inherent in the liturgy and the internal movements of the clergy and the congregation.

The architecture of the military orders in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia, in Medieval Slavonia, is a highly complex phenomenon. In many cases (except the churches in Gora and Našice), the attribution of the churches to the building activity of the military orders is based solely on the assumed connection between the estates mentioned in the literary sources and the actual churches built on their vaguely bordered territory. That makes the Templar or Hospitaller provenance of such buildings highly dubious. The knightly orders constitute a significant factor in the definition of the feudal landscape during the 13^th and at the beginning of the 14^th century, but in most cases, much more caution, as well as further research is needed before the final attribution of the medieval architecture existing in that area to the military orders.

Over the last fifty years, significant progress has been made in research of pre-Romanesque sculpture on the eastern Adriatic coast, especially in central Dalmatia and Istria. Relief carvings from southern Dalmatia had not received the same amount of attention until a serious earthquake occurred in 1979 which caused considerable damage to numerous religious buildings in the neighbouring cities of Dubrovnik (Croatia) and Kotor (Montenegro), necessitating repair works during which numerous new relief carvings were discovered. The author of the paper draws attention to the characteristic motifs, the manner of carving, and the epigraphic features which the inscriptions of these relief carvings share. The new finds contribute to a fuller survey of this unique carving school, which was connected by the same author more than ten years ago to a separate stone-cutting workshop, marked by a relatively high quality of workmanship, which operated in southern Dalmatia. The facts evident in the inscriptions on the ciboria from this workshop considerably support the more precise dating of all these relief carvings to the opening decades of the ninth century. The author dedicates special attention to the term propitiatorum, which features in the inscription on one of the ciboria, and interprets its appearance as a direct echo of the Carolingian renaissance.

In 1925, nearby the location of the ancient church of San Martino, a few test excavations were carried out during the foundation of the new facade of the city hall in Padova. These excavations brought to light a number of Early Medieval and Pre-Romanesque sculptural fragments that provided a clear terminus ante quem for the foundation of the church itself. A careful stylistic and iconographic analysis allowed the identification of two main productions and a hypothetical reconstruction of the Carolingian liturgical furniture. The fragments are now stored in the Musei Civici of Padova.

The recent conclusion of the archaeological investigations in the benedictine nunnery of Cairate (a small town between Milan and Varese in the valley of the Olona river) makes a decisive contribution to a better understanding of Romanesque art and architecture in the ‘Contado del Seprio’ (Seprio County, as then this territory was called), until very recent times neglected by scholars of medieval art, with the notable exception of the early medieval site of Castelseprio. The excavations have revealed the structures of the abbey church, a basilical plan ending with three apses, radically transformed in the second half of XVI century. It is now possible to try to replace, at least ideally, the sculptural fragments from the church preserved in various museums of Lombardy (Gallarate; Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and Castello Sforzesco). Variously dated from the eighth to the twelfth century, these fragments can now be certainly referred to the mid-twelfth century building, in connection to a large reconstruction project of the abbey church probably promoted by the bishop of Pavia and the nuns under the patronage of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Among these fragments stand out the three reliefs now in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, originally carved in the jambs of a portal, maybe representing ‘ancillae Dei’, consecrated virgins with a lamp waiting for Christ, the mystic groom, a theme present in the oldest liturgical drama known (the ‘Sponsus’).

The figured mosaic pavement in San Tommaso in Acquanegra sul Chiese (eleventh-twelth centuries) is the main subject of the analysis. The church is a former Benedectine abbey and still preserves Romanesque architectural structures and wall paintings, in addition to the mosaic floor defined as «the most charming» by A.K. Porter. Firstly, a map of mosaic fragments and renderings in a 3D reconstruction of the church are presented. Then the analysis focuses on the iconographic subjects and their semantic value, investigated with references to the written culture i.e. Christian literature, classical texts or astronomic and naturalistic treatises. Comparisons to others mosaic pavements and other figurative sources, such as illuminated manuscripts, are given as well. Finally, relationships between figural themes and to architectural and functional spaces are considered: the results suggest that mosaic figures contribute to the ‘hierarchy’ of the spaces in the church, creating a complex image-system.