noreen, kirstin. revealing the sacred - the icon of christ in the sancta sanctorum, rome

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Revealing the Sacred: the Icon of Christ in the Sancta

Sanctorum, RomeKirstin Noreen

Published online: 01 Jun 2012.

To cite this article:Kirstin Noreen (2006) Revealing the Sacred: the Icon of Christ in the Sancta Sanctorum, Rome, Word &Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry, 22:3, 228-237, DOI: 10.1080/02666286.2006.10435751

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Revealing the Sacred: the

Icon

of

Christ

In

the

Sancta Sanctorum,

Rome

KIRSTIN

NOREEN

The

icon

of

Christ

currently

displayed on the altar of the

Sancta Sanctorum chapel in the

Lateran

was

one

of the

most

important

images of medieval Rome (figure

I).

This represen-

tation

of the enthroned Savior had a special status in the cult

topography

of

the city, [or it was housed in the private chapel

of the

popes and

was

considered

to

be o[

divine origill;

according to the Descriptio Lateranensis ea/esiae written around

lIOO,

the portrait of Christ was 'miraculously painted on a

panel

that was

begun by

the Evangelist Luke but finished by

God himself through the hand

of

an

angel'. In essence, the

Lateran icon

was a representation

of

the human

appearance of

Christ as well as a miraculously created and divinely

sanctioned

image whose manufacture was expressed in its

name 'acheropsita', corrupted from the Greek term

'acheir-

opoieton',

meaning

'not made

by hand'.

The

Lateran

icon

had

an active liturgical and processional

life in medieva l and Renaissance Rome. Probably dating

to

the

si.xth century, the

icon

was first mentioned during the

pontificate

of

Pope

Stephan

II (752-57)

when

it was used in a

procession as a palladium to liberate

Rome from

the

Lombards; its believed effectiveness in protecting Roman

citizens

from

outbreaks of

the

plague and attacks [rom hostile

invaders ensured its continued processional activities in

subsequent

centuries.

3

From at

least

the ninth century

until

the mid-si.xteenth century, the icon also played a key role in the

celebration of the

Assumption

feast

on

the evening o[

q I5

August, one

of

the principal events

of

the liturgical year in

Rome.

For

this ceremony, the

icon

was taken from the

Lateran

to the Roman Forum

and from

there

to

the Esquiline

Hill where the procession culminated

at

the church of Santa

Maria

Maggiore;

at

significant political and theological sites

along this path, the Christ image 'visited' various representa-

tions of

IVIary

and

had

its feet washed vvith rose-scented water

and basil. In contrast with this

public

procession that offered

the

icon to the

Roman

citizenry, on

Easter

Sunday

the

Christ

image was involved in a more private ceremony held in the

papal chapel

in the

Lateran; reenacting the Resurrection

of

Christ,

the pope ritually kissed the image's feet, proclaiming

three

times 'The

Lord is

risen

from the

grave ',)

Not

surprisingly,

the

washings, nightly processions and other

ceremonial

activities

accelerated

the deterioration of the icon.

Its appearance probably influenced

Innocent

Ill's decision to

sponsor

the creation of a silver cover that simultaneously

protected and transformed the original panel. Occupying a

zone between the viewer and the holy icon, this

thirteenth-

century metal revetment serves

to

define the

image that

it

envelops,

becoming

all integral

part

of

how the representation

of Christ would have been understood. Through the elimina

tion of

Christ's

human body,

the

icon cover

emphasized

instead his divine 1IU/tliS Gerhard "Volf

has

argued, the

addition

of

the

icon cover must be viewed in c O l ~ u n c t i o n with

the

developing

cult of the Veronica, a

miraculous imagc

o[

Christ's face housed in

St

Peter's

and promoted by

Innocent

III; Wolf has noted that, with the addition of the metal

revetment,

the Lateran image was permanently disembodied,

placing it in

direct

dialogue with the

purely

spiritual face on the

Veronica veil.

6

Although

Christ's body was

obscured

by the icon

revetment,

tvvo small doors provided access to his feet (figure

2). These

doors, decorated with four scenes picturing figures kneeling

before a bust

of

Christ, a

pope

holding a cross and a chalice on

an altar, a representation of the Ascension, and the Agnus Dei

have

received relatively little

attention in

the scholarship on the

icon.

7

VI,11ile providing a layer of separation between the viewer

and

Christ,

the

closed doors facilitated communication with his

miraculous image through their figurative unveiling of his

representation in

the four scenes.

The

doors,

through which

Christ's body could

he partially revealed, also represented a

very

real locus of

power in Roman cult practice, [or their

control was regulated

by

civic authorities during

public

celebrations that involved the entire commune. This article

will argue that the scenes on the doors demonstrate how the

Christ icon was understood in relation to its miraculous

creation, its location ill

the Lateran, and

its

connection with

other

holy images of Christ in Rome.

VYhile numerous medieval interventions helped to honor,

protect or restore the

Lateran

icon, the most extensive work on

the panel occurred during the pontificate ofInnocent III (IIg8

1216).[l After removing silk veils added to the

image

under

Alexander III

1159--81),

Innocent

had

Christ's face

repainled

and then encased

the icon,

up

to Christ's neck, in gold

and

silver.

9

Innocent's metal

cover

was decorated with a variety of

repetitive m o t i ~ including palmettes, flowers and stars as well

as a moon and a sun that

are

currently hidden under the wings

of

all angel located below Christ's

head.

Symbols

of

the four

evangelists, standing figures of saints and a representation of

W O R D Il' l,\GE. VOr. .

22.

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3/11

Figure

I leon

of Christ. S,mcta

Sanctorum, Rome.

Photo

Vatican

Museums (Vatican).

the Virgin form a vertical

border that

frames the

central

ornamental registers. The peripheral location of the saints and

]\IIary as well as

their

intercessory gestures place the figures

at

a

point of mediation between the

viewer

and the

holy image.

The

small doors

at Christ s

feet were also

probably an

original

part of the

cover, as referenced

in an

early

fourteenth-century

copy

of

the

Lateran

icon from

Palombara

Sabina

(figure

3). >

Although

the

representation

of

Palombara

Sabina reduces

the

Figurc

2.

Detail, doors of the icon UJ\Tr Sancta

Sanctorum, Rome. Photo

Vatican i\lllseum, (Vatican).

cover

to a series

of abstract

forms, the copy offers clues to

the

original

appearance of the

icon: the early doors

at Christ s

fcet

were perhaps characterized by

decorative

rather than

figura

tive

imagery and

the face

of Christ

was

probably

bordered

by a

blue ground ornamented

with golden stars. A fresco in

San

Giacomo

al Colosseo (figure

4 , probably created

prior

to

the church s

consecration in 1383, confirms

the appearance

of

the

icon

cover;

although

the fresco

no

longer

survives, a

scvcntcenth-centUlY watercolor copy

reproduces the

icon's

ornamcntal metal revetment and

doors

and demonstrates the

visibility

of

Christ s face

and

neck.'3 Based

on

these

representations, it

is

therefore likely

that the current icon

doors

were added

to Innocent

Ill s

cover

in the

late fourteenth

or

fifteenth centUlY.'+

Although the doors dating cannot

be detennined

defini

tively,

their patronage can be

linked to the tirst scene: a

depiction of four figures kneeling before an

altar

surmounted

by

a

bust of

Christ.

This image has

traditionally

been

associated with the custodians of the icon, either the elite

guard

k n o ~ l

as the

ostia "i

or

the

chief

otTicers

of

the

Raecomandati del Salvatore ad

Sancta

Sanctorum (hereafter

the

confraternity of

the Salvatore)

referred

to as the

guardiani. 5

The osliari,

created

in

at

least the

thirteenth

centlllY, held

hereditary

positions

that

restricted

membership

to

the most

important Roman baronial

families.'6 Acting

on behalf of

the

districts

of the

city

and

the

Roman

people, the

ostiari

were

responsible

tor protecting

the image,

caring

for the

Sancta

Sanctorum

and

administering alms offered to the icon,

which


4/11

Figure

3

Icon of

Christ.

San

Biagio Vescovo e Martire,

Palombara

Sabina.

Photo

lstituto Centrale

per

il Catalogo e la Documentazione

(Rome).

were

used to maintain constantly

burning

candles

and

to

supply the

needs

of the chapel. 17

n

contrast

with the ostim ;, the confraternity was composed

primarily

of the homines nO Ii

or

rising

merchant

class, an

important economic and political force during the fourteenth

2 3

K I R S T IN K O R E E N

Figure

4. San Giacomo al Colossco,

Rome.

Biblioteca Apostolica

Vaticana, Barb. lat. 4408, fo ' 45. Photo Bibli oteca Apostolica Vaticana

(Vatican).

century

when

the

papacy

was based outside Rome and

baronial power began to decline.

I

:

The confraternity demon

strated its close affiliation with the

icon not

only through its

name

and involvement

in the

Assumption celebration but

also

in its confraternal

insignia

and

decorative

programs.

The

previously discussed fresco in San Giacomo al Colosseo (see

figure 4), a

church

and associated hospital supported by the

confraternity, depicts clerics and Fatelli in joint adoration

before the icon; decoration on the eight burning torches

reinforces this veneration by including the confraternal

insignia: a

bust

of

Christ

flanked by kneeling figures.

19

Stone

plaques

found

on

the exteriors of various structures in the area

of the Lateran identifY the confraternity's buildings and

charitahle institutions by similarly reproducing Christ s bust,

often accompanied

by lit cancUes

and

kneeling figures as seen

in a relief decorating the early

fourteenth-century portico

of

the Lateran

Hospital. o

Notably, by the early flitcenth century

the guardiani began gradually to

subsume

the responsibilities of

the ostiari, with the office of the ostiari completely eliminated in

1475 under Si xtus IV. I

While the joint responsibility for the icon in the late

fourteenth and fliteenth centuries precludes an exact identifi-

cation

of

the donors

of the doors, the first scene nonetheless

illustrates not only the duty of the custodians but also their

pious relationship to the holy image. The bust, resting on top

of an altar, references the

icon

through its citation of the metal

cover portrayed as

an abbreviated horizontal

strip below

Christ s neck. The two candles flanking the face of Christ as

well as

the

torches held

by

the kneeling figures

represent

the

constant illumination of the image, one of the responsibilities

of

the

ostiari

that

was later transferred to

the guardiani.

Resembling the confraternal insignia yet also

depicting

the

obligations of the ostiari,

the

scene provides a model of

perpetual veneration for viewers of

both

groups to follow; the

anonymous and generic nature of the four figures guarantees

their relevance for future generations and makes their actions

accessible for imitation.

23


5/11

Hartmann Grisar

has

suggested that the remaining

three scenes illustrate a legend associated with the Sancta

Sanctorum

that

was described

by

Giovanni 1Viarangoni in his

eighteenth-century history of the chapel, a hypothesis that has

received general support in the scholarship.o+ l\


6/11

Sa/mlo? is, \\'host

sacred

nature \\'as reinforced

through ig

insertion,

on

a travertine slab,

imo

a celestial realm

O TU-

pied

by


7/11

Christ

for tht' washing

of

his ft'FL ail acl ritually associated ,\-ith

his resurn:ction and the expiation of sin+::

Occupying

the inner

sanctuary

of the papal chapel, the

Lateran icon stands on an

altar

cOlltainll1g rclics

II-om

tll('

Holy

Land; this association of image, relic

and

sacred space

transformed

the

chapel

into a

true Holy of

Holies, a 'Samta

Sallctorum' CTJI1Structed

to replace the Old Tc'stament Temple

and

to give

Rome

the

status

of

a

new

Jerusalem.+'1

The

cunnection between the A.rk of the

Co enant

and tht' Lateran

Ivas already well established

by

the early

thirteenth

century: as

Sible de Blaauw has discussed,

both

Innocent

III

and his

successor HOllmius

111 (121(i-C 7)

elllphasized in theil' sermons

an association betwecn the high altar of the Laterall basilica

and thc ark or the Jewish Temple, li)r it was believed that

the

basilica's altar contained objects

brought

to Rome following

Titus Sack

of.Jnusalem

in 70 CE_"" Such a conn(,ction was

alsu recunfirmed in the altar or the papal chapel with the

rm

ri/m ssill([,

a cypress chest cOlnmissiolled

by

Leo HI

(795

BIG)

that was encased in a

marble

frame with

bronze

doors

during

t h ~ papary of Innocent III. This reliqllary hox may h a f ~ h('en

known as early as

the

ninth century

as

the

'Sancta Sanctorum',

a name thaI would become associated ill tbe twelfth century

with the entire papal chapcl.

"

The

convergence

of

the

Old Testament Temple,

the Lateran

Basilica

and

thr chapel of the Sancta Sanctorurn was further

visualized in the

two

lower

scenes

of

thl' icon doors_

On thc

left,

a haloed pope llanked

by

two saints

and

two angels holds a

cross

and

a chalice

on

an alLar.

'fhis

scene, also depicting the

bust of Christ, portrays

the

initial location of

the

icon on the

altar

of San Giovanni

as described

by

Nicolaus

Maniacutius;

the image, fiJllowing its transfer to Rome from Jerusalem, was

placed in the basilica

where

it remained until it was taken to

the Sancta SanctorumY Positioned

on

the altar, the icon

would have been

associated

with

both

the

Temple

Treasures

and the 1Il1 II.5a Domilli, the table of the Last Supper that was also

believed to be

contained

within the altar. :1

As

expressed in a

sermon of Honorius III, the basilica's

wooden

altar s y m b o l i z ~ d

the continuity between the Old and the New

Testaments,

for it

was associated not only with the ark but also with the altar on

which

Peter and

his succcssors celebrated

the

mass

j

Thus, the

pope, as the terrestrial representative sanctioned by Christ,

replaced the

High

Priest

of

the

Old

Testament

and

liturgically

reenacted

the sacrifice of Christ, as symbolized by the cross

and

chalice on the altar . vVhile the identity

of

the particular pope in

the scene is uncertain, could represent Peter, Sylvester

or

the papacy in general,

the

flanking figures probably portray the

deacons

Stephen and

Lawrence, two saints closely associatl"d

with Rome whose relics were contained in the Sancta

Sanctorum

15 Stephen, the first martYT for Christianity,

can

bc

recognized

by

his attribute: a stone

placed

on his head that

references the

manner of

his death; this identification

of

Stephen strongly suggests that the saint on the tar right is

Lawrence, for the two deacons were frequently

paired

in

Roman

pictorial progTamsY;

The second Dr

the luwer ,'(,('J1(-'S

em

the icon

dOI:Jr.\.

depicting

an altar I\-ith thF

Jgllus

1)< 1 sllITOl l1c1t'd bl- 12 haloeclllguj't's a ld

,urmountcd by

the hust of Chri,L represents thl' plaCl'l1lcnt of

the

icon in the

Sancta

Sanctorul1l.

The

inclusion or the

AglllD

Dei

confirms Christ's presence not only in hem-en but also in

the host, fi,r

il

is

through

the juxtaposition

of

thl' scene Ivith the

Ascension Lbow

that

ont' witnesses the promise olIrred to the

Apostles in Acts

1:11:

Jesus, who

was

taken up

from

YOll

inlCl

he


8/11

access to the sarrame-mal hmt (figl.lrc il.' Both the doors

of

the

tabernacle and

the doors of the icon pro\"ide communic:ltiun

\\ith lhe

budy uf Christ at

specific liturgical

and

processional

rdehrations.';" TI1('

partaking of Chrisl's body

as expressed ill

the consumption of the host as wdl as the washin.g

of

his reel

\Iith

rose-scented \\ ,ltcr as pericJImed during the Assumption

procession oiTerFd the faithful a means of expiating sin."j

The

physical

obstruction

created by the

Icon

con:r

essentially transformFd what had been a fi.llI-length image of

Christ

into a floating

head, borderFd

by a cruciform halo and

characterized by

its divine gaze. ,"Vhile the

doors at

Christ's feet

pro\'ided

a physical aCless

to

his image,

tl1t'

four scenes

purtrayer on their surbce olrered a means for \'iewing his

divinity. The representations not only established the c0I1tinu

ing prFsence

0(

the imagt''s caretakers

but

also exprl'ssed the

miraculous origins

of the

icon as relater to the Ascension of

Christ. The depictions of the icon in

San

Giovanni and ill the

Sallcta

Sanrlorum,

synecdochically

reit'renced through

thl'

bust of

Christ, demonstrated the presence

of

the miraculous

unage in the

realm

of the

Lateran, an important

localization

consiclt'ring

the

increasingly

popular VFronica

image

that

was

strongly associated with the

Vatican. In contrast

to tht'

miraculous representation on

the sudarium, the

icon CO\'Fr

offered a difrerellt type

of

ullveiling, a

m.dalio

expressed

through the representations on the icon doors

and

the

materiality of

the

cover itself:

NOTES

"J would likt tll thank

Peter

Parshall, IVIartina

Bagnoli.

Hulger

Klein

and

the anonymous

re,iewer

for their helpful comments. Research for thium

(Rome, 1666), pp. 171-4.

17

-

The oslia,i

initially represEnted the

12

,;oni

or

districts

of

Rome.

lVli.llino's assertioIl (Drlroralnrio, p.

171)

that scven families werc selected from

seven rioni during thc pontificate

of

Boniface VIII

is

likely incorrect. See

also Paola Pavan, 'Gli statuti della societa dei

raccomandati

del Salvatore

ad

Sancta Sanctorum (1331-r-t90)"

Arc/ziviu della Soeiela rUln",za di 5tor;a

j)alri ,

zor

(1978),

p. 36. The creation

of

a 13th none, including the area

of

Trastevere, took place

under

Boniface VIII; see Enrico Guidoni,

'Roma

e

I'urbanistica del Treeento', Storia dell'art, ilaliana, Dal;Uedioeuo

al

Qaattruccllto,

part

2, vol. I (Turin: Einaudi, 1983), PP.333-5.

18 - For the history

of

tl1e confraternity, see lViarangoni, Istoria

ddl'antiehis5;mo oratorio, p. "7fi; Egidi, Necralugi e lib;-i, vol. I, pp. 3I1-5"1, vol. 2,

pp. 447-531; Dell'Addolorata, La cappella

papale,

esp. pp. 305-19; Alessandro

Canezza,

Gii

Arcispedali

di

Roma llellIi uita cittadina nella 5toria e nell'arle (Rome:

Stabilimento tipografico Fratclli Stianti, 1933), pp. 175-202;

Matizia

Maroni

Lumbroso and Antonio Martini,

11 wllfl'at,mite

romane

nelle

loro

chine (Rome:

Fondazione Mar co Besso, 1953), pp. 394-9; Giovanna Curcio, 'L'Ospcdale

di S. Giovanni in Latcrano: funzione urbana di una istituzione ospedaliera.

I',

Stnria

ddl> rte,

32 (1978),

pp. ~ 5 - 6 ; Pavan, 'Gli statuti', pp. 35--g6; cadem,

'La

Confratcrnita

del Salvatore nella societa romana del Tre

QuallroceIllu',

Rite,, ;', perla sluri" rcl(gio.sa di

Ruma,

5 (1984), pp. 81 go;

RiU'rrhe

pcr la

5toria

religiusa

rli Roma, vol. 6,

Storiograji.a

e

archi"i

ddle wll}i'atemite

;-oman/ , cd. Luigi Fiorani (Rome: Edizioni di storia c letteratura, 1985),

pp.

390-3;

nna

Esposito)

'L(' C'oniraternitf:'

rornane tra arte e devozionc:

persistcnze

f

nlutamenti nel corso

del

Xv' sccolo

l

l

in

Arb:, amzmitten::.a ed

ecotlomia aRoma e nelll' corti del Rillrl.lcimeJllo I-}20 f.5:J O).

ed'S,

\rnold

E ch and

Christoph Luitpold Fromme] (Turin: Einaurli. 1995). pp. I 0 7 - ~ ( ) :

eadem,

'l\-fell and

'uml'n

in Roman Confraternities in the Fifteenth and Si.xteellth

Centllrif' ': Roles, Functions, ExpeC'tations', in 7]z,'

Politic.) rij Ritllal

ltll1Jhijl:

Crmfi'atemitirs

lind

Sn(ial Orrl_r in

Ear )"

.lIodem Ita J', ed. ~ i c h o l a s Terpstra

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 200lJ), pp. 82-


10/11

23 ~ l a r a n g o n i \ source WdS likely l'\iC'olaus ~ I a n i a c u t i l l s , ,dlO

TotC 011

the Lalr'rall icon .II- -5. See

h i ~

Dr s({(}a

imngillt' Ss. Snh'afori,1

ill Pal({Lin

Later(llwlli

IRome,

17()()),

eh.

IX

PI' I'J ~ l .

The s


11/11

qu m

Judaeus in palatio Lateranensi

iu xta

oratorium S. Laurcntii

vulneravit

cuius vulnus cruore tanquam recente faciem dextram operuit

attendas, non absimile Veronicae basilicae S. Petri cive picturae,

quae

in

ipso S. Laurentii est oratorio, vwtuque Lucano reperies.' Gervasius of

Tilbury,

Otia

imjmialia, ed. Dobschiitz, Christusbilder, pp. 292*-293*: p. 32.

Sec also \\'olf,

Salus populi Romani, PP.327-8, QI4; Le ,-is,

'The Veronica',

p. 103. Notably, Gervase referred to the Lateran icon as a 'vwtus'.

41 -

'Quam cum

papa quidam,

ut

fertur, inspieere praesumpsisset, statim

lumen oculoru m amisit, et deinde eooperta fuit auro et argento tota praeter

genu dextrum, a quo oleum in des in

enter

cmanat.' Giraldus, 'Speculum

Ecdesiae', ch. VI, 1 . 278. The 'Speculum Ecclesiac' dates to < .1220: see also

Bolton, 'Advertise', p.

119:

Wolf,

Salus pOjJUli Romani,

p. 328, Q15.

42 - This has been also suggested by Yolf, 'Christ in His Beauty', pp.

16

9-7

0

.

43 -

Deshman,

'Disappearing Christ', 1'.535.

44 - For a discussion of the relationship of molded and stamped images as

related to medieval visuality, see Michael Camille, 'Before the Gaze:

The

Internal Senses and Late Medieval Practices of Seeing', in

Visuality

Before

and

B ~ v o n d the Renaissallce, ed. Robert S. Nelson (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2000), pp. 197-223, esp.209-11.

45

- Herbert Kessler has extensively discussed the relationship between the

temple veil

and

Christological imagery. See, for example, 'The Icon in the

Narrative', in Sj)iritual Seeillg, pp. 28, esp. 10-12; 'Medieval Art as

Argument', in Spiritllal

Sepillg,

pp. 53-63: 'C onfiguring the Invisihle

by

Copying the Holy Face', in

Spintuul

Seeing, PI'. 64-87, esp.

81;

'Gazing

at the

Future:

The

Parousia

Miniature

in

Vatican

Cod. Gr. 699', in Spiritual Seeillg,

pp. 88-'

10

3,

esp. 99-103. See also

Johann

Konrad Eberlein,

Appan'tio regis-

relldati

veritatil.

Studiell ;;:ur Darstfllung des Vorhangs ill de . bildelldell nUllst von der

Spiituntike his ;:um Ende

des j\fittelaltm (Wicsbaden: Dr.

L u d ~ g

Reichert

Verlag, 1982); idem,

'The

Curtain in Raphael's Sistine Madonna', .1 t

Bulletin, 65 (1983), PI'. 61-n esp. 65-8.

46 - Epistle to the Hebrew s 10:19--20: 'There fore, b rethren, since we have

confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood ofJesus, by the new and

l i \ ~ n g

way which he

opened

for

us through

the

emtain, that is, through

his

flesh .... See also Matthew 2]:51.

47 - Kessler, 'Medieval

rt

as Argument', in Spiritual Seeing, pp. 57-8: idem,

'Configuring the Invisible', in Spiritual Seeing,

pp. 80-1; Wolf,

'From

Mandylion to Veronica', pp. 153-79, and esp. pIs. D, F, Hand figs 7,

g.

48 - See below, note 61.

49 - See, most recently, Herbert 1. Kessler and Johanna Zacharias,

Rome

IJOO:

On the Path o the

Pilgrim

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000),

PP.38-63; Erik Thun , Image and

Relic.

Mediating the Sacred in Ear{v Medieval

Rome

(Rome: 'L'Erma' di Bretschneider, 2002), esp. pp. 160-71.

50 - De Blaauw,

'The

Solitary Celebration of the Supreme Pontiff. The

Lateran Basilica as the New Temple in the Medieval Liturgy of Maundy

Thursday', in Omnes Circlllnadrtantes. COlltributions towards

a

i r t o ~ y

o he

Role

o

the People in the

Liturgv,

cds Charles Caspers and Marc Schneiders (Kampen:

J.H. Kok, 1990), pp. 120-43: idem,

Cultus

et decor, PP233-47, 294-96.

51 -

Thun0

(Image and Relic, p. 161) notes that the inscription on Leo

Ill's

cypress chest attributed to the thirteenth century (SCA SCQ RU) may

have replaced an original dating to the Leonine papacy, suggesting an

association with the Holy of Holies from at least the ninth century. See also

Marangoni, istolia

de/I'antichir

mo oratorio, pp. 19-23; Wolf,

Salus

pojmli

Romani,

pp. 46-7. Nicolaus Maniacutius (De sacra

imagine,

ch. VIII, p.

18)

notes that the icon was placed 'super Altare Sacrosanctae Basilicae B.

Laurentii, quae est ad Sancta Sanctorum, honorifice rollocaret.'

52 -

'Sane omnia

illa Sacra, quae de Hierosolymis asportata fuerunt, in

Sacro Lateranensis Patriarchii continentur Altari, ubi et haec Salvatoris

Imago

longo

tempore

conservata est, donee

Summo

Pontifici

Dominus

inspiravit, lIt earn in Palatium hoc subveheret, atque super Altare

Sacrosanctae Basilicae B. Laurentii, quae cst

ad

Sancta Sanctorum,

honorifice collocaret.' JvIaniacutius,

De

maa

imagine,

ch.

VIII,

p.

17-

18; see

also Wolf, Sail

jJopzdi Romani,

QIO, p.

323.

53 - As expressed in Descriptio

lAteranemi

ecciesiae. Sec De Blaauw,

'The

Solitary Celebration', esp. pp. 125-34; idem, Cult S et decor, pp. 23 -7;

Freiberg,

The

lAterall in 1600 112.

5-1-- Powr.ll, 'Honorius Ill's Sermo', pp. 195--209; De Blaauw, 'The Solitary

Celebration', pp. 140-1; idem, Cultu,.

et

decor,

PI

234-5.

55-

Renate

1.

Colella, 'Hagiographie und Kirchenpoli tik - Stephanus

und Laurentius in Rom', in Pratu, Romanum. Richard Krautheimer .eum 100.

Gehwt.rtag (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1997), pp. 75-96.

56 . The martyrdoms

of

the two saints were, for example, portrayed in the

late tllirteenth-century frescoes in the Sancta Sanctorum.

57

- For similar themes developed in the

Lateran

basilica during the

Counter-Reformation, see Freiberg,

The

lAterall in 1600 esp. p. 151ff.

58 - Ybile

damage

to this scene makes identification difficult, the central

figure appears to wear a pallium. The short garments

of

the two figures on

the left resemble those

worn

by the custodial figures in the first scene,

suggesting a connection with eit her the

ostiari

or the glmrdiani; however, such

an association would be lInusual considering the figures' haloes.

9

Freiberg,

The

lAteran

ill 1600

pp.

157 -8.

Freiberg

(p. 253,

n. 106)

indicates that a similar decoration pobably adorned the apse of the church.

I would like to

thank

Jack Freiberg for assistance

in

obtaining

an

image

of

the tabernacle.

60 - The connection between t he Ascension and a point of passage (i.e. a

door) was especially relevant in the context of the Lateran in relation to the

Holy

Year

because it was believed that passing

through

the doors

of

the

four

main

basilicas anticipated passing into heaven itself (Freiberg,

The

Latfrall in 1600 pp. 154-6). The association between the bust of Christ

and

the portal of the Lateran basilica was furtller visualized on

Jubilee

medallions (ibid.,

fig.

128).

The

comparison between the

Lateran

icon and

the tabernacle should also be considered in relation to the feast of the

Corpus Domini : see Yolf, 'Chri st in His Beauty', 1'.169. For the use of

candles to signal the presence of the Eucharist, see Browe, Die Verehrung

der

Eucharistie,

pp. I II.

61

-

Tronzo,

'Apse Decoration', p. 182 suggests

that

ceremonial washing

was more closely associated with the washing of Christ's feet in the house of

the Pharisee (Luke ]:36-50) than the washing that took place at the

Last Supper; see also Wolf,

Salus populi

Romani, PP.54-5.

noreen, kirstin. revealing the sacred - the icon of christ in the sancta sanctorum, rome

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