paper four: titles and abstracts of papers and posters and email

S Maria Antiqua Conference: Abstracts of papers and posters: 23 11 13

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Santa Maria Antiqua: “The Sistine Chapel of the 8th Century” in Context

A Consideration of the site from the 4th – 9th century

Abstracts and details of Chairs of Sessions: November, 2013


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NAME Title and Abstract Session

SPEAKERS

Ackerman, Lisa

Introduction and Welcome 1

Andaloro, Maria

Riscoprire le pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua dai ponteggi

La relazione si compone di due parti. La prima intende illustrare le linee generali, l’approccio metodologico, la messa a

fuoco degli strumenti investigativi, gli obiettivi, insomma il succo di quel Riscoprire le pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua dai ponteggi, cuore del progetto “Santa Maria Antiqua” che il gruppo di ricerca dell’Università degli Studi di Viterbo sta svolgendo dall’anno 2000 ad oggi nell’ambito di una serie di progetti PRIN (Progetti di ricerca interuniversitari di interesse nazionale), in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni archeologici di Roma, parallelamente e talora in connessione con le vaste campagne di restauro dei dipinti sostenuti dal Word Monuments Fund, New York (2001-2013). E si conclude, rinviando

all’ascolto della relazione “corale”, Occhi puntati sui palinsesti di Santa Maria Antiqua, elaborata quale exemplum metodologico del progetto e qui applicato a due “casi” problematici riguardanti il campo delle pareti-palinsesto del presbiterio. La seconda parte vuole perseguire invece le tracce di un’altra linea guida, maturata ugualmente all’interno del progetto, ma diversa, avente per oggetto non tanto la parete dipinta in sé quanto un orizzonte di relazioni; in particolare, le

relazioni in divenire interagenti in Santa Maria Antiqua fra lo spazio del monumento e l’immagine dipinta. Di questo orizzonte si offriranno tre casi e tre sfaccettature differenti

1. Dipinto murale senza luogo. Il dipinto murale staccato, con la figura di sant’Agata

a mezzo busto entro clipeo, pubblicato da Pietro Toesca negli anni ’50, e

dichiarato “già coll. Fairfax Murray”, presenta tali punti di contatto con il patrimonio

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pittorico ed epigrafico di Santa Maria Antiqua da indurre a non escludere una sua

provenienza proprio dagli ambienti della chiesa nel Foro. Il brano che per molti

aspetti è assai eloquente, in quanto pezzo erratico è privo di voce e muto a

proposito delle relazioni, infrante, con il proprio contesto originario.

2. Percorso iconico e spazi: dialogo a più livelli fra queste due categorie lungo l’asse

della chiesa, dal presbiterio alla facciata, fra la fine del VI secolo e gli anni di

Giovanni VII (705-707)

3. Le pitture di Santa Maria Antiqua contestualizzate attraverso una selezione delle

tavole dedicate alla basilica di Santa Maria Antiqua nell’opera La pittura

medievale a Roma 312-1431. Atlante, percorsi visivi, volume secondo (a cura di

Maria Andaloro, di prossima pubblicazione)

Andaloro, Bordi, Viscontini, Amato,

Pelosi, Pogliani, Schmid, Valentini:

Occhi puntati sui palinsesti di Santa Maria Antiqua

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Avdokhin, Arkadii

Forging Identities, Promoting Orthodoxies – Lateran Synod Texts in the Sanctuary

Frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua in their Byzantine Context

The seminal study by P. J. Nordhagen (1968) introduced a new perspective on part

of the frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua as an essentially Byzantine-oriented decoration

program commissioned in the wake of the Lateran Synod of 649.

As was recently argued by D. Knipp, the incubation cult of Cyrus and John – a

Byzantine influence as well – was admittedly practiced in the diakonikon. Bringing an

explicit emphasis on the current version of orthodoxy as followed at the healing site (as

seen in the lower apse decorations with saints holding scrolls with formulations of the

Lateran Synod) is, arguably, another eastern trait.

While the historical identities of most incubation healing saints (and other miracle

workers) are suspicious (pseudo-4th

century saint St. Dometius blending with a 7th

century

martyr; St.Thecla, an apocryphic disciple of St. Paul; St. Demetrius, an martyred dux

Augusti with a strong Arian record; Cosmas and Damian with their unclear Syriac –

monophysite – origin; Cyrus and John featuring an invented martyrdom), they were

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theologically profiled to serve the needs of changing “orthodoxies” by way of creating

widely accessible textual accounts of themselves and their cultic centres – the miracle

collections of 5-7 centuries and hymns.

This textual tailoring of the doctrinal identity of incubation cults and their sites is a potent

– and thoroughly Byzantine – means of disseminating a newly arrived version of

“orthodoxy” clearly paralleled in the early 8th

century decoration program of Santa Maria

Antiqua.

Barbera, Mariarosaria

Introduction and welcome 1

Booth, Philip "Eastern monks and eastern cults in seventh-century Rome"

This paper reconstructs the intimate association of five celebrated eastern

ascetics gathered in Rome during the period c.620-c.650: John Moschus,

Sophronius of Jerusalem, Maximus the Confessor, Theodore of Tarsus, and the

author of the so-called Georgian Appendix to the Spiritual Meadow. It explores

the ties of friendship and discipleship which bound together the entire circle,

the political and doctrinal circumstances which brought each of them to Rome,

and their prominent position as champions of papal pre-eminence in conflicts

with Constantinople. At the same time, it also explores their status as

conduits for the cults of new eastern saints and their associated hagiographic

corpora in Rome, as well as their conspicuous role in establishing the cult of

a recent pope.

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Bordi, Giulia

L’abside e i suoi strati

Sin dal 1900, nella chiesa di Santa Maria Antiqua, punto focale è stato non

l’abside, ma la cosiddetta “parete palinsesto” con la sua straordinaria

stratificazione di intonaci dipinti. Lo stato di conservazione delle sue pitture,

coperte di sali già all’indomani della scoperta, ha condannato l’abside ad essere

relegata in secondo piano e talvolta tagliata fuori dai più rilevanti studi

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monografici dedicati alla chiesa, concentrati sui contesti pittorici più leggibili.

Questo intervento ha come obiettivo quello di riportare l’attenzione sull’abside e

rimettere in gioco i suoi strati pittorici nello studio organico delle pitture di Santa

Maria Antiqua. Partendo dalla mappatura degli intonaci dipinti conservati nella

calotta e nell’emiciclo, si intende sfogliare strato dopo strato il complesso e

sconosciuto palinsesto pittorico dell’abside e ricostruire, dove possibile, la facies

frammentata delle sue molteplici fasi decorative.

Börjesson, Johannes

The Cult of Augustine in the Byzantine Church of the First Millennium

While Augustine of Hippo was recognised as the foremost teacher in the Medieval Latin

West, the knowledge of him in the Greek East was sparse. Even so, he was included in the

list of authoritative fathers and teachers of the Church, which was accepted by the

Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 553. His reputation in the Greek world,

however, exceeded the level to which his teaching was known – a situation which would

remain until the Palaiologan era, when De Trinitate and several of his other works were

translated into Greek. Until then, it seems as if the extent of his cult in the Greek world

mirrored the limited knowledge of his teaching, as there is little remaining evidence

thereof. This paper reflects on that evidence from the period before the translations, and

situates this in the larger context of his legacy in Byzantine theology. Special focus is

given to Pope John VII’s restoration of Santa Maria Antiqua and his inclusion of

Augustine among its frescos. This inclusion is considered in the political, cultural and

theological context of early 8th century Italy.

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Brenk, Beat

S. Maria Antiqua: Patronage and Theology

The paper discusses the following topics: Who was responsible for the construction and

decoration of the church of S. Maria Antiqua in Rome? If it was the soldiers of the

Palatine guard stationed at the bottom of the Palatine ramp, why would they have required

such a large and ambitious church? And if a Pope was the builder, why would he have

been conceded the right, or even have been interested in constructing a church below the

Palatine adjacent to the station of a Byzantine garrison? The first documented pope

responsible for commissioning mural paintings in S. Maria Antiqua is Martin I (649-653),

organizer of the Lateran Council in 649.

Why is it that theology plays such an important role in the pictorial program of S. Maria

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Antiqua? Had it been important before Martin I? What evidence is there for its prior role?

The Annunciation is the scene par excellence that focuses on both the human and the

divine will of Christ. The patrons of the multiple Annunciation scenes in S. Maria Antiqua

were opponents of Byzantine Monotheletism then living in Rome. The Lateran Council of

649 forms the background against which this commission should be seen. Greek monks

coming from the monastery of San Saba to the southeast of Bethlehem, and from

Carthage, Armenia and Cilicia are attested “iam per annos habitantes in hac Romanae

civitate “ in the acts of the Council of 649. Maximus Confessor (d.662) and Pope

Theodore (642-648) were the planners of the Lateran Council. Many art historians are still

convinced that the murals in S. Maria Antiqua are the last paintings to bear witness to

Constantinopolitan artistic influence in seventh-century Rome. In view of the sources

discussed in this paper, such a theory requires reconsideration and revision.

Coates-Stephens, Robert

“Oratory of the Forty Martyrs”

The apsed Roman hall at the foot of the Domitianic ramp to the Palatine was converted to

a church in the 6th century and abandoned in the later middle ages. It takes its modern

name from its frescos of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, but its original dedication is

unknown, as also are the circumstances of its conversion. The paper considers the

unanswered questions of its Christian origins.

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Costambeys, Marios

Liturgy and patronage at S. Maria Antiqua in the eighth century

S. Maria Antiqua presents a striking assemblage of some of the most important elements

in the shaping of eighth-century Rome: the cult of saints and their relics, the patronage of

sacred buildings, the assumption of civic functions by the Church, the interaction of

papacy and aristocracy. This paper will seek to analyze some of these elements by

considering how the church functioned liturgically in the eighth century. Direct textual

evidence for liturgical practice in eighth-century Rome is very scant, so the paper will also

consider circumstantial factors such as its architectural form, its role as the church of a

diaconia, and, in particular, the saints culted there, and the relics that it housed.

Contemporary practices in relation to the cult of the Virgin will be considered, as will the

fact that this church housed martyr relics (in the Theodotos chapel) from a date (c. 741)

earlier than the well-known move by Pope Paul I to bring extramural martyr relics into the

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city’s churches. It will be seen that the changing decorative programme in S. Maria

Antiqua responded to changes in liturgical practices that were themselves driven by the

changing complexion of political cultural power in the city from the papacy of John VII,

through those of Gregory III, Zacharias and Paul, to that of Hadrian.

Cubitt, Katie

The Lateran Synod of 649 and St Maria Antiqua: Ritual Action and its audience

This paper will be divided into three sections – the first will set out the significance of the

Lateran synod for imperial politics and for the development of papal identity and action.

It will contextualise it not only in the opposition of Maximus, Sophronius and the

Palestinian monks to the imperially sponsored teachings of monoenergism and

monothelitism, but also in relation to papal involvement in the west, in Africa and in the

churches of the new successor states.

The next section will focus specifically on the role of ritual action in the course of the

controversy. The conflict over theological doctrine is largely understood today in terms of

the surviving documentation, whether of the synodal acta or the correspondence of its

protagonists like Sergius of Constantinople, Maximus the Confessor or the popes.

However, such documents also demonstrate the significant use of ritual action in the

course of the controversy, particularly by the dyophysites, to underline and dramatise the

nature of the conflict. This included, for example, the display of the Ekthesis in the

narthex of the Hagia Sophia and the persistent demands by the papacy that this should be

removed. The deployment of ritual action sheds light on the role of visual communication

in the course of the controversy and will thus elucidate the images from the Fathers put up

by Pope Martin in Sta Maria Antiqua.

The final section of the paper will consider questions of audience for these, highlighting

the close relations of Maximus the Confessor with the secular Byzantine elite and the

personal connections between Rome and Constantinople at this time. It will also address

questions of the pilgrims present in Rome in the mid seventh century, and their possible

presence in the church.

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Englen, Alia

Dialogando coi restauratori

L’intervento sarà incentrato sulle peculiarità paesaggistiche e archeologiche del sito in cui

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è inserita S. Maria Antiqua e, in particolare, sul carattere di duplice palinsesto che

caratterizza questo monumento: palinsesto architettonico e palinsesto decorativo.

Quest’elemento è stato alla base della sperimentazione e delle scelte tecnico scientifiche

che hanno preceduto e supportato il restauro che si è proposto di rendere di nuovo visibile

la straordinaria stratificazione cronologica e stilistica degli intonaci e delle decorazioni,

restituendo armonia e unità alle immagini, da quelle più degradate, ridotte a lacerti, a

quelle riconducibili a un’ efficace integrità.

Folgerø, Per Olav Expression of Dogma: Text and Imagery in the Triumphal Arch Decoration

in the Sanctuary of S. Maria Antiqua in Rome (705-707 A.D.).

The point of departure in my article is the triumphal arch decoration of John VII and its

strong pro-Chalchedonian and anti-Monothelitic leads (cf. particularly J.-M.

SANSTERRE, À propos de la signification politico-religieuse de certaines fresques de

Jean VII à Sainte-Marie-Antique, in Byzantion (57) 1987, pp. 434-440). I will then turn to

the Old Testament text-catena, and discuss whether a Christological, and dogma-related,

interpretation of this typological chaining of verses might be possible. Moreover, as I will

argue, symmetry will always be a principle at work in expression of dogma, as in this

strictly symmetrical monumental painting. I will raise the question whether this principle

can lead to some assumptions as to what was written in the lost part of the catena r. side.

The article concludes with some reflections on what might be a deeper symbolism behind

the beautifully white letters written on purple/red ground.

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Gantner, Clemens

The pontificate of Zacharias

'S Maria Antiqua in the Theodotus chapel features the portrait of Pope

Zacharias (741-752), which was in all probability done during his pontificate.

This paper's objective will be to present the pontificate of Zacharias with a

special emphasis on his relationship with the Byzantine Empire and the

implications this had for Rome and also for the pope's building policy in the

city. In this context I will also address the question as to what extent

Zacharias was 'the last Greek pope' and whether this had an influence on his

rule in Rome.

I will include the relatively rich information (compared to other Roman

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nobility) we have about Theodotus, the donor of the image-programme (Quiricus

and Iulitta) that shows Zacharias. He was the uncle and benefactor of Pope

Hadrian I, who, in turn, during his pontificate also acted as donor for S Maria

Antiqua.'

Gasbarri, Giovanni

Wladimir de Grüneisen and the study of Santa Maria Antiqua in its multi-cultural context

Only a few months after its discovery, Santa Maria Antiqua started to be considered as a

crucial topic in early Christian and Byzantine art historiography. A general consensus

exists on the importance of pioneering contributions by specialists like Louis Duchesne or

Gordon Rushforth in identifying the ‘Eastern’ factor lying beneath the newfound wall

paintings. The publication of sources as the Liber Pontificalis, together with Rushforth’s

interpretation of the inscriptions in the apse, turned into precious critical instruments to

better understand the relationship between the monument and its context in the early

Middle Ages, when Rome was exposed to strong Eastern Mediterranean political and

religious influences.

But what about the stylistic features of the frescoes? With few remarkable exceptions, the

persistent idea of the preponderance of a ‘Latin’ tradition in the history of Western art did

not facilitate the recognition of ‘foreign’ aesthetical languages. In this regard, the case of

the art historian Wladimir de Grüneisen looks extremely interesting. This obscure

Russian-born scholar moved in Italy in 1903, and became the author of the first

monograph ever dedicated to Santa Maria Antiqua, written in French and published in

1911. With the help of a large amount of photographs and many original illustrations, in

this book de Grüneisen offered a unique reconstruction of the multicultural artistic

environment that surrounded the church between the 6th

and the 9th

centuries. Santa Maria

Antiqua thus became a genuine témoin - or witness - of a mix of different influences,

ranging from Egypt to Persia, from Anatolia to Greece.

Appena pochi mesi dopo la sua scoperta, Santa Maria Antiqua cominciò ad essere

considerata come un argomento cruciale nella storia dell’arte paleocristiana e bizantina. Si

è oggi concordi nel riconoscere l’importanza del contributo di studiosi come Louis

Duchesne e Gordon Rushforth nel mettere in luce la radice ‘orientale’ sottesa alle pitture

murali appena scoperte. L’edizione di fonti storiche come il Liber Pontificalis, assieme

alla decodificazione delle iscrizioni nell’abside elaborata da Rushforth, divennero preziosi

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strumenti critici per comprendere meglio la relazione tra il monumento stesso e il contesto

della Roma altomedievale, fortemente esposta alle influenze politiche e religiose

provenienti dal Mediterraneo orientale.

Per quanto riguarda i caratteri stilistici degli affreschi, la situazione era molto diversa. Con

poche eccezioni significative, l’idea diffusa del predominio della tradizione ‘latina’ nella

storia dell’arte occidentale non facilitava l’individuazione di linguaggi estetici ‘stranieri’.

In questo senso, il caso di Wladimir de Grüneisen appare estremamente interessante.

Questo studioso di origine russa, trasferitosi in Italia nel 1903, fu autore della più antica

monografia dedicata a Santa Maria Antiqua, redatta in francese e pubblicata nel 1911.

Servendosi di una gran quantità di fotografie e di molte illustrazioni originali, nel suo

volume de Grüneisen presentò una ricostruzione unica del contesto artistico multiculturale

che circondava la chiesa tra VI e IX secolo. Santa Maria Antiqua divenne così una vera e

propria témoin – o testimone – di un crogiolo di influenze diverse, dall’Egitto alla Persia,

dall’Anatolia alla Grecia.

Gianandrea, Manuela Il dipinto murale di Santa Sabina all’Aventino e il Concilio del 680: implicazioni

teologiche di una rara iconografia.

Lo studio si incentra sul dipinto murale recentemente scoperto nel nartece della basilica di

Santa Sabina all’Aventino e, in particolare, sull’iconografia della Vergine con il Bambino

nella mandorla (diffusa nell’Oriente bizantino quanto rara a Roma e nell’Occidente

medievale), evidenziandone il legame con le delibere antimonotelite del Concilio di

Costantinopoli del 680.

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Hurst, Henry

The basilica and diaconia of S. Maria Antiqua

This paper focuses on the beginning and the end of SMA, setting it in a wider study both

of the imperial buildings in which it is set and of later use of the area following the

disappearance of the church. There seems to be better evidence than was previously

supposed for a church on the site prior to the traditional later 6th

/7th

-century date of Santa

Maria Antiqua. There are grounds for placing its origin in the 4th

century together with a

redevelopment of the imperial complex as storage/commercial/domestic buildings. The

church seems to have included a baptismal font in a secondary stage. The post-disuse

history of the church and adjacent areas is also vital in understanding the remains. Not

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only was the ‘atrium’ and part of the church robbed severely of travertine (mainly from

the underlying imperial buildings), probably in the 16th

century, but the excavation of the

church in the early 18th

century seems to have been followed by an attempt at restoration

before it was reburied. This evidence requires some adjustment of our general

understanding of the church’s nature and history.

Jankowiak, Marek

Rome at the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681): An Unexpected Victory

When trying in 678 to persuade the pope to send his envoys to Constantinople to debate

on the divisive subject of the wills of Christ, the emperor Constantine IV promised that

even if no agreement was reached, Roman envoys would still not be arrested and would

be granted safe return home. In view of the strained relations between the popes and the

emperors in the preceding decades, the Roman curia could indeed not have nurtured high

hopes for the meeting in Constantinople. But after ten months of dramatic deliberations,

the Sixth Council ended in a complete Roman victory: the Roman doctrine of the two

wills was endorsed, Monotheletism was condemned, and four patriarchs of Constantinople

were anathematised – in exchange for only one bishop of Rome, Honorius. I will argue

that this success was unexpected even for the Roman delegation. I will try to elucidate

why the Sixth Council took this unanticipated turn. Was the Roman success due to the

strategy of the papal legates or to the support of the emperor? Why did Constantine IV

throw his lot with the Romans, and opposed the church of Constantinople? These

reflections will shed light on the Roman perspective on the wider world, and on

Constantinople in particular, in the later 7th

century.

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Jewell, Kaelin

A Chalke in Rome? Byzantine Authority and the Palatine Hill

Since antiquity, the Palatine Hill has functioned as a site of symbolic and topographical

importance, connected to the mythical foundations of the city. Augustus and his

successors added an association of authority to it. Its reoccupation during late antiquity

demonstrates its continuing status as a locus of power. This paper explores the notion that

the Palatine served as a strategic, charged location within the topography of sixth-century

Rome, after the defeat of the Goths and the re-establishment of Byzantine control.

More specifically, I focus on the relationship between the Palatine and the Forum below

during seventh and eighth centuries through an investigation of Santa Maria Antiqua,

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located at the foot of the Palatine. Building on Richard Krautheimer’s interpretation of

that building as a “gate-sanctuary,” which bridged the Forum and the Palatine, I argue that

Santa Maria Antiqua was originally part of a monumental vestibule that sought to evoke

the imperial and sacred authority of Constantinople’s own imperial entryway, the Chalke.

Through an analysis of Rome’s architectural topography during the Byzantine period,

along with textual sources on imperial palaces, I propose a desire among imperial patrons

to seek out the Palatine as their primary place of residence due to its association with the

birth of the Roman Empire. Layered onto this was the imperial authority of the Chalke. In

an interesting reversal of the original pattern, with Constantinople being modelled on

Rome, a monument from the younger city gave new prestige back to an ancient one.

Knipp, David

Richard Delbrück and the Reconstruction of a ‘Ceremonial Route’ in Domitian’s Palace

Vestibule

Delbrück's ingenious interpretation of the archaeological evidence from 1921 will form

the starting point for an investigation of the various ways in which processions and

ceremonial appearances, or private audiences could have been staged within the complex

of Western hall, Northern Hall (Atrium), peristyle court, exedra (S. Maria Antiqua), and

Palatine ramp, from Domitian to Belisarius and down to the conversion of the structure to

a church. This includes, obviously, long stretches of time in which no ceremonial was

conducted at all on the site, since the building served other purposes.

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Lidova, Maria

The Power of Maria Regina. Imperial Background and Theological Connotations of the

Early Byzantine Image

The solemn image of the crowned Virgin defines several programs within rich

decoration of Santa Maria Antiqua church. In one case it even bears the caption ‘Maria

Regina’ or Mary the Queen, a term usually used to designate this type of Marian

representation. Its popularity in the western world, gave reason to regard it as a specific

variant of Marian imagery, which emerged in Rome, introduced by popes as a sort of

political declaration in their opposition to Constantinople. However, this assumption is

contested by the fact that the earliest existing images of Maria Regina (6-8th

c.) do not

imitate but directly quote official representations of the Byzantine empresses.

The borrowing of the iconography from the imperial cult, with its utterly un-

Christian essence, brought in its wake the transfer of semantic and hierarchic accents from

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secular iconography to the Marian. Thus the image of Maria Regina deliberately used the

symbolism and dramatic emotional impact intrinsic in the official imperial

representations. This solution was apparently adopted at the crucial moment in the

formation and development of the Marian cult in order to convey sophisticated theological

“image” of the Mother of God which so far has not been carefully studied nor explained.

In the paper I would like to clarify the dating of the earliest image of Maria Regina on a

palimpsest wall in Santa Maria Antiqua and to propose new reading of the Roman images

of the crowned Virgin in a broader context of the early Marian imagery. I will unveil the

connections of Maria Regina type with the official portraiture of Byzantine emperors and

demonstrate that the turn to the imperial iconography may serve as a strong indication to

Constantinople as a center where Maria Regina type most probably originated.

McKitterick, Rosamond

The seventh- and early eighth-century sections of the Liber pontificalis.

The sections of the Liber pontificalis appended to the sixth-century original text and

running to 715 include the Lives of thirty popes: Vigilius, Pelagius, John II, Benedict I,

Pelagius II, Gregory I, Sabinian, Boniface III, Boniface IV, Deusdedit, Boniface V,

Honorius, Severinus, John IV, Theodore, Martin, , Eugene I, Vitalian, Adeodatus, Donus,

Agatho, Leo II, Benedict II, John V, Conon, Sergius, John VI, John VI, Sisinnius and

Constantine. The section up to Honorius is usually regarded as a coherent addition and an

attempt to add the Lives of these twelve popes as an updating exercise. Thereafter the

Lives are accepted as a succession of contemporary continuators. Their comments on

individual popes, not least popes Martin, Agatho and Sergius, and the famous references

to S. Maria Antiqua in the Life of John VII (705-707) need to be considered, however, in

the context of the Liber pontificalis as a whole and the degree to which it was

disseminated as a coherent narrative from St Peter to Pope Constantine, with particular

narrative strategies and emphases apparent in the text which need to be compared with

other extant evidence, not least the material evidence of the buildings in Rome itself.

There are many peculiarities about the lives from the later seventh-and early eight century

in particular. The extra material Bronwen Neil’s book on Anastastius Bibliothecarius’s

dossier on Martin I provides, moreover, has made further consideration of his career and

the peculiarities of the relations with Byzantium it implies in particular, even more

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necessary. This paper therefore will look at these Lives to highlight both their importance

and their problems as historical evidence.

Monaco, Ernesto Measuring Santa Maria antiqua. From Petrignani at present.

Since 2003 the Archaeological Superintendence of Rome has undertaken a survey

programme of the buildings of Santa Maria Antiqua, that continues up to the present day,

The working plan, begun almost at the same time as the restoration of the general

frescoes, was aimed at drawing up a graphical record and an analysis and description of

the building under present –day conditions, including its unique features. Getting on with

the survey, we are beginning to draft a master plan as a point of reference for restoration

and conservation work, The survey must be seen as a framework of data permitting an

understanding of the cause of critical situations through an analysis of the recorded data

closely related to the historical and archaeological research.

Given that the answers to resolving these critical points are not confined to the Basilica’s

area, the survey was extended to the whole Domitianic building up to the nearest

boundary of the Domus Tiberiana, in order to provide the best possible understanding of

the Basilica’s position in the architectural and structural context of the imperial palace in

which it was placed. Surveying and measuring, in this wider point of view, are additional

ways of addressing the archaeological and topographical analysis, both of the whole

architectural context and of each of its individual parts. At last, with the results obtained

from the survey’s work, we are writing a new chapter of the topographical literature of the

area where Petrignani’s plan is the main point in the history of the archaeological

researches and excavations. Through the computer aided design programmes it has been

possible to “redraw” plans and drawings of past excavations, linking them to the present

topographical net .In this way the past excavation data, already covered and inaccessible,

are updated, inserting and joining them to the present survey net as basis of a new analysis

of the area.

Misurare Santa Maria Antiqua da Petrignani ad oggi

Nel 2003 la Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma ha intrapreso un programma di

rilevamento,tuttora in corso, del complesso di Santa Maria antiqua. Il rilevamento, iniziato

parallelamente alle operazioni di restauro dei cicli di affreschi e ulteriormente sviluppatosi

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nel tempo, è finalizzato alla redazione di una documentazione grafica dell’edificato nel

suo stato attuale con la registrazione e l’analisi delle caratteristiche e degli elementi del

costruito. Il rilievo, strettamente collegato alle indagini ed alle ricerche archeologiche e

storiche si propone come obiettivo la formazione di un “documento” che costituisse un

quadro di riferimento omogeneo utile sia alla comprensione dei processi di sviluppo della

Basilica, quanto supporto alle operazioni di restauro conservazione con la valutazione

delle situazioni e dei punti critici.

Poiché le cause e le origini di questi non sono circoscritte all’area della Basilica

strettamente detta, il rilevamento e le ricerche sono state progressivamente estese

all’intero complesso domizianeo fino alla prossima domus Tiberiana: questo, per una

ulteriore migliore comprensione della posizione architettonica e strutturale della chiesa nel

contesto del palazzo imperiale in cui è inserita. Il rilevamento e le ricerche riferiti a questo

quadro allargato definiscono i termini di una più organica analisi archeologica e

topografica dell’intero contesto costruttivo e di ogni singola parte.

Da ultimo, con i risultati delle campagne di rilevamento si sta scrivendo un nuovo

capitolo della letteratura topografica dell’area laddove la pianta redatta dal Petrignani

costituisce un caposaldo nella storia delle ricerche e degli scavi. Mediante i programmi di

grafica computerizzata (CAD) è stato possibile “ridisegnare” piante e grafici degli scavi

passati collegandoli alla rete topografica attuale; i dati pregressi ,interrati ed inaccessibili,

vengono,così,resi “odierni”ed attualizzati ponendo in essere le basi di una nuova

discussione sui problemi dell’area.

Morganti, Giuseppe "Per meglio provvedere alla conservazione dei dipinti”. 1984-2014: Santa Maria Antiqua

thirty years later.

In order to illustrate the difficulties connected with the protection of cultural heritage,

Giovanni Carbonara states: “…, in the first place, the work of architects working in the

state administration of protection, especially in the archaeological superintendencies, in

an environment, that is, where the interdisciplinary debate is indispensable, daily, often

hard, and consequently, challenging comes to mind: I think, therefore, that the young

architects freshly appointed of the Ministry should serve for at least two year in these

offices (the archaeological superintendencies), in order to form a scientific and

professional habit of mind which other superintendencies, overwhelmed by more

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numerous and pressing tasks, are struggling to secure”.

Santa Maria Antiqua expresses in a very effective and concise way the Carbonara opinion:

a monument where seamlessly the archaeological building, the mural paintings cycle (as

well as mosaics etc.) and the architecture come together in an inextricable unicum.

Antiquity (the Domitianic monument and the pre-existing buildings), the Middle Ages

(the church and the paintings), and the Modern Age (the demolition of S. Maria

Liberatrice, although in a negative sense; then the excavations and the restorations) are

present in a synchronic rather than a fragmented way. In the case of S. Maria Antiqua it is

therefore impossible to separate into different offices the protection and the safeguarding

of the monument, which must be seen as a whole. In this sense Santa Maria Antiqua

represents a paradigm of the correct methodology for managing a multi-stratified

historical building (at least in many of its features).

The Archaeological Superintendency promoted and led (in cooperation with other

superintendencies, universities and research institutes) the investigations and restoration

works in the church during the last thirty years. A complete cycle of works started in 1984

through the initiative of Adriano La Regina is likely to be completed by 2014. This work

included a preliminary assessment of the state of conservation of the pictures and the

characteristics of the environment; the waterproofing of roof and terraces and the

refurbishment of all the drains; the insertion of frames and glazing of all the windows; the

restoration of the architectural surfaces (masonry foundations and brick walls, stone,

plaster etc.), and finally, since 2001, the restoration of the wall paintings, sponsored by the

World Monuments Fund of New York.

The paper will outline the overall chronology of the work undertaken during these thirty

years, in order to demonstrate their organic and integrated characteristics. This process

was inspired by the rediscovering and rebirth of this monument that resulted from the

actions of Giacomo Boni and Antonio Petrignani. They, of course, did not reinvented the

medieval monument, but, with the declared intention of “meglio provvedere alla

conservazione dei dipinti”, they, in fact, acted as architects, and designed a true “space”,

that re- invokes the sense, the concept, the ideal notion of the architectural monument, and

does not claim to return it to its original form. At the same time it gives back to the

paintings what Brandi called “the space in which the paintings need to be placed”.

"Per meglio provvedere alla conservazione dei dipinti”. 1984-2014: Santa Maria Antiqua


17

thirty years later.

Per illustrare le difficoltà connesse con la tutela del patrimonio culturale Giovanni

Carbonara afferma: “… vengono alla mente, in primo luogo, i lavori di architetti operanti

presso l'amministrazione statale di tutela, soprattutto nelle Soprintendenze archeologiche,

in un ambiente, cioè, dove il confronto interdisciplinare è indispensabile, quotidiano,

sovente duro e, di conseguenza, stimolante: penso, per questo, che i giovani architetti di

prima nomina del Ministero dovrebbero svolgere servizio, per almeno un biennio, presso

quelle soprintendenze, al fine di formarsi un habitus mentale e professionale scientifico

che le soprintendenze ai monumenti, travolte da più numerose e assillanti incombenze,

fanno fatica ad assicurare”.

Santa Maria Antiqua esprime nel modo più pregnante questa esigenza di Carbonara: un

monumento in cui senza soluzione di continuità l’edificio archeologico, il corredo

pittorico (ed anche musivo etc.) e la struttura architettonica si fondono in un unicum

inestricabile. L’età antica (il monumento domizianeo e le preesistenze), il medioevo (la

chiesa e le pitture), e l’età moderna (la demolizione di S. Maria Liberatrice, pur in

negativo; e poi gli scavi e i restauri) sono presenti in maniera sincronica e non

frammentabile. Nel caso di S. Maria Antiqua non è quindi pensabile che uffici differenti

possano provvedere alla tutela e salvaguardia di un monumento a cui si deve invece

guardare come a un tutto unico. In questo senso il restauro di Santa Maria Antiqua

rappresenta un’indicazione di metodo assai significativa di come si dovrebbe agire nel

caso di edifici pluristratificati (cioè quasi sempre).

La Soprintendenza Archeologica ha promosso e guidato (con la collaborazione delle altre

soprintendenze, di università e istituti di ricerca) le attività di indagine e di restauro negli

ultimi trenta anni. Un completo ciclo di restauri iniziato nel 1984 per volere di Adriano La

Regina e che sarà presumibilmente completato entro il 2014. Tale opera ha incluso lo

studio preliminare dello stato di conservazione delle pitture e i caratteri del microclima;

l’impermeabilizzazione dei tetti e delle terrazze; il rinnovo di tutti gli impianti di

smaltimento e drenanti; la sostituzione degli infissi in tutte le aperture della chiesa; il

restauro delle superfici architettoniche (nuclei murari, cortine a mattoni, pietra, intonaci

etc.), e infine, a partire dal 2001, il restauro delle pitture murali, sponsorizzato dal World

Monuments Fund.

Il contributo al convegno ripercorrerà sinteticamente questi trent’anni di lavori, allo scopo

di evidenziarne il carattere organico e conseguente. Operazione ispirata dalla riscoperta e


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rinascita di questo monumento ad opera di Giacomo Boni e Antonio Petrignani. I quali

non ripristinarono il monumento medioevale, ma – al fine dichiarato di “meglio

provvedere alla conservazione dei dipinti” – in realtà, da architetti, progettarono un vero e

proprio invaso spaziale, mediante il quale restituirono del monumento architettonico, il

senso, il concetto, la nozione ideale, e non la forma. Restituendo al contempo agli

affreschi “lo spazio in cui i dipinti hanno bisogno di collocarsi” (Cesare Brandi).

Osborne, John Rushforth and the text of Magister Gregorius’ Narracio de mirabilibus urbis Romae

In addition to his work on S. Maria Antiqua, Rushforth would later engage in another

major project related to medieval Rome: an extensive analysis of, and commentary on, the

text of Magister Gregorius’ Narracio de Mirabilibus Urbis Romae. The single known

manuscript of this 13th

-century description of the ancient buildings and statues visible in

Rome was discovered by M.R. James in the library of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge,

and published by him in the 1917 issue of the Journal of Roman Studies. James’

contribution is limited to the edition of the text, and he thanks Rushforth for his

interpretative comments. Two years later, Rushforth published a more substantial analysis

in The English Historical Review. As with his initial study of S. Maria Antiqua, his

observations on Magister Gregorius’ Narracio have stood well the test of time, and still

remain valid today. This paper will examine Rushforth’s contribution to this topic.

2

Paribeni, Andrea Con Boni nel Foro? Le relazioni tra Gordon McNeil Rushforth e Giacomo Boni

secondo la documentazione archivistica

Il fotogramma di Boni e Rushforth mentre scendono a braccetto la scalinata di Villa

Bracciano, sede dell’Ambasciata Britannica, restituito da Eva Tea nella sua biografia

boniana, appaiato alle parole adoperate da Rushforth nel necrologio dell’archeologo

veneziano pubblicato nel 1925, forniscono la sensazione che uno stretto rapporto abbia

legato i due studiosi nei primi anni del XX secolo. Ricognizioni negli archivi dell’Istituto

Lombardo a Milano – dove si conservano scritti inediti, corrispondenza e altri documenti

di Giacomo Boni - nell’Archivio Centrale dello Stato e nell’archivio della Soprintendenza

Archeologica di Roma, hanno offerto purtroppo, almeno finora, solo pochissimi altri

elementi utili alla ricerca. Con questo contributo si intende rendere noti i dati fin qui

raccolti e anche cercare di fornire una prima spiegazione a questa mancanza di riscontri:

l’ipotesi è che questioni oggettive (Rushforth trascorse meno di due anni a Roma, in un

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periodo nel quale Boni fu assorbito da un gran numero di scavi nel Foro Romano e anche

dalla questione del Campanile di S. Marco a Venezia) assieme a differenti interessi

culturali, abbiano limitato, in buona sostanza, le occasioni di relazione tra i due,

circoscrivendole essenzialmente all’episodio di S. Maria Antiqua.

The image of Boni and Rushforth going down the stairway of Villa Bracciano arm-in-arm,

seen at the British Embassy - recorded by Eva Tea in Boni’s biography – paired with the

words used by Rushforth in the Obituary Notice devoted to the Venetian archaeologist in

1925, give us the impression that a close relationship had linked these two scholars in the

first years of the 20th

century. A closer scrutiny of the archival documents in the Istituto

Lombardo at Milan – where unpublished papers, letters and other documents of Giacomo

Boni are kept – in the Archivio Centrale dello Stato and in the Archive of the

Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma offers unfortunately very few other clues to our

research. With this contribution we’ll make known the data collected until now and also

we’ll try to find some reason for this dearth of information: it is possible that practical

facts – Rushforth spent less than two years in Rome, a period in which Boni was absorbed

by many excavations in the Roman Forum and also by Venice’s Campanile affair –

together with some differences in cultural interests, restricted the opportunities of

interaction between the two, that were focused only on the episode of Santa Maria

Antiqua.

Pollard, Richard

Men of letters in 7th

-century Rome: an exercise in literary archaeology

Careful archaeological investigations at Santa Maria Antiqua, begun 110 years ago, have

taught us a great deal about the artistic, religious and political world of seventh-century

and eighth-century Rome. But the paintings there also offer a window on the literary

world of the city in the same period: there are, of course, the scrolls that point to texts

associated with the Lateran Council of 649, or the presence of depictions of saints Cyrus

and John. Hagiographical texts associated with the latter were translated from Greek into

Latin in Rome, sometime in the later seventh century, most likely by Boniface, the papal

consiliarius who also seems to have been an expert in theology, canon law, and possibly

diplomacy. My paper aims to explore the career of Boniface and those like him, for there

seem to have been many 'papal consultants' in the seventh century. In particular I want to

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engage in some literary archaeology: by careful examination of ecclesiastical texts from

seventh century Rome, I can help to restore the literary/intellectual reputation of Romans

in a period where they have been lately (in light of Rudolf Riedinger's discoveries)

overshadowed by Maximus Confessor and his merry band of Greek monks.

Price, Richard

The frescos in S. Maria Antiqua and the Lateran Synod of 649

The task of my paper will be to explain the four panels in the apsidal wall of S. Maria

Antiqua which contain extracts (in Greek) from the patristic florilegia in the Acts of the

Lateran Synod of 649, of which Catherine Cubitt and I are preparing an English

translation and edition for publication in the ‘Translated Texts for Historians’ series.

This will involve a résumé of the monoenergist-monothelete (one energy/operation – one

will) controversy of the seventh century, and an account of the Lateran Synod and of its

acts, and of the function of the patristic florilegia it contains. Finally, I must explain the

significance of the four texts selected for inscription in this particular church.

This topic is less straightforward than might be supposed, and our understanding of these

questions has been utterly transformed over the last thirty years, since the appearance of

the first critical edition of the acts of 649 in 1984. In brief, it is now clear that the assertion

of one energy (or mode of operation) or will in Christ was just as traditional as the

assertion of two, and that the Byzantine Church never formally adopted monoenergism or

monotheletism. The invention of the monothelete heresy and its ascription to the emperors

and patriarchs at Constantinople was the work of a small group of Greek monks largely of

Palestinian origin, who won the support of the Roman see. The acts of 649 were in part a

genuine record of the sessions of the Roman Synod of October 649 and in part a literary

product composed by these same monks in the Greek language, which was then translated

into Latin. When the acts were published, the pretence was made that the Latin was the

original and the Greek the translation.

The four texts selected for inscription in the church are somewhat puzzling, since, while

two of them relate to two operations in Christ, the other two relate to the unity of will

between Father and Son within the Holy Trinity. But in the Roman context, where the

erroneousness of monotheletism was taken for granted, the aim was less to combat heresy

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than to celebrate the totality of the orthodox faith that the synod had reaffirmed.

Rubery Eileen

The Church of Santa Maria Antiqua: Researching with Rushforth’s paper

The preparation and publication of Gordon Rushforth’s paper in the first volume of the

Papers of the British School at Rome in 1902 will be considered in the context of the

papers being presented at the Conference. The importance of his observations on the

complex, especially the identification of the origins of the four texts held by the standing

church fathers on the apsidal arch, will be assessed and some of the questions that these

frescoes pose in relation to the functions of the complex in the seventh and eighth

centuries will be considered.

2

Rubery, Eileen

S Maria Antiqua, the cult of Cyrus and John in Rome and Sophronius of Jerusalem

There are at least four images of the anargyros Saint Abbacyrus (Holy Father Cyrus) in

the church of S Maria Antiqua in Rome, making him the most frequently represented

healing saint depicted there. The earliest mention of his cult comes in three short Homilies

by St Cyril of Alexandria, apparently composed when Cyril translated the bones of Cyrus

and his companion, John of Edessa to Canopus in a move intended to provide a Christian

healing site that could compete with that of a nearby Pagan cult site, probably dedicated to

Isis.

In the seventh century the cult of Abbacyrus in Alexandria received further local support

from the monk Sophronius of Jerusalem, who, after himself being cured of an eye

complaint by these saints (while visiting Alexandria with his companion, John Moschus,

author of the ‘Spiritual Meadow’) wrote a Panegyric and recorded 70 miracles that had

taken place there.

In the paper the images of Cyrus and John and the other medical saints in S Maria Antiqua

will be explored in the context of our knowledge of the presence of the cult of S

Abbacyrus in S Maria Antiqua and in two other early churches in Rome: St’Angelo in

Pescheria, and S Passera. The paper will end by considering what this information tells us

about the relationship between the church of S Maria Antiqua, the ‘Greek monks’

Sophronius and Maximus the Confessor and events surrounding the Lateran Synod of 649.

6

Schmid, Werner Matthias

Diario di un lungo restauro (2000-2013)

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Oggetto dell'intervento è un breve resoconto del recente restauro dei dipinti murali

altomedievali e delle altre superfici architettoniche conservate a Santa Maria Antiqua al

Foro Romano. Il cantiere, iniziato alla fine del 2001 con un generoso finanziamento del

World Monuments Fund di New York, è stato anche un'occasione unica per lo studio

tecnico-esecutivo dei dipinti e per un riesame della stratigrafia dei palinsesti pittorici. Lo

stretto contatto e la condivisone di informazione tra restauratori, storici dell'arte,

archeologici e altri esperti ha portato a nuove scoperte e conoscenze. Il contributo

ripercorre le varie fasi d'intervento a partire dalle indagini preliminari. La

caratterizzazione dello stato di conservazione delle superfici, l'interscambio con l'edificio

che li custodisce, confronti con fotografie d'archivio e la storia dei restauri precedenti sono

tra i temi trattati. I risultati ottenuti e i concetti di base che hanno guidato l'intervento

vengono illustrati attraverso la documentazione fotografica e grafica. Le operazioni

conservative che hanno principalmente contribuito al successo dell'intervento sono: 1) il

consolidamento d'urgenza di tutti gli intonaci dipinti e non dipinti eseguito durante i primi

due anni del progetto, 2) il risanamento della parete absidale mediante il drenaggio delle

acque provenienti dal Colle Palatino, 3) la ricontestualizzazione dei dipinti staccati nella

Cappella di Teodoto e sui pilastri meridionali della navata centrale, 4) il "riordino" estetico

delle superfici e il miglioramento della leggibilità dei dipinti attraverso la rimozione dei

depositi superficiali, la sostituzione delle stuccature di cemento e una reintegrazione

pittorica minimale che non mira alla ricostruzione dell'immagine ma alla mitigazione delle

interferenze visive.

Diary of a long conservation treatment (2001-2013)

This paper is a concise account of the recent conservation of the early medieval wall

paintings and other architectural surfaces of Santa Maria Antiqua on the Roman Forum.

The project, initiated at the end of 2001 with generous funding made available by the

World Monuments Fund di New York, was also a unique opportunity to study the

manufacturing techniques of the paintings and to review their stratigraphic sequence. The

close contact and the sharing of information between conservators, art historians,

archaeologists and other experts generated new discoveries and understanding. This paper

describes the different project phases starting from preliminary investigations. Discussed

issues include the condition of both, the surfaces and the building envelope, comparisons


23

with archival photographs and conservation history. Achieved results and basic concepts

which guided the treatment are illustrated through examples of graphic and photographic

documentation. The success of the project is mainly based on the following conservation

operations: 1) emergency stabilization of all painted and unpainted plasters carried out

during the first two years, 2) humidity control of the apse wall by providing drainage to

the water coming from the Palatine Hill, 3) re-contextualization of the detached paintings

from the Chapel of Theodotus and the two southern pillars of the central nave, 4) aesthetic

"re-ordering" and improvement of the legibility of the paintings achieved through the

removal of heavily obscuring surface deposits, replacement of cement fills and a

minimum pictorial reintegration which does not aim at reconstructing the images but at

mitigating visual interferences.

Smith, Christopher

Introduction and welcome; 1

Smith, Christopher

Closing Speech 9

van Dijk, Ann

Visual Diplomacy on the Apsidal Arch of Santa Maria Antiqua

Scholarship on the Adoration of Christ Crucified in Santa Maria Antiqua was long

dominated by the idea that the image represented a modified Adoration of the Lamb, an

image of Christ replacing the lamb in deference to Quinisext canon 82. This, coupled with

the choice of the same, rare facial type for Christ that appears on Justinian II’s coinage,

was given a political interpretation; it demonstrated John VII’s cowardly submission to

the emperor on the issue of the unsigned canons of the Quinisext Council, an

interpretation in line with the Liber pontificalis’s unflattering presentation of the pope’s

handling of this issue. Recent scholarship has retreated from these ideas. Historians

(Sansterre, Noble) have questioned the Liber Pontificalis’s assessment of John VII’s

diplomacy, while art historians (Barber, Kartsonis, Nilgen) have turned their attention to

the image’s theological and liturgical significance but without exploring the possible

political implications of their findings. Yet the church’s proximity to the seat of imperial

power on the Palatine, where John VII established his Episcopal residence, and the erasure

of the provocative imagery related to the Lateran Council of 649 that resulted from the

pope’s new decoration for the sanctuary both suggest that a political dimension is

inescapable. In this paper, I will propose a new, more nuanced interpretation of this

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unusual image that demonstrates the sophistication of John VII’s visual diplomacy.

Wiseman, Peter Gordon McNeil Rushforth. The First Director of the British School at Rome and Santa

Maria Antiqua

Gordon McNeil Rushforth was the first Director of the BSR (1900-1903), and author of

the first monograph on S. Maria Antiqua (PBSR 1 [1902] 1-123). Using the published

letters of Matilda Lucas and the Rushforth papers in the Exeter University Library

(including three unpublished letters from Thomas Ashby), this paper attempts to add a

little to what I wrote many years ago about Rushforth and about his contemporary, Boni’s

friend W. St Clair Baddeley:

‘The First Director of the British School’, PBSR 49 (1981), 144-63;

‘Con Boni nel foro: i diari romani di W. St Clair Baddeley’, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale

di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte ser. 3, 8-9 (1985-6), 119-49;

both reprinted in T.P. Wiseman, Talking to Virgil: A Miscellany (University of Exeter

Press 1992): ‘With Boni in the Forum’, 111-48; ‘Rediscovering a Benefactor’, 149-70.

2

POSTERS

Bollók, Adám

The jewels of Theodotus’ daughter between Rome and Byzantium

The ktetor’ portraits of Theodotus’ chapel of the church of Santa Maria Antiqua are not

only exceptionally well-known among specialist, but several aspects of their significance

have been thoroughly discussed during the last one hundred years since the church

exploration at the very beginning of the 20th

century. After the in-depth investigations of

Hans Belting and Natalia Teteriatnikov, who were about to interpret the iconographic and

devotional program of the private chapel, Arno Rettner’s fairly recent paper examined the

caftan and mounted belt wore by the young boy (possibly Theodotus’ son) depicted on

one of the chapel’s frescos. On the other hand, however, Theodotus’ daughter’s tunic and

delightful jewels (a pair of earrings, a necklace and a long gold pendant) have not yet been

adequately analyzed. This paper therefore aims to present and contextualize the existing

material evidence known from the archaeological record. Although these pieces of

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jewellery may not appear to be of utmost importance at first, at least three interrelated

questions arise. Were these artefact classes, generally dated to the sixth–seventh centuries

in Byzantine contexts, current and fashionable personal adornments in eight-century

Rome? If yes, were these objects imports from the East, or were they manufactured

locally, a possibility that obviously arise in the light of Byzantine style objects produced

in workshops at Crypta Balbi? And last but not least: Why should Theodotus’ deceased

daughter have to be depicted, in apparent contrast to the almost unadorned Virgin, in her

full ornate?

Grafova, Maria

The Row of Saints in the Left Aisle of Santa Maria Antiqua as Historical Evidence of the

Iconoclastic Era at Rome

The row of saints in the left aisle has never been a purpose of a special historical and

iconographical study. Meanwhile, this is an important historical evidence of the Papal

Rome of the Iconoclastic Era which is known for the lack of sources. In my paper I study

the lives of the saints, their vestments, the history of their pictures and their veneration in

Rome and outside. I come to the conclusion that groups on the right and on the left hand

of Christ are formed according to a certain principle. The first group consists of venerated

Roman and Italian saints (the idea could be that all types of saints should have been

represented). The second group represents mainly the intellectuals-theologians of the

Christian East. With one exception they were never venerated at Rome. One can suppose

that the whole composition was designed with an antiiconoclastic meaning: the united

Oecumenical Church is opposed to the heresy of Constantinople. We put this hypothesis

into the historical context of the pontificate of Paul I, the identified donator of the apse. It

was a time of an open political and theological conflict between Rome and Constantinople

(we learn it from many sources including those mentioning pope Paul and his older

brother and predecessor Stephan as protagonists). Some researchers have already assigned

the frescoes of the left aisle to the time of Pope Paul on the basis of the artistic style. In

my opinion this hypothesis may be also corroborated by the historical evidence.

(8)

Vukovich, Alexandra

The Genesis of Eastern Monastic Themes at the Church of Santa Maria Antiqua

This paper will discuss the appearance of eastern monastic iconographies in the Late

Antique and early Byzantine periods. At the church of Santa Maria Antiqua, there exist

several depictions of eastern monastic saints in the frescoes of popes John VII and Paul I.

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For example, in the South-West chapel: SS Barachisius and Dometius of Persia; in the

east aisle, SS Eutheymius and Sabas of Palestine; and on the East aisle wall where male

saints and the Genesis Cycle (c. 757-767) are depicted. By taking a comparative approach,

I will discuss the creation and proliferation of these iconographies from the Eastern

Empire to Rome and will focus on the modes and evidence for transfer (or acculturation)

of these iconographies in the early Byzantine period. Furthermore, I will make the

connection with the compilation and dissemination of hagiographic literature relating the

tales of eastern monastic saints and the modes of transfer to the West. The result of this

study will be to place the monastic iconographies of Santa Maria Antiqua within a greater

cultural sphere in order to examine the genesis of monastic iconographies and their link to

the compilation and dissemination of Eastern early monastic hagiographies to the West

and, specifically, Rome. As Nordhagen, Sansterre, and Lacey have already discussed, the

iconographies and epigraphic evidence found in Santa Maria Antiqua all suggest a mixed

Latin-Greek influence on the church in the Early Byzantine period, thus an iconographic

and philological approach will further elucidate the cultural environment of the Byzantine

Roman Forum.

Chairs of Sessions

Christopher Smith

1: Introductions and Welcome 1

Christopher Smith

2: Gordon Rushforth: Commemoration of his life and work 2

Augenti, Andrea

3: The Santa Maria Antiqua complex and its Links with the Palatine

3

Andaloro, Maria

and

Morganti, Giuseppe

4: Understanding and Conserving Santa Maria Antiqua (1984-2013)

4

Rubery, Eileen

5: Santa Maria Antiqua, the Lateran Synod and other Church Councils

5

Knipp, David

6: The Cult of Saints 6

Pace, Valentino

7: Santa Maria Antiqua: Images of worship in the Sanctuary

7


27

Brown, Peter 8: Santa Maria Antiqua: Patronage and Theology

8

Osborne, John

9: Final Discussion: Santa Maria Antiqua in Context and directions for future

research

9

Eileen Rubery 10.11. 2013

paper four: titles and abstracts of papers and posters and email

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