Le cripte medievali della Toscana. 4. Badia a Elmi, ed. Guido Tigler, Jul 1, 2024
Lo scavo dell’insediamento ricordato dal 715 come “vicus Wallari” e successivamente come Borgo Sa... more Lo scavo dell’insediamento ricordato dal 715 come “vicus Wallari” e successivamente come Borgo San Genesio offre numerosi dati per la comprensione dei processi che portarono alla nascita e allo sviluppo di quei villaggi medievali che, posti lungo la grande viabilità e in aree di cerniera, diventarono nodi nei quali si concentrarono interessi economici e politici. Il luogo che ancora oggi ne conserva il toponimo, Podere San Genesio, si trova ai piedi delle prime colline sanminiatesi (San Miniato, Pisa), a 600 metri dal fiume Elsa e a 3 km dall’Arno. Nelle sue immediate vicinanze dovevano correre la strada di origine romana che univa Pisa a Firenze e la Francigena che, come è noto, dall’Alto Medioevo attraversava la Val d’Elsa. La chiesa di San Genesio e il sito in cui fu costruita sono stati oggetto di numerose campagne di scavo (2001-2018, 2023-2024), che hanno consentito di riportare alla luce, tra l’altro, le fondazioni dell’edificio e buona parte della cripta realizzata nell’XI secolo, poi modificata alla fine del secolo successivo. Nel 1248 il borgo fu distrutto dagli abitanti del castello di San Miniato. La chiesa fu invece risparmiata e iniziò ad essere spoliata solo tra il XIV secolo e la prima metà del successivo, finché, a partire dalla seconda metà del XV, l’area precedentemente occupata dall’edificio iniziò ad essere utilizzata per scopi agricoli. Il contributo è incentrato sulla cripta della chiesa, trattando dell’assetto topografico, degli arredi e dei reperti alla luce dei risultati delle indagini archeologiche e dello studio correlato.
Costruire gli spazi dell’aggregazione. Le dinamiche del confronto dall’antichità al medioevo, in F. Fabiani, S. Genovesi, F. Ghizzani Marcía (edd.), Pisa, pp. 173-216, 2023
The paper focuses on the three-dimensional reconstruction of the parish church of San Genesio, as... more The paper focuses on the three-dimensional reconstruction of the parish church of San Genesio, as it looked between the end of the 12th and early 13th centuries. The building was discovered through an archaeological excavation that began in 2001 and was completed in 2018: unfortunately, only the crypt and perimeter walls of the church are preserved. The first and the second part of the paper are focused on the description and interpretation of the archaeological remains of the building and its crypt; the third is dedicated to stone finds and in the fourth the reconstructive process of the church is illustrated. In order to have a basis of comparison data for the dimensions of the architectural components, a measurement campaign of similar and coeval churches was conducted in an attempt to define standard modules to be applied in our reconstruction.
Contesto, identità funzionale, dinamiche di reimpiego:
Nell’area adiacente al perimetrale merid... more Contesto, identità funzionale, dinamiche di reimpiego:
Nell’area adiacente al perimetrale meridionale della chiesa di S. Sisto (Pisa) numerosi elementi lapidei sono stati riutilizzati in epoca moderna per definire camminamenti, aiuole e spazi ortivi, lasciando a vista parte di essi a prescindere dalla presenza o meno di motivi decorativi, semplicemente privilegiando il fatto che fossero già a disposizione, essendo probabilmente qui dislocati da tempo. Un epifenomeno del reimpiego, laddove elementi architettonici, lastre e componenti di arredo di varia cronologia sono confluiti in un contesto che è stato documentato e che contribuiscono a leggere, optando per una schedatura analitica di ciascuno di essi. Al pari di quanto accaduto in altri casi di recente indagine, non è stata operata una scelta o selezione preliminare dei materiali che al contrario sono stati presi in considerazione in modo globale e nel lungo periodo, predisponendo una documentazione che consenta di indagarne i diversi aspetti, dall’attribuzione di una identità funzionale al contesto di provenienza, dai litotipi alla litotecnica, fino alle diverse dinamiche di uso, spoliazione, reimpiego, dislocazione e rinnovato utilizzo con mutata destinazione d’uso. Lo stesso dicasi per i manufatti lapidei rinvenuti nel deposito delle aree indagate. La scelta metodologica ha comportato l’avvio di una parallela indagine dell’edilizia storica, in primo luogo conoscitiva dell’edificio nelle sue diverse componenti materiali, afferenti alle diverse fasi e comprensiva della documentazione d’archivio, prodotta in particolare durante i diversi interventi di rifacimento e restauro che interessarono S. Sisto e l’intera area in Età moderna e contemporanea, comprensiva della fotografia storica. La documentazione acquisita contribuisce all’analisi degli spazi, delle strutture e dei materiali.
Un emporio e la sua cattedrale. Gli scavi di piazza XX Settembre e Villaggio San Francesco a Comacchio, edd. S. Gelichi, C. Negrelli, E. Grandi, pp. 477-516, 2021
During the excavations conducted at Comacchio from 2006 to 2009 in the area adjacent to the cathe... more During the excavations conducted at Comacchio from 2006 to 2009 in the area adjacent to the cathedral of St Cassiano, researchers found and identified a large quantity of stone artifacts which were subsequently analyzed. The artifacts were all subjected to examination in relation to the area and layers from which they came, without making any distinction favoring one particular typology or function and, on the contrary, included all the chips which could be identified as having a particular function and all the stone fragments which had not been identified with certainty but, in any case, could be interpreted as being part of architectural elements (graph. 1). This method made it possible to evaluate different aspects that were part of the archeological interpretation which was meant to be all-inclusive, from the manufacturing cycles to the dynamics of use, plundering and recycling, displacement, secondary reuse, and others, all of which were passages that were part of the normal activity of the construction sites.
The contexts. Discovery, reuse, provenance Most of the stone artifacts were found in USM 1438, the eastern perimeter wall of a building which was interpreted as being the Bishop’s Palace and to which a chronology of the 11th-12th century was assigned. (Period 4, Phase 3). The number of artifacts (132) in this case corresponds to 87,41% of the total of all the stone objects found. The artifacts represented a heterogeneous group of materials, mostly fragmentary but in some cases large objects which had been in the foundations in association with bricks which had also been recycled and showing an abundant use of construction mortar. The dimensions of the stone flakes and the elements used in the foundations were of dimensions (cm 80/95) such as to determine an irregular width in some cases double that of the wall. A small quantity of stone artifacts also of a different typology, were found in other contexts (tab. 1). In area 1000, which corresponds to the facade of the cathedral of St Cassiano they found stone artifacts in US 1027 (Period 2, Phase 2, Activity 1); US 1059 (Period 5, Phase 1); US 1074 (Period 3, Phase 1); US 1097 and US 1098 (Period 5, Phase 2). The context of discovery and reuse for most of the artifacts was the same (figs. 2-3-4), however the area in which also the remaining artifacts have been or could have been transferred several times is unique and, on the contrary the context of provenance is diversified and multiple.
The artifacts. Functional identity and production aspects Late Antique furnishings and architectural elements. This material comes from buildings or phases dated to Late Antiquity. In particular, the breakdown is valid for the fragments (cat. n. 39, n. 40) decorated using a drill, with visible traces pertaining to one or more capitals of a particular typology with acanthus leaves moving in the wind of the “butterfly” type on the rim and an egg-and-dart motif on the abacus (tav. 1), from the period of Theodoric, with an eastern provenance and used in buildings in Ravenna. There are also other fragments from architectural elements (tab. 2) of the same period which can be identified as being part of composite or impost capitals where traces of production that are still visible suggest their identification (cat. n. 38, nn. 42-44). These materials were probably part of a group of fragments from cornices and lintels as well as a number of fragmentary elements for which the demolition activity and recycling have made it impossible to identify with certainty their original function (cat. nn. 104-108). The numerous fragments of columns (tab. 3) coming from large sized shafts some of which are made of polychrome marbles and, in some cases, were imported, had originally been used in Late Antiquity (cat. nn. 54-77; cat. nn. 83-99). Early Medieval liturgical furnishings and architectural elements. These are mostly materials pertaining to elements from liturgical furnishings (cat. nn. 1-35), from the Early Middle Ages and correspond to 23,17% of the artifacts discovered. Despite the fragmentary state of the artifacts which were small and in some cases, very small sized, in most cases we were able to determine or hypothesize the original function: small pillars with or without grooves meant to hold slabs, pluteus-slabs, with tenon; simple slabs; cornices; trabeations; capitals of different sizes (graph. 2). With these artifacts it was possible to make comparisons with analogous materials which had been published or, in any case, were known, which were useful for the definition of the functions and typological characteristics, technical and production solutions and decorative motifs.
Technological aspects (instruments, techniques and assembly) The analytical review of the visible traces left from the manufacture on the surface of the artifacts (tabs. 8-9-10) allowed us to determine the use of pointed instruments of different sizes with indirect percussion, used for the preliminary execution of the individual components which in this way were rough-hewed (cat. n. 16; cat. n. 26), as was done for the production of the accommodation slits for slabs in pillars (cat. n. 1; cat. n. 3), trabeation grooves (cat. n. 26), as well as for the preliminary positioning of a lintel fragment (cat. n. 22). Visible traces of a direct percussion tool with a flat cutting edge would seem to suggest a stone-cutter’s axe, while a chisel with a smooth cutting edge was probably used to make the traces which were found also on the artifacts from Comacchio. A tool with a small-sized flat cutting edge was used to make the double-grooved bands, with the triangular section groove made by slanting the instrument with respect to the working surface, as is evident in some of the elements. In a few cases we were able to identify a small cutting tool with a serrated blade which had been used to rectify the surface of some of the slabs (cat. n. 10, blade cm 2-2,5 with at least 4-5 teeth; cat. n. 13).
Appropriation of materials and organization of the construction site None of the artifacts were found in primary deposits as this rarely occurs for this type of material. On the other hand, in terms of relative chronology, the context offers only the terminus ante quem of the construction of the wall from which most of the artifacts come and the presence of a few artifacts in the leveling layers which pertain to the 10th century. The presence of fragments to which a particular function cannot be assigned, as well as stone flakes and materials which show no traces of being worked and are reduced to the state of being simple stones, testifies and confirms an activity of demolition and reuse. It is significant that we found all massed together heterogeneous elements from various eras coming from different phases of the same building or from different chronological pha- ses of different buildings. These artifacts were reduced to small fragments by destructive activity as well as by their reuse as construction materials. By making the necessary disaggregations and new aggregations in proceeding with the analysis, this case once again offers the possibility of documenting a common practice which tells us much about the organization of the construction site and the extent of its activity: the materials recovered are rubble. The remnants of materials used for the production of mortars associated with plaster (fig. 7), stone flakes and other materials like bricks which were also produced by anthropic activity and reused on construction sites (fig. 8), also contribute to the definition of the organization of the site. The reuse of Early Medieval decorative elements together with structural and architectural components from an earlier era has been noted in other cases. We can also cite examples in which a selection has been made of the materials, choosing some of them to be displayed in a recognizable way as a “memory” of a preceding era, while others which were part of the same structure or furnishings, were set aside for use in the construction site, as residue from the production of mortar or components of walls. At Comacchio these materials became rubble because they were probably the remains from baking, presumably in a lime kiln, considering the evident exposure to a source of heat (fig. 9), or else they had been deliberately crushed and broken. These materials in some case continued to circulate and be recycled in the various constructions which took place in the area from the Medieval phase to the Modern Era (fig. 10).
Demolire, Riciclare, Reinventare. La lunga vita e l'eredità del laterizio romano nella storia dell'architettura, Atti del III Convegno Internazionale "Laterizio" (Roma, 6-8 marzo 2019), a cura di E. Bukowiecki, A. Pizzo, R. Volpe, collana Costruire nel mondo antico, 3, pp. 129-143., 2021
Lo scavo della villa dell’Oratorio (Capraia e Limite, Fi) ha offerto l’occasione di studiare con ... more Lo scavo della villa dell’Oratorio (Capraia e Limite, Fi) ha offerto l’occasione di studiare con le metodologie tradizionali dell’archeologia e con l’uso dell’archeometria i materiali da costruzione del complesso architettonico. Quest’ultimo, realizzato alla metà del IV secolo, era costituito da un impianto termale, da alcuni vani di servizio e da una grande struttura a pianta esagonale, destinata a ricevere gli ospiti e dotata di tappeti musivi che arricchivano cinque aule absidate, una per ogni lato, e una sala centrale esagonale. La corretta caratterizzazione dei materiali da costruzione è stata considerata un passo necessario per ricostruire il cantiere della villa. Relativamente alla committenza possiamo ipotizzare che la struttura doveva essere appartenuta alla famiglia dei Vetti e forse, originariamente, al suo membro più famoso, il senatore Vettio Agorio Pretestato. Ma come rispondeva il mercato, in termini di maestranze e materie prime, alle richieste di una committenza senatoria che si ispirava ai modelli residenziali imperiali? Relativamente alle prime, lo studio dei litotipi, delle malte e delle modalità operative di messa in opera dei laterizi ha permesso di ipotizzare l'operato di maestranze urbane, che dovevano condividere il cantiere con quelle specializzate nella realizzazione dei sectilia e dei mosaici, che sembrano di matrice o di ispirazione africana. Quali meccanismi regolarono la produzione e l’approvvigionamento del laterizio utilizzato nella villa? Nel contributo sono presentati i risultati delle analisi dei campioni prelevati dagli strati associabili al cantiere di metà IV secolo, alle fasi di ristrutturazione della villa databili tra il V e l’inizio del VI secolo e dai crolli delle coperture, oltre a qualche laterizio romano di foggia particolare da contesti successivi all’abbandono del complesso.
"Costruire lo sviluppo". La crescita di città e campagna tra espansione urbana e nuove fondazioni (XII-prima metà XIII secolo), a cura di F. Cantini, pp. 121-136, Firenze, 2019
A partire dalla fine del secolo XI nella Toscana occidentale e più in generale nell’area centro ... more A partire dalla fine del secolo XI nella Toscana occidentale e più in generale nell’area centro settentrionale della penisola si intensificano, come è noto, le iscrizioni destinate a celebrare l’operato degli architetti e progressivamente di alcune delle altre figure coinvolte nei cantieri e nelle imprese costruttive di crescita urbana, come lapicidi e scultori. Si tratta di un fenomeno di ampia portata, sebbene non omogeneo, che segna una cesura con quanto accadeva in precedenza, allorquando questo tipo di riconoscimento era riservato alla figura del committente. Parallelamente si diffondono le “firme epigrafiche”, numerose in questo ambito regionale, perlopiù uniche attestazioni di personalità altrimenti destinate all’anonimato e al tempo stesso indicative di un mutato ruolo degli artefici, di una loro “autocoscienza”, come è stata efficacemente definita da Chiara Frugoni. In passato la storiografia ha spesso presentato l’artefice che opera in ambito genericamente medievale come del tutto subordinato al committente, finché studi specifici e lavori di sintesi non hanno più volte e più correttamente posto in luce diverse situazioni e contesti, anche se tale prospettiva si è di nuovo affacciata in tentativi recenti, per esempio connessi all’interpretazione delle architetture nell’ambito di studi di archeologia del costruito, evidentemente fornendo interpretazioni meno equilibrate di una dinamica, quella artefici-committenti, che non può che intendersi come dialettica, da valutare attentamente caso per caso. Gli epiteti e i riconoscimenti, come nel caso di quelli rivolti agli artefici coinvolti nelle diverse fasi del cantiere della cattedrale di Pisa – Buscheto, Rainaldo, Guglielmo – mostrano per converso, come da tempo affermato, il riconoscimento da parte dei contemporanei di una componente progettuale e organizzativa, oltre che meramente esecutiva. Non si tratta di un fenomeno esclusivamente urbano. Nell’ambito della Maritima medievale, per esempio, dai primi decenni del XII secolo soggetta all’espansione pisana, alcuni edifici plebani presentano precocemente iscrizioni e segni lapidari connessi alle attività costruttive, inquadrabili nell’ambito della seconda metà dello stesso. I segni lapidari appartengono alla tipologia definita “di utilità”, le iscrizioni sono invece classificabili tra quelle definite “firma”, attestanti l’operato degli artefici di cui riportano il nome. La maggior parte di queste forniscono inoltre datazioni assolute. Nella prima metà del secolo successivo una nuova tipologia di scrittura esposta commemorativa comparirà in questi territori celebrando attività edilizie diversificate, segno inequivocabile della volontà politica di porre in evidenza, mediante scritture esposte potenzialmente fruibili da un pubblico il più vasto possibile, quanto realizzato. Muovendo dalla materialità agli aspetti propri della storia sociale e delle mentalità, nel contributo si è cercato di evidenziare tale passaggio mediante una disamina dei diversi aspetti peculiari di questi manufatti, nell’ambito degli spazi grafici e dei contesti per i quali furono commissionati.
Nonantola 6 – Monaci e contadini. Abati e re. Il monastero di Nonantola attraverso l’archeologia (2002-2009), edd. S. Gelichi, M. Librenti, A. Cianciosi, Firenze, pp. 308-327, 2018
6.4 Context of discovery, functional identity, aspects of production and reuse.
During the inv... more 6.4 Context of discovery, functional identity, aspects of production and reuse.
During the investigations conducted in Nonantola between 2004 and 2009 in the external area occupied by the abbey garden were found numerous stone finds, properly documented in the years 2008-2009. The different fragments, of heterogeneous nature, have been fully examined, not making a prior selection between the materials but extending the documentation to cases of small size and stone fragments in relation to the different UTS and stratigraphies of origin, consistent with the choices made in other contexts in which, gradually, the attention devoted to them has grown on a par with the potential for interpretation.
in Atti dell’VIII Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale (Chiesa del Cristo Flagellato [ex Ospedale di San Rocco], Matera, 12-15 settembre 2018), a cura di F. Sogliani, B. Gargiulo, E. Annunziata, V. Valentino, vol. 2, sez. III, pp. 90-97., 2018
F. Cantini, B. Fatighenti, R. Belcari, Le terme della villa dei Vetti: nuovi dati su un grande complesso tardoantico del Valdarno, in VIII Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale, volume 2, Sezione III Territorio e Paesaggio, a cura di F. Sogliani et alii (Matera, 12-15 sept 2018), pp. 90-97, 2018
Nel contributo sono illustrati i risultati dello scavo, condotto tra 2016 e 2017, di una porzione... more Nel contributo sono illustrati i risultati dello scavo, condotto tra 2016 e 2017, di una porzione dell'impianto termale della villa dell'Oratorio (Capraia e Limite, Firenze), appartenuta nel corso del IV secolo al senatore Vettio Agorio Pretestato e definitivamente abbandonata nel corso del VI secolo. Durante le ricerche, in una delle vasche pertinenti all'impianto termale furono recuperati numerosi frammenti in stucco, predisponendo campioni per la caratterizzazione mineralogico-petrografica dei materiali costitutivi, come già effettuato per altri leganti impiegati nel cantiere e in genere per le diverse componenti dell'articolato ciclo costruttivo.
«Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry», vol. 18, n. 5, pp. 109-129.
In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (V... more In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (Villa dell"Oratorio, in the territory of Capraia e Limite, Florence), archaeometric studies have been perfomed with the aim to characterize building and decorative materials and retrace construction phases and manufacture technology. The Villas, built in the middle of the 4 th century, includes a hexagonal structure, about 30 meters in diameter, decorated with painted wall plasters and beautiful figurative floor mosaics. The structure is equipped with apsed rooms (at least 5), exhibiting similarity with some monumental triclinia of Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been studied through minero-petrographic and thermogravimetric methods. Stone tesserae have been analyzed by minero-petrographic and sedimentologic methods, to obtain information on the provenance of the raw materials used. Finally, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS analyses have been performed on vitreous tesserae, to obtain information on colouring and opaquening agents. The studies carried out on the building elements suggested that, in spite of iconographic and architectural models proper of the great Mediterranean villae, local and spolia raw materials were used in this great construction work.
"Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry", 2018
In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (V... more In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (Villa dell‟Oratorio, in the territory of Capraia e Limite, Florence), archaeometric studies have been perfomed with the aim to characterize building and decorative materials and retrace construction phases and manufacture technology. The Villas, built in the middle of the 4th century, includes a hexagonal structure, about 30 meters in diameter, decorated with painted wall plasters and beautiful figurative floor mosaics. The structure is equipped with apsed rooms (at least 5), exhibiting similarity with some monumental triclinia of Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been studied through minero petrographic and thermogravimetric methods. Stone tesserae have been analyzed by minero-petrographic and sedimentologic methods, to obtain information on the provenance of the raw materials used. Finally, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS analyses have been performed on vitreous tesserae, to obtain information on colouring and opaquening agents. The studies carried out on the building elements suggested that, in spite of iconographic and architectural models proper of the great Mediterranean villae, local and spolia raw materials were used in this great construction work.
"Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry", 2018
In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (V... more In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (Villa dell‟Oratorio, in the territory of Capraia e Limite, Florence), archaeometric studies have been perfomed with the aim to characterize building and decorative materials and retrace construction phases and manufacture technology. The Villas, built in the middle of the 4th century, includes a hexagonal structure, about 30 meters in diameter, decorated with painted wall plasters and beautiful figurative floor mosaics. The structure is equipped with apsed rooms (at least 5), exhibiting similarity with some monumental triclinia of Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been...
in F. Cantini (ed.), La villa dei "Vetti" (Capraia e Limite, FI): Archeologia di una grande residenza aristocratica nel Valdarno tardoantico, "Archeologia Medievale" XLIV, pp. 9-71., 2017
This paper illustrates the results of the archaeological excavations conducted between 2010 and 2... more This paper illustrates the results of the archaeological excavations conducted between 2010 and 2016 by the University of Pisa (ed. F. Cantini) in collaboration with the Tuscan Archaeological Superintendence (until 2015) at the site of the Oratorio/Le Muriccia (Capraia and Limite, Florence). The excavations brought to the light a Late Roman Villa, built on the remains of a former structure, dated to the middle of the 4th century and probably belonged to Senator Vettio Agorio Pretestato, one of the most important figures of Rome in the Late Antiquity.The Villa was enlarged in the 5th century, probably due to a transfer of propriety, and abandoned in the first half of the 6th century. During the 7th century the architectural complex was interested by spolia processes of metals, glass end building materials of. The paper collects also the study of building materials and archeometric analysis.
The study of the materials and construction techniques used in the construction site of the 'Vetti' villa allows a classification by type of masonry, based on the different technological aspects of the masonry equipment. The structures brought to light were therefore documented and investigated. The construction processes were analyzed and interpreted in the context of the overall dynamics that characterized the site and in comparison with the historical and cultural contexts.
Lo studio dei materiali e delle tecniche costruttive impiegati nel cantiere della villa dei 'Vetti' consente una classificazione per tipi delle murature, basata sui diversi aspetti tecnologici delle apparecchiature murarie. Le strutture poste in luce sono state pertanto documentate e indagate anche in tal senso, nell'intento di correlare i processi costruttivi alle dinamiche complessive che connotarono il sito, nel più generale ambito storico e culturale.
Un monastero sul mare. S. Quirico di Populonia / / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI) / Archaeological Research at San Quirico di Populonia, pp. 109-198, Dec 2016, 2016
The San Quirico monastic complex and religious buildings in the Populonia-Massa diocese (11th-12t... more The San Quirico monastic complex and religious buildings in the Populonia-Massa diocese (11th-12th centuries).
The single-aisle layout with a protruding transept and three apses, which marked phase II of the San Quirico church, is typically monastic. Used since the early medieval period in buildings of modest size, where the main chamber has a moderate longitudinal extension, it was adopted in the following centuries (11th-12th centuries), also in monastic contexts, for larger buildings. During the 12th century, the Latin cross iconography, with or without side apses, spread from monastic buildings to buildings used by the priesthood, as in the case of canonical churches. The dominant development of the choir compared to the main chamber is recurrent in this typology, one of the most widespread in Benedectine contexts. In the regional context, it is possible to find it in numerous buildings among which some similar types may be mentioned, similar examples limited to iconographic features: for the 11th century, San Gennaro di Capolona; for the 12th century, Badia Agnano at Bucine; San Michele Arcangelo in Siena; and SS. Trinità di Spineta at Sartiano. For south-western Tuscia, this layout is found in the building pertaining to the abbey of S. Pietro di Acquaviva at Campiglia, and so, significantly, in the same diocesan area as San Quirico di Populonia.
The position of the walls with lesenes made using stone blocks of modest size, and fragments of brick or tile, recurrent in many 11th century buildings in central and northern Italy, and Europe, can be seen in some urban buildings closer to this aea, and in the Pisan area, and the immediate surroundings. Similar solutions are displayed by the apses of S. Piero at Grado, S. Cristina, datable to the start of the 11th century and S. Matteo, mentioned for the first time on 18 May 1027, and relating to one of the city’s monasteries. In the territory of the diocese of Massa and Populonia, lesenes made in a similar way, and resting on a protruding plinth, are visible in the tribune of the church which it is thought belonged to the monastery of S. Pietro di Acquaviva. This was initially Benedictine, but later, like San Quirico di Populonia, it passed to the Order of St William and, later, to the Domenican nuns in Pisa. The building retains part of the masonry of the tribune in the elevation, almost completely in the south apse, while the rest of the walls are the result of modern renovation. The building’s iconography, which cannot be wholly interpreted as it stands, could cor- respond to a single chamber with a protruding transept and three apses, as would be suggested by the tribune apses. The layout, and the presence of lesenes in the wall of the tribune, make the building close to the solutions adopted in the San Quirico church, in both cases attributable to the 11th century. This parallel will appear even more significant considering that the two monastery buildings for worship are today the only ones known with this iconography, and technical solutions (lesenes) in the wider coastal area south of the city of Pisa, until the later abbey church of S. Maria Alborense, in the Monti dell’Uccellina, the Tau cross-shaped layout of which dates to the 12th century phase.
The cloister (area 3000) of San Quirico di Populonia has a quadrangular layout, and has regular proportions, based on an observation of elementary geometric norms. Several rooms gave on to the loggias that run along the perimeter walls, originally with an opus signinum flooring. These rooms were responsible for the various functions of monastic life. The internal perimeter of the cloister, which was once looked out over by the arches formed by miniature columns and their capitals (capitelli a stampella), was completely robbed also of the thick slabs with which they were originally lined. Like illustrious examples in Benedictine contexts, the San Quirico di Populonia monastery cloister featured arches overlooking the internal lawn, having decoration and carved column capitals. The case of San Quirico, although only partially with scattered finds, and being fragmentary, affords the first case (and the only case, for a long time) of a monastery cloister having a form of decoration known for the whole area, coastal and internal. The construction of Populonia’s monastery buildings, and later interventions, are part of a series of building episodes involving the diocesan area in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries .
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI), pp. 325-333., Dec 2016
In the three areas that were explored at San Quirico di Populonia, a benedectine monastery, numer... more In the three areas that were explored at San Quirico di Populonia, a benedectine monastery, numerous fragments of marble slabs were found, unevenly distributed, with funerary inscriptions and Christological signs. In particular, more than half come from inside the church (area 1), where they were reused as flooring material in the post-medieval period (73 fragments); another group, still large (24 fragments), comes from the area outside the church, and from the external northern side of the building (area 1000); and, finally, just over a quarter of the total (37 fragments) come from the cloister (area 3000).
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI) / Archaeological Research at San Quirico di Populonia, pp. 303-324., Dec 2016
The study of stone material found at the site of the San Quirico monastery, near Populonia, addr... more The study of stone material found at the site of the San Quirico monastery, near Populonia, addressed the question of attributing the functional units, and also, in parallel, the problem of placing them in their context within the complex under study, as well as proposing a suggested chronology for them. In addition to structural and sculptural elements and decorative features, the cataloguing also includes reused material (spolia) and elements of different type (slabs). The intention is to contribute, on the one hand, to a reconstruction of the original context, and on the other hand to an understanding of the attempts at restoration and of the dynamics of abandonment and robbing, in a process ranging from the genesis of the artefact to its finding, encompassing the full range of these phenomena.
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino,LI), pp. 325-333., Dec 2016
Recording stone materials found at the site of the San Quirico monastery (Populonia, Leghorn), th... more Recording stone materials found at the site of the San Quirico monastery (Populonia, Leghorn), the research was conducted by first distinguishing the types of stone, systematically recording the marks left by tools, and the techniques and devices used to make the individual architectural components. Bearing in mind these aspects, as well as the way they were assembled, the various phases in which the production process was divided were highlighted (supply, processing, setting in place), in a backward-looking conceptual process leading from the particular (the stone find, architectural element or other) to the general context (the building) which it belonged to.
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI) / Archaeological Research at San Quirico di Populonia, cap. 4, pp. 159-163, Dec 2016
Technical, iconographic and paleographic aspects of painted
plaster
As evidenced by the reading o... more Technical, iconographic and paleographic aspects of painted plaster As evidenced by the reading of the stratigraphy, large traces of painted plaster are still present, although covered over for the purposes of conservation, on the interior wall of the monastic church of S. Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, Tuscany), in the apse hemicycles, on the half-columns of the crossing, in the head of the surviving transept, and in the perimeter walls. In addition, inside the place of worship some stone blocks with painted plaster, as well as fragments of plaster that have become detached from their support, were recovered. In both cases, they were reused in in-fill for the floor, and, in the case of the fragments, also in the levelling layers of the latest phases. Finally, a tiny amount of plaster fragments was recovered in the internal perimeter wall of the cloister, almost only around the well. The identified wall-mounted stratigraphic contexts affected by pigment consist in: an initial layer of paint applied on smoothed plaster; a subsequent stratum with plaster that was pressed flat and then painted; and a third, slightly shiny stratum that covered everything, which was found to be uniformly beige at the time it was revealed. In view of the interpretation of this stratigraphy, and the recognition of the original phase of smoothing the wall surfaces and the individual wall lining contexts, it was possible to focus on the oldest phase of painting, tracing the various technical aspects of execution, the chosen decorative motifs, and possible comparable features in the context of painting in the same period, with special attention to the area under Pisa’s influence, and rare examples in the local area, highlighting the aspects that provide datable elements. In his work, the author focuses on the oldest decorative intervention, the wall-painting used in the religious building built in the 11th century.
Le cripte medievali della Toscana. 4. Badia a Elmi, ed. Guido Tigler, Jul 1, 2024
Lo scavo dell’insediamento ricordato dal 715 come “vicus Wallari” e successivamente come Borgo Sa... more Lo scavo dell’insediamento ricordato dal 715 come “vicus Wallari” e successivamente come Borgo San Genesio offre numerosi dati per la comprensione dei processi che portarono alla nascita e allo sviluppo di quei villaggi medievali che, posti lungo la grande viabilità e in aree di cerniera, diventarono nodi nei quali si concentrarono interessi economici e politici. Il luogo che ancora oggi ne conserva il toponimo, Podere San Genesio, si trova ai piedi delle prime colline sanminiatesi (San Miniato, Pisa), a 600 metri dal fiume Elsa e a 3 km dall’Arno. Nelle sue immediate vicinanze dovevano correre la strada di origine romana che univa Pisa a Firenze e la Francigena che, come è noto, dall’Alto Medioevo attraversava la Val d’Elsa. La chiesa di San Genesio e il sito in cui fu costruita sono stati oggetto di numerose campagne di scavo (2001-2018, 2023-2024), che hanno consentito di riportare alla luce, tra l’altro, le fondazioni dell’edificio e buona parte della cripta realizzata nell’XI secolo, poi modificata alla fine del secolo successivo. Nel 1248 il borgo fu distrutto dagli abitanti del castello di San Miniato. La chiesa fu invece risparmiata e iniziò ad essere spoliata solo tra il XIV secolo e la prima metà del successivo, finché, a partire dalla seconda metà del XV, l’area precedentemente occupata dall’edificio iniziò ad essere utilizzata per scopi agricoli. Il contributo è incentrato sulla cripta della chiesa, trattando dell’assetto topografico, degli arredi e dei reperti alla luce dei risultati delle indagini archeologiche e dello studio correlato.
Costruire gli spazi dell’aggregazione. Le dinamiche del confronto dall’antichità al medioevo, in F. Fabiani, S. Genovesi, F. Ghizzani Marcía (edd.), Pisa, pp. 173-216, 2023
The paper focuses on the three-dimensional reconstruction of the parish church of San Genesio, as... more The paper focuses on the three-dimensional reconstruction of the parish church of San Genesio, as it looked between the end of the 12th and early 13th centuries. The building was discovered through an archaeological excavation that began in 2001 and was completed in 2018: unfortunately, only the crypt and perimeter walls of the church are preserved. The first and the second part of the paper are focused on the description and interpretation of the archaeological remains of the building and its crypt; the third is dedicated to stone finds and in the fourth the reconstructive process of the church is illustrated. In order to have a basis of comparison data for the dimensions of the architectural components, a measurement campaign of similar and coeval churches was conducted in an attempt to define standard modules to be applied in our reconstruction.
Contesto, identità funzionale, dinamiche di reimpiego:
Nell’area adiacente al perimetrale merid... more Contesto, identità funzionale, dinamiche di reimpiego:
Nell’area adiacente al perimetrale meridionale della chiesa di S. Sisto (Pisa) numerosi elementi lapidei sono stati riutilizzati in epoca moderna per definire camminamenti, aiuole e spazi ortivi, lasciando a vista parte di essi a prescindere dalla presenza o meno di motivi decorativi, semplicemente privilegiando il fatto che fossero già a disposizione, essendo probabilmente qui dislocati da tempo. Un epifenomeno del reimpiego, laddove elementi architettonici, lastre e componenti di arredo di varia cronologia sono confluiti in un contesto che è stato documentato e che contribuiscono a leggere, optando per una schedatura analitica di ciascuno di essi. Al pari di quanto accaduto in altri casi di recente indagine, non è stata operata una scelta o selezione preliminare dei materiali che al contrario sono stati presi in considerazione in modo globale e nel lungo periodo, predisponendo una documentazione che consenta di indagarne i diversi aspetti, dall’attribuzione di una identità funzionale al contesto di provenienza, dai litotipi alla litotecnica, fino alle diverse dinamiche di uso, spoliazione, reimpiego, dislocazione e rinnovato utilizzo con mutata destinazione d’uso. Lo stesso dicasi per i manufatti lapidei rinvenuti nel deposito delle aree indagate. La scelta metodologica ha comportato l’avvio di una parallela indagine dell’edilizia storica, in primo luogo conoscitiva dell’edificio nelle sue diverse componenti materiali, afferenti alle diverse fasi e comprensiva della documentazione d’archivio, prodotta in particolare durante i diversi interventi di rifacimento e restauro che interessarono S. Sisto e l’intera area in Età moderna e contemporanea, comprensiva della fotografia storica. La documentazione acquisita contribuisce all’analisi degli spazi, delle strutture e dei materiali.
Un emporio e la sua cattedrale. Gli scavi di piazza XX Settembre e Villaggio San Francesco a Comacchio, edd. S. Gelichi, C. Negrelli, E. Grandi, pp. 477-516, 2021
During the excavations conducted at Comacchio from 2006 to 2009 in the area adjacent to the cathe... more During the excavations conducted at Comacchio from 2006 to 2009 in the area adjacent to the cathedral of St Cassiano, researchers found and identified a large quantity of stone artifacts which were subsequently analyzed. The artifacts were all subjected to examination in relation to the area and layers from which they came, without making any distinction favoring one particular typology or function and, on the contrary, included all the chips which could be identified as having a particular function and all the stone fragments which had not been identified with certainty but, in any case, could be interpreted as being part of architectural elements (graph. 1). This method made it possible to evaluate different aspects that were part of the archeological interpretation which was meant to be all-inclusive, from the manufacturing cycles to the dynamics of use, plundering and recycling, displacement, secondary reuse, and others, all of which were passages that were part of the normal activity of the construction sites.
The contexts. Discovery, reuse, provenance Most of the stone artifacts were found in USM 1438, the eastern perimeter wall of a building which was interpreted as being the Bishop’s Palace and to which a chronology of the 11th-12th century was assigned. (Period 4, Phase 3). The number of artifacts (132) in this case corresponds to 87,41% of the total of all the stone objects found. The artifacts represented a heterogeneous group of materials, mostly fragmentary but in some cases large objects which had been in the foundations in association with bricks which had also been recycled and showing an abundant use of construction mortar. The dimensions of the stone flakes and the elements used in the foundations were of dimensions (cm 80/95) such as to determine an irregular width in some cases double that of the wall. A small quantity of stone artifacts also of a different typology, were found in other contexts (tab. 1). In area 1000, which corresponds to the facade of the cathedral of St Cassiano they found stone artifacts in US 1027 (Period 2, Phase 2, Activity 1); US 1059 (Period 5, Phase 1); US 1074 (Period 3, Phase 1); US 1097 and US 1098 (Period 5, Phase 2). The context of discovery and reuse for most of the artifacts was the same (figs. 2-3-4), however the area in which also the remaining artifacts have been or could have been transferred several times is unique and, on the contrary the context of provenance is diversified and multiple.
The artifacts. Functional identity and production aspects Late Antique furnishings and architectural elements. This material comes from buildings or phases dated to Late Antiquity. In particular, the breakdown is valid for the fragments (cat. n. 39, n. 40) decorated using a drill, with visible traces pertaining to one or more capitals of a particular typology with acanthus leaves moving in the wind of the “butterfly” type on the rim and an egg-and-dart motif on the abacus (tav. 1), from the period of Theodoric, with an eastern provenance and used in buildings in Ravenna. There are also other fragments from architectural elements (tab. 2) of the same period which can be identified as being part of composite or impost capitals where traces of production that are still visible suggest their identification (cat. n. 38, nn. 42-44). These materials were probably part of a group of fragments from cornices and lintels as well as a number of fragmentary elements for which the demolition activity and recycling have made it impossible to identify with certainty their original function (cat. nn. 104-108). The numerous fragments of columns (tab. 3) coming from large sized shafts some of which are made of polychrome marbles and, in some cases, were imported, had originally been used in Late Antiquity (cat. nn. 54-77; cat. nn. 83-99). Early Medieval liturgical furnishings and architectural elements. These are mostly materials pertaining to elements from liturgical furnishings (cat. nn. 1-35), from the Early Middle Ages and correspond to 23,17% of the artifacts discovered. Despite the fragmentary state of the artifacts which were small and in some cases, very small sized, in most cases we were able to determine or hypothesize the original function: small pillars with or without grooves meant to hold slabs, pluteus-slabs, with tenon; simple slabs; cornices; trabeations; capitals of different sizes (graph. 2). With these artifacts it was possible to make comparisons with analogous materials which had been published or, in any case, were known, which were useful for the definition of the functions and typological characteristics, technical and production solutions and decorative motifs.
Technological aspects (instruments, techniques and assembly) The analytical review of the visible traces left from the manufacture on the surface of the artifacts (tabs. 8-9-10) allowed us to determine the use of pointed instruments of different sizes with indirect percussion, used for the preliminary execution of the individual components which in this way were rough-hewed (cat. n. 16; cat. n. 26), as was done for the production of the accommodation slits for slabs in pillars (cat. n. 1; cat. n. 3), trabeation grooves (cat. n. 26), as well as for the preliminary positioning of a lintel fragment (cat. n. 22). Visible traces of a direct percussion tool with a flat cutting edge would seem to suggest a stone-cutter’s axe, while a chisel with a smooth cutting edge was probably used to make the traces which were found also on the artifacts from Comacchio. A tool with a small-sized flat cutting edge was used to make the double-grooved bands, with the triangular section groove made by slanting the instrument with respect to the working surface, as is evident in some of the elements. In a few cases we were able to identify a small cutting tool with a serrated blade which had been used to rectify the surface of some of the slabs (cat. n. 10, blade cm 2-2,5 with at least 4-5 teeth; cat. n. 13).
Appropriation of materials and organization of the construction site None of the artifacts were found in primary deposits as this rarely occurs for this type of material. On the other hand, in terms of relative chronology, the context offers only the terminus ante quem of the construction of the wall from which most of the artifacts come and the presence of a few artifacts in the leveling layers which pertain to the 10th century. The presence of fragments to which a particular function cannot be assigned, as well as stone flakes and materials which show no traces of being worked and are reduced to the state of being simple stones, testifies and confirms an activity of demolition and reuse. It is significant that we found all massed together heterogeneous elements from various eras coming from different phases of the same building or from different chronological pha- ses of different buildings. These artifacts were reduced to small fragments by destructive activity as well as by their reuse as construction materials. By making the necessary disaggregations and new aggregations in proceeding with the analysis, this case once again offers the possibility of documenting a common practice which tells us much about the organization of the construction site and the extent of its activity: the materials recovered are rubble. The remnants of materials used for the production of mortars associated with plaster (fig. 7), stone flakes and other materials like bricks which were also produced by anthropic activity and reused on construction sites (fig. 8), also contribute to the definition of the organization of the site. The reuse of Early Medieval decorative elements together with structural and architectural components from an earlier era has been noted in other cases. We can also cite examples in which a selection has been made of the materials, choosing some of them to be displayed in a recognizable way as a “memory” of a preceding era, while others which were part of the same structure or furnishings, were set aside for use in the construction site, as residue from the production of mortar or components of walls. At Comacchio these materials became rubble because they were probably the remains from baking, presumably in a lime kiln, considering the evident exposure to a source of heat (fig. 9), or else they had been deliberately crushed and broken. These materials in some case continued to circulate and be recycled in the various constructions which took place in the area from the Medieval phase to the Modern Era (fig. 10).
Demolire, Riciclare, Reinventare. La lunga vita e l'eredità del laterizio romano nella storia dell'architettura, Atti del III Convegno Internazionale "Laterizio" (Roma, 6-8 marzo 2019), a cura di E. Bukowiecki, A. Pizzo, R. Volpe, collana Costruire nel mondo antico, 3, pp. 129-143., 2021
Lo scavo della villa dell’Oratorio (Capraia e Limite, Fi) ha offerto l’occasione di studiare con ... more Lo scavo della villa dell’Oratorio (Capraia e Limite, Fi) ha offerto l’occasione di studiare con le metodologie tradizionali dell’archeologia e con l’uso dell’archeometria i materiali da costruzione del complesso architettonico. Quest’ultimo, realizzato alla metà del IV secolo, era costituito da un impianto termale, da alcuni vani di servizio e da una grande struttura a pianta esagonale, destinata a ricevere gli ospiti e dotata di tappeti musivi che arricchivano cinque aule absidate, una per ogni lato, e una sala centrale esagonale. La corretta caratterizzazione dei materiali da costruzione è stata considerata un passo necessario per ricostruire il cantiere della villa. Relativamente alla committenza possiamo ipotizzare che la struttura doveva essere appartenuta alla famiglia dei Vetti e forse, originariamente, al suo membro più famoso, il senatore Vettio Agorio Pretestato. Ma come rispondeva il mercato, in termini di maestranze e materie prime, alle richieste di una committenza senatoria che si ispirava ai modelli residenziali imperiali? Relativamente alle prime, lo studio dei litotipi, delle malte e delle modalità operative di messa in opera dei laterizi ha permesso di ipotizzare l'operato di maestranze urbane, che dovevano condividere il cantiere con quelle specializzate nella realizzazione dei sectilia e dei mosaici, che sembrano di matrice o di ispirazione africana. Quali meccanismi regolarono la produzione e l’approvvigionamento del laterizio utilizzato nella villa? Nel contributo sono presentati i risultati delle analisi dei campioni prelevati dagli strati associabili al cantiere di metà IV secolo, alle fasi di ristrutturazione della villa databili tra il V e l’inizio del VI secolo e dai crolli delle coperture, oltre a qualche laterizio romano di foggia particolare da contesti successivi all’abbandono del complesso.
"Costruire lo sviluppo". La crescita di città e campagna tra espansione urbana e nuove fondazioni (XII-prima metà XIII secolo), a cura di F. Cantini, pp. 121-136, Firenze, 2019
A partire dalla fine del secolo XI nella Toscana occidentale e più in generale nell’area centro ... more A partire dalla fine del secolo XI nella Toscana occidentale e più in generale nell’area centro settentrionale della penisola si intensificano, come è noto, le iscrizioni destinate a celebrare l’operato degli architetti e progressivamente di alcune delle altre figure coinvolte nei cantieri e nelle imprese costruttive di crescita urbana, come lapicidi e scultori. Si tratta di un fenomeno di ampia portata, sebbene non omogeneo, che segna una cesura con quanto accadeva in precedenza, allorquando questo tipo di riconoscimento era riservato alla figura del committente. Parallelamente si diffondono le “firme epigrafiche”, numerose in questo ambito regionale, perlopiù uniche attestazioni di personalità altrimenti destinate all’anonimato e al tempo stesso indicative di un mutato ruolo degli artefici, di una loro “autocoscienza”, come è stata efficacemente definita da Chiara Frugoni. In passato la storiografia ha spesso presentato l’artefice che opera in ambito genericamente medievale come del tutto subordinato al committente, finché studi specifici e lavori di sintesi non hanno più volte e più correttamente posto in luce diverse situazioni e contesti, anche se tale prospettiva si è di nuovo affacciata in tentativi recenti, per esempio connessi all’interpretazione delle architetture nell’ambito di studi di archeologia del costruito, evidentemente fornendo interpretazioni meno equilibrate di una dinamica, quella artefici-committenti, che non può che intendersi come dialettica, da valutare attentamente caso per caso. Gli epiteti e i riconoscimenti, come nel caso di quelli rivolti agli artefici coinvolti nelle diverse fasi del cantiere della cattedrale di Pisa – Buscheto, Rainaldo, Guglielmo – mostrano per converso, come da tempo affermato, il riconoscimento da parte dei contemporanei di una componente progettuale e organizzativa, oltre che meramente esecutiva. Non si tratta di un fenomeno esclusivamente urbano. Nell’ambito della Maritima medievale, per esempio, dai primi decenni del XII secolo soggetta all’espansione pisana, alcuni edifici plebani presentano precocemente iscrizioni e segni lapidari connessi alle attività costruttive, inquadrabili nell’ambito della seconda metà dello stesso. I segni lapidari appartengono alla tipologia definita “di utilità”, le iscrizioni sono invece classificabili tra quelle definite “firma”, attestanti l’operato degli artefici di cui riportano il nome. La maggior parte di queste forniscono inoltre datazioni assolute. Nella prima metà del secolo successivo una nuova tipologia di scrittura esposta commemorativa comparirà in questi territori celebrando attività edilizie diversificate, segno inequivocabile della volontà politica di porre in evidenza, mediante scritture esposte potenzialmente fruibili da un pubblico il più vasto possibile, quanto realizzato. Muovendo dalla materialità agli aspetti propri della storia sociale e delle mentalità, nel contributo si è cercato di evidenziare tale passaggio mediante una disamina dei diversi aspetti peculiari di questi manufatti, nell’ambito degli spazi grafici e dei contesti per i quali furono commissionati.
Nonantola 6 – Monaci e contadini. Abati e re. Il monastero di Nonantola attraverso l’archeologia (2002-2009), edd. S. Gelichi, M. Librenti, A. Cianciosi, Firenze, pp. 308-327, 2018
6.4 Context of discovery, functional identity, aspects of production and reuse.
During the inv... more 6.4 Context of discovery, functional identity, aspects of production and reuse.
During the investigations conducted in Nonantola between 2004 and 2009 in the external area occupied by the abbey garden were found numerous stone finds, properly documented in the years 2008-2009. The different fragments, of heterogeneous nature, have been fully examined, not making a prior selection between the materials but extending the documentation to cases of small size and stone fragments in relation to the different UTS and stratigraphies of origin, consistent with the choices made in other contexts in which, gradually, the attention devoted to them has grown on a par with the potential for interpretation.
in Atti dell’VIII Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale (Chiesa del Cristo Flagellato [ex Ospedale di San Rocco], Matera, 12-15 settembre 2018), a cura di F. Sogliani, B. Gargiulo, E. Annunziata, V. Valentino, vol. 2, sez. III, pp. 90-97., 2018
F. Cantini, B. Fatighenti, R. Belcari, Le terme della villa dei Vetti: nuovi dati su un grande complesso tardoantico del Valdarno, in VIII Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale, volume 2, Sezione III Territorio e Paesaggio, a cura di F. Sogliani et alii (Matera, 12-15 sept 2018), pp. 90-97, 2018
Nel contributo sono illustrati i risultati dello scavo, condotto tra 2016 e 2017, di una porzione... more Nel contributo sono illustrati i risultati dello scavo, condotto tra 2016 e 2017, di una porzione dell'impianto termale della villa dell'Oratorio (Capraia e Limite, Firenze), appartenuta nel corso del IV secolo al senatore Vettio Agorio Pretestato e definitivamente abbandonata nel corso del VI secolo. Durante le ricerche, in una delle vasche pertinenti all'impianto termale furono recuperati numerosi frammenti in stucco, predisponendo campioni per la caratterizzazione mineralogico-petrografica dei materiali costitutivi, come già effettuato per altri leganti impiegati nel cantiere e in genere per le diverse componenti dell'articolato ciclo costruttivo.
«Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry», vol. 18, n. 5, pp. 109-129.
In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (V... more In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (Villa dell"Oratorio, in the territory of Capraia e Limite, Florence), archaeometric studies have been perfomed with the aim to characterize building and decorative materials and retrace construction phases and manufacture technology. The Villas, built in the middle of the 4 th century, includes a hexagonal structure, about 30 meters in diameter, decorated with painted wall plasters and beautiful figurative floor mosaics. The structure is equipped with apsed rooms (at least 5), exhibiting similarity with some monumental triclinia of Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been studied through minero-petrographic and thermogravimetric methods. Stone tesserae have been analyzed by minero-petrographic and sedimentologic methods, to obtain information on the provenance of the raw materials used. Finally, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS analyses have been performed on vitreous tesserae, to obtain information on colouring and opaquening agents. The studies carried out on the building elements suggested that, in spite of iconographic and architectural models proper of the great Mediterranean villae, local and spolia raw materials were used in this great construction work.
"Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry", 2018
In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (V... more In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (Villa dell‟Oratorio, in the territory of Capraia e Limite, Florence), archaeometric studies have been perfomed with the aim to characterize building and decorative materials and retrace construction phases and manufacture technology. The Villas, built in the middle of the 4th century, includes a hexagonal structure, about 30 meters in diameter, decorated with painted wall plasters and beautiful figurative floor mosaics. The structure is equipped with apsed rooms (at least 5), exhibiting similarity with some monumental triclinia of Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been studied through minero petrographic and thermogravimetric methods. Stone tesserae have been analyzed by minero-petrographic and sedimentologic methods, to obtain information on the provenance of the raw materials used. Finally, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS analyses have been performed on vitreous tesserae, to obtain information on colouring and opaquening agents. The studies carried out on the building elements suggested that, in spite of iconographic and architectural models proper of the great Mediterranean villae, local and spolia raw materials were used in this great construction work.
"Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry", 2018
In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (V... more In the framework of the archeological investigations of an outstanding Roman Villas in Tuscany (Villa dell‟Oratorio, in the territory of Capraia e Limite, Florence), archaeometric studies have been perfomed with the aim to characterize building and decorative materials and retrace construction phases and manufacture technology. The Villas, built in the middle of the 4th century, includes a hexagonal structure, about 30 meters in diameter, decorated with painted wall plasters and beautiful figurative floor mosaics. The structure is equipped with apsed rooms (at least 5), exhibiting similarity with some monumental triclinia of Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been...
in F. Cantini (ed.), La villa dei "Vetti" (Capraia e Limite, FI): Archeologia di una grande residenza aristocratica nel Valdarno tardoantico, "Archeologia Medievale" XLIV, pp. 9-71., 2017
This paper illustrates the results of the archaeological excavations conducted between 2010 and 2... more This paper illustrates the results of the archaeological excavations conducted between 2010 and 2016 by the University of Pisa (ed. F. Cantini) in collaboration with the Tuscan Archaeological Superintendence (until 2015) at the site of the Oratorio/Le Muriccia (Capraia and Limite, Florence). The excavations brought to the light a Late Roman Villa, built on the remains of a former structure, dated to the middle of the 4th century and probably belonged to Senator Vettio Agorio Pretestato, one of the most important figures of Rome in the Late Antiquity.The Villa was enlarged in the 5th century, probably due to a transfer of propriety, and abandoned in the first half of the 6th century. During the 7th century the architectural complex was interested by spolia processes of metals, glass end building materials of. The paper collects also the study of building materials and archeometric analysis.
The study of the materials and construction techniques used in the construction site of the 'Vetti' villa allows a classification by type of masonry, based on the different technological aspects of the masonry equipment. The structures brought to light were therefore documented and investigated. The construction processes were analyzed and interpreted in the context of the overall dynamics that characterized the site and in comparison with the historical and cultural contexts.
Lo studio dei materiali e delle tecniche costruttive impiegati nel cantiere della villa dei 'Vetti' consente una classificazione per tipi delle murature, basata sui diversi aspetti tecnologici delle apparecchiature murarie. Le strutture poste in luce sono state pertanto documentate e indagate anche in tal senso, nell'intento di correlare i processi costruttivi alle dinamiche complessive che connotarono il sito, nel più generale ambito storico e culturale.
Un monastero sul mare. S. Quirico di Populonia / / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI) / Archaeological Research at San Quirico di Populonia, pp. 109-198, Dec 2016, 2016
The San Quirico monastic complex and religious buildings in the Populonia-Massa diocese (11th-12t... more The San Quirico monastic complex and religious buildings in the Populonia-Massa diocese (11th-12th centuries).
The single-aisle layout with a protruding transept and three apses, which marked phase II of the San Quirico church, is typically monastic. Used since the early medieval period in buildings of modest size, where the main chamber has a moderate longitudinal extension, it was adopted in the following centuries (11th-12th centuries), also in monastic contexts, for larger buildings. During the 12th century, the Latin cross iconography, with or without side apses, spread from monastic buildings to buildings used by the priesthood, as in the case of canonical churches. The dominant development of the choir compared to the main chamber is recurrent in this typology, one of the most widespread in Benedectine contexts. In the regional context, it is possible to find it in numerous buildings among which some similar types may be mentioned, similar examples limited to iconographic features: for the 11th century, San Gennaro di Capolona; for the 12th century, Badia Agnano at Bucine; San Michele Arcangelo in Siena; and SS. Trinità di Spineta at Sartiano. For south-western Tuscia, this layout is found in the building pertaining to the abbey of S. Pietro di Acquaviva at Campiglia, and so, significantly, in the same diocesan area as San Quirico di Populonia.
The position of the walls with lesenes made using stone blocks of modest size, and fragments of brick or tile, recurrent in many 11th century buildings in central and northern Italy, and Europe, can be seen in some urban buildings closer to this aea, and in the Pisan area, and the immediate surroundings. Similar solutions are displayed by the apses of S. Piero at Grado, S. Cristina, datable to the start of the 11th century and S. Matteo, mentioned for the first time on 18 May 1027, and relating to one of the city’s monasteries. In the territory of the diocese of Massa and Populonia, lesenes made in a similar way, and resting on a protruding plinth, are visible in the tribune of the church which it is thought belonged to the monastery of S. Pietro di Acquaviva. This was initially Benedictine, but later, like San Quirico di Populonia, it passed to the Order of St William and, later, to the Domenican nuns in Pisa. The building retains part of the masonry of the tribune in the elevation, almost completely in the south apse, while the rest of the walls are the result of modern renovation. The building’s iconography, which cannot be wholly interpreted as it stands, could cor- respond to a single chamber with a protruding transept and three apses, as would be suggested by the tribune apses. The layout, and the presence of lesenes in the wall of the tribune, make the building close to the solutions adopted in the San Quirico church, in both cases attributable to the 11th century. This parallel will appear even more significant considering that the two monastery buildings for worship are today the only ones known with this iconography, and technical solutions (lesenes) in the wider coastal area south of the city of Pisa, until the later abbey church of S. Maria Alborense, in the Monti dell’Uccellina, the Tau cross-shaped layout of which dates to the 12th century phase.
The cloister (area 3000) of San Quirico di Populonia has a quadrangular layout, and has regular proportions, based on an observation of elementary geometric norms. Several rooms gave on to the loggias that run along the perimeter walls, originally with an opus signinum flooring. These rooms were responsible for the various functions of monastic life. The internal perimeter of the cloister, which was once looked out over by the arches formed by miniature columns and their capitals (capitelli a stampella), was completely robbed also of the thick slabs with which they were originally lined. Like illustrious examples in Benedictine contexts, the San Quirico di Populonia monastery cloister featured arches overlooking the internal lawn, having decoration and carved column capitals. The case of San Quirico, although only partially with scattered finds, and being fragmentary, affords the first case (and the only case, for a long time) of a monastery cloister having a form of decoration known for the whole area, coastal and internal. The construction of Populonia’s monastery buildings, and later interventions, are part of a series of building episodes involving the diocesan area in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries .
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI), pp. 325-333., Dec 2016
In the three areas that were explored at San Quirico di Populonia, a benedectine monastery, numer... more In the three areas that were explored at San Quirico di Populonia, a benedectine monastery, numerous fragments of marble slabs were found, unevenly distributed, with funerary inscriptions and Christological signs. In particular, more than half come from inside the church (area 1), where they were reused as flooring material in the post-medieval period (73 fragments); another group, still large (24 fragments), comes from the area outside the church, and from the external northern side of the building (area 1000); and, finally, just over a quarter of the total (37 fragments) come from the cloister (area 3000).
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI) / Archaeological Research at San Quirico di Populonia, pp. 303-324., Dec 2016
The study of stone material found at the site of the San Quirico monastery, near Populonia, addr... more The study of stone material found at the site of the San Quirico monastery, near Populonia, addressed the question of attributing the functional units, and also, in parallel, the problem of placing them in their context within the complex under study, as well as proposing a suggested chronology for them. In addition to structural and sculptural elements and decorative features, the cataloguing also includes reused material (spolia) and elements of different type (slabs). The intention is to contribute, on the one hand, to a reconstruction of the original context, and on the other hand to an understanding of the attempts at restoration and of the dynamics of abandonment and robbing, in a process ranging from the genesis of the artefact to its finding, encompassing the full range of these phenomena.
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino,LI), pp. 325-333., Dec 2016
Recording stone materials found at the site of the San Quirico monastery (Populonia, Leghorn), th... more Recording stone materials found at the site of the San Quirico monastery (Populonia, Leghorn), the research was conducted by first distinguishing the types of stone, systematically recording the marks left by tools, and the techniques and devices used to make the individual architectural components. Bearing in mind these aspects, as well as the way they were assembled, the various phases in which the production process was divided were highlighted (supply, processing, setting in place), in a backward-looking conceptual process leading from the particular (the stone find, architectural element or other) to the general context (the building) which it belonged to.
Un monastero sul mare / A Monastery by the Sea. Ricerche archeologiche a San Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, LI) / Archaeological Research at San Quirico di Populonia, cap. 4, pp. 159-163, Dec 2016
Technical, iconographic and paleographic aspects of painted
plaster
As evidenced by the reading o... more Technical, iconographic and paleographic aspects of painted plaster As evidenced by the reading of the stratigraphy, large traces of painted plaster are still present, although covered over for the purposes of conservation, on the interior wall of the monastic church of S. Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, Tuscany), in the apse hemicycles, on the half-columns of the crossing, in the head of the surviving transept, and in the perimeter walls. In addition, inside the place of worship some stone blocks with painted plaster, as well as fragments of plaster that have become detached from their support, were recovered. In both cases, they were reused in in-fill for the floor, and, in the case of the fragments, also in the levelling layers of the latest phases. Finally, a tiny amount of plaster fragments was recovered in the internal perimeter wall of the cloister, almost only around the well. The identified wall-mounted stratigraphic contexts affected by pigment consist in: an initial layer of paint applied on smoothed plaster; a subsequent stratum with plaster that was pressed flat and then painted; and a third, slightly shiny stratum that covered everything, which was found to be uniformly beige at the time it was revealed. In view of the interpretation of this stratigraphy, and the recognition of the original phase of smoothing the wall surfaces and the individual wall lining contexts, it was possible to focus on the oldest phase of painting, tracing the various technical aspects of execution, the chosen decorative motifs, and possible comparable features in the context of painting in the same period, with special attention to the area under Pisa’s influence, and rare examples in the local area, highlighting the aspects that provide datable elements. In his work, the author focuses on the oldest decorative intervention, the wall-painting used in the religious building built in the 11th century.
Il volume, nato da una ricerca dedicata alla produzione edilizia medievale del territorio compres... more Il volume, nato da una ricerca dedicata alla produzione edilizia medievale del territorio compreso nella attuale Provincia di Livorno, contiene un repertorio di oltre trenta edifici religiosi e attestazioni materiali riferibili ai secoli XI-XIII, con vedute inedite, cartografie storiche e mappe catastali conservate presso gli Archivi di Stato di Livorno e Firenze. Compresi nel repertorio, gli edifici plebani di San Giovanni a Campiglia Marittima e San Giusto a Suvereto, pievi e suffraganee dell’isola d’Elba, gli insediamenti monastici del promontorio di Populonia e dell’isola di Montecristo. Si propone una schedatura sintetica per ogni contesto, con voci univoche immediatamente confrontabili in merito alla produzione edilizia, rimandi a coordinate geografiche e cartografiche, attestazioni documentarie, stato di conservazione e riferimenti bibliografici. In molti casi segue una discussione più articolata dedicata agli aspetti architettonici e del cantiere, ai materiali impiegati e alle tecniche costruttive. Integrano il lavoro un saggio introduttivo, 290 illustrazioni a colori, indici e apparati appositamente predisposti.
More than a literal succession of dates and opinions or abstruse theoretical principles, it is an... more More than a literal succession of dates and opinions or abstruse theoretical principles, it is an eloquent series of encounters with different periods and contexts, buildings and materials, techniques and tools.
SAUR Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon. Die bildenden aller Volker und Zeiten, München 2006-2021, 2021
(aktuell): Italien Ta ẗigkeitsort in Savigliano/ Cuneo. Gennarius, Steinmetz, E. 7. Jh. ta ẗig in... more (aktuell): Italien Ta ẗigkeitsort in Savigliano/ Cuneo. Gennarius, Steinmetz, E. 7. Jh. ta ẗig in Savigliano/ Cuneo. U b erliefert durch eine Inschr.auf dem Grabstein des Presbyters Gudiris aus S. Croce in Savigliano, der A. 15. Jh. bei Feldarbeiten wiederentdeckt worden war. Die Kalksteinplatte wurde anschl. lange als verehrungswu rdiger Gegenstand in der Capp. di S. Maria della Pieve aufbewahrt (heute Savigliano, MCiv.). Die Inschr. verla üft u ber ein lat. Kreuz mit dem Hinweis: Ego Gennarius fici qui in eo tempore fui magester marmorarius // und hebt so die Bedeutung des Ku nstlers hervor, dessen Ausb. mo glicherweise im Zo nobium von Savigliano stattfand.
SAUR Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon. Die bildenden Künstler aller Völker und Zeiten, München, 2009-2021, 2021
Pisa ta ẗig. Von beiden stammen ein vollplastischer Lo ẅe und eine Marmorplatte (heute in zwei Br... more Pisa ta ẗig. Von beiden stammen ein vollplastischer Lo ẅe und eine Marmorplatte (heute in zwei Bruchstu cken) mit der relie-fierten Darst. eines Lo ẅen und der Inschr.:
edd. G. Bianchi, R. Belcari.
Contiene i risultati delle ricerche svolte nella città di Piombino ... more edd. G. Bianchi, R. Belcari.
Contiene i risultati delle ricerche svolte nella città di Piombino e nel suo territorio con particolare riferimento agli scavi archeologici del "castello" che ospita il museo della città.
Riccardo Belcari is PhD in Medieval Archaeology, with a research focus on Buildings, Medieval Cra... more Riccardo Belcari is PhD in Medieval Archaeology, with a research focus on Buildings, Medieval Craft and Technologies, Archaeology of traces and stone artifacts, throughout the Early and Late Middle Ages. An important focus reflected in his latest research projects is the "Inscriptions and Buildings. Use and Reuse". Looking at everything, from Archaeology of Material Culture to History of Mentalities, he has been exploring the Relationship between structures, artefacts and self-representation of individuals and human groups. He is a member of the scientific committee of the journal "Archeologie Sperimentali. Temi, Metodi, Ricerche".
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Nell’area adiacente al perimetrale meridionale della chiesa di S. Sisto (Pisa) numerosi elementi lapidei sono stati riutilizzati in epoca moderna per definire camminamenti, aiuole e spazi ortivi, lasciando a vista parte di essi a prescindere dalla presenza o meno di motivi decorativi, semplicemente privilegiando il fatto che fossero già a disposizione, essendo probabilmente qui dislocati da tempo. Un epifenomeno del reimpiego, laddove elementi architettonici, lastre e componenti di arredo di varia cronologia sono confluiti in un contesto che è stato documentato e che contribuiscono a leggere, optando per una schedatura analitica di ciascuno di essi. Al pari di quanto accaduto in altri casi di recente indagine, non è stata operata una scelta o selezione preliminare dei materiali che al contrario sono stati presi in considerazione in modo globale e nel lungo periodo, predisponendo una documentazione che consenta di indagarne i diversi aspetti, dall’attribuzione di una identità funzionale al contesto di provenienza, dai litotipi alla litotecnica, fino alle diverse dinamiche di uso, spoliazione, reimpiego, dislocazione e rinnovato utilizzo con mutata destinazione d’uso. Lo stesso dicasi per i manufatti lapidei rinvenuti nel deposito delle aree indagate.
La scelta metodologica ha comportato l’avvio di una parallela indagine dell’edilizia storica, in primo luogo conoscitiva dell’edificio nelle sue diverse componenti materiali, afferenti alle diverse fasi e comprensiva della documentazione d’archivio, prodotta in particolare durante i diversi interventi di rifacimento e restauro che interessarono S. Sisto e l’intera area in Età moderna e contemporanea, comprensiva della fotografia storica. La documentazione acquisita contribuisce all’analisi degli spazi, delle strutture e dei materiali.
The contexts. Discovery, reuse, provenance
Most of the stone artifacts were found in USM 1438, the eastern perimeter wall of a building which was interpreted as being the Bishop’s Palace and to which a chronology of the 11th-12th century was assigned. (Period 4, Phase 3). The number of artifacts (132) in this case corresponds to 87,41% of the total of all the stone objects found. The artifacts represented a heterogeneous group of materials, mostly fragmentary but in some cases large objects which had been in the foundations in association with bricks which had also been recycled and showing an abundant use of construction mortar. The dimensions of the stone flakes and the elements used in the foundations were of dimensions (cm 80/95) such as to determine an irregular width in some cases double that of the wall. A small quantity of stone artifacts also of a different typology, were found in other contexts (tab. 1). In area 1000, which corresponds to the facade of the cathedral of St Cassiano they found stone artifacts in US 1027 (Period 2, Phase 2, Activity 1); US 1059 (Period 5, Phase 1); US 1074 (Period 3, Phase 1); US 1097 and US 1098 (Period 5, Phase 2). The context of discovery and reuse for most of the artifacts was the same (figs. 2-3-4), however the area in which also the remaining artifacts have been or could have been transferred several times is unique and, on the contrary the context of provenance is diversified and multiple.
The artifacts. Functional identity and production aspects
Late Antique furnishings and architectural elements. This material comes from buildings or phases dated to Late Antiquity. In particular, the breakdown is valid for the fragments (cat. n. 39, n. 40) decorated using a drill, with visible traces pertaining to one or more capitals of a particular typology with acanthus leaves moving in the wind of the “butterfly” type on the rim and an egg-and-dart motif on the abacus (tav. 1), from the period of Theodoric, with an eastern provenance and used in buildings in Ravenna. There are also other fragments from architectural elements (tab. 2) of the same period which can be identified as being part of composite or impost capitals where traces of production that are still visible suggest their identification (cat. n. 38, nn. 42-44). These materials were probably part of a group of fragments from cornices and lintels as well as a number of fragmentary elements for which the demolition activity and recycling have made it impossible to identify with certainty their original function (cat. nn. 104-108). The numerous fragments of columns (tab. 3) coming from large sized shafts some of which are made of polychrome marbles and, in some cases, were imported, had originally been used in Late Antiquity (cat. nn. 54-77; cat. nn. 83-99).
Early Medieval liturgical furnishings and architectural elements. These are mostly materials pertaining to elements from liturgical furnishings (cat. nn. 1-35), from the Early Middle Ages and correspond to 23,17% of the artifacts discovered. Despite the fragmentary state of the artifacts which were small and in some cases, very small sized, in most cases we were able to determine or hypothesize the original function: small pillars with or without grooves meant to hold slabs, pluteus-slabs, with tenon; simple slabs; cornices; trabeations; capitals of different sizes (graph. 2). With these artifacts it was possible to make comparisons with analogous materials which had been published or, in any case, were known, which were useful for the definition of the functions and typological characteristics, technical and production solutions and decorative motifs.
Technological aspects (instruments, techniques and assembly)
The analytical review of the visible traces left from the manufacture on the surface of the artifacts (tabs. 8-9-10) allowed us to determine the use of pointed instruments of different sizes with indirect percussion, used for the preliminary execution of the individual components which in this way were rough-hewed (cat. n. 16; cat. n. 26), as was done for the production of the accommodation slits for slabs in pillars (cat. n. 1; cat. n. 3), trabeation grooves (cat. n. 26), as well as for the preliminary positioning of a lintel fragment (cat. n. 22). Visible traces of a direct percussion tool with a flat cutting edge would seem to suggest a stone-cutter’s axe, while a chisel with a smooth cutting edge was probably used to make the traces which were found also on the artifacts from Comacchio. A tool with a small-sized flat cutting edge was used to make the double-grooved bands, with the triangular section groove made by slanting the instrument with respect to the working surface, as is evident in some of the elements. In a few cases we were able to identify a small cutting tool with a serrated blade which had been used to rectify the surface of some of the slabs (cat. n. 10, blade cm 2-2,5 with at least 4-5 teeth; cat. n. 13).
Appropriation of materials and organization of the construction site
None of the artifacts were found in primary deposits as this rarely occurs for this type of material. On the other hand, in terms of relative chronology, the context offers only the terminus ante quem of the construction of the wall from which most of the artifacts come and the presence of a few artifacts in the leveling layers which pertain to the 10th century.
The presence of fragments to which a particular function cannot be assigned, as well as stone flakes and materials which show no traces of being worked and are reduced to the state of being simple stones, testifies and confirms an activity of demolition and reuse. It is significant that we found all massed together heterogeneous elements from various eras coming from different phases of the same building or from different chronological pha- ses of different buildings. These artifacts were reduced to small fragments by destructive activity as well as by their reuse as construction materials. By making the necessary disaggregations and new aggregations in proceeding with the analysis, this case once again offers the possibility of documenting a common practice which tells us much about the organization of the construction site and the extent of its activity: the materials recovered are rubble. The remnants of materials used for the production of mortars associated with plaster (fig. 7), stone flakes and other materials like bricks which were also produced by anthropic activity and reused on construction sites (fig. 8), also contribute to the definition of the organization of the site.
The reuse of Early Medieval decorative elements together with structural and architectural components from an earlier era has been noted in other cases. We can also cite examples in which a selection has been made of the materials, choosing some of them to be displayed in a recognizable way as a “memory” of a preceding era, while others which were part of the same structure or furnishings, were set aside for use in the construction site, as residue from the production of mortar or components of walls. At Comacchio these materials became rubble because they were probably the remains from baking, presumably in a lime kiln, considering the evident exposure to a source of heat (fig. 9), or else they had been deliberately crushed and broken. These materials in some case continued to circulate and be recycled in the various constructions which took place in the area from the Medieval phase to the Modern Era (fig. 10).
Si tratta di un fenomeno di ampia portata, sebbene non omogeneo, che segna una cesura con quanto accadeva in precedenza, allorquando questo tipo di riconoscimento era riservato alla figura del committente. Parallelamente si diffondono le “firme epigrafiche”, numerose in questo ambito regionale, perlopiù uniche attestazioni di personalità altrimenti destinate all’anonimato e al tempo stesso indicative di un mutato ruolo degli artefici, di una loro “autocoscienza”, come è stata efficacemente definita da Chiara Frugoni. In passato la storiografia ha spesso presentato l’artefice che opera in ambito genericamente medievale come del tutto subordinato al committente, finché studi specifici e lavori di sintesi non hanno più volte e più correttamente posto in luce diverse situazioni e contesti, anche se tale prospettiva si è di nuovo affacciata in tentativi recenti, per esempio connessi all’interpretazione delle architetture nell’ambito di studi di archeologia del costruito, evidentemente fornendo interpretazioni meno equilibrate di una dinamica, quella artefici-committenti, che non può che intendersi come dialettica, da valutare attentamente caso per caso. Gli epiteti e i riconoscimenti, come nel caso di quelli rivolti agli artefici coinvolti nelle diverse fasi del cantiere della cattedrale di Pisa – Buscheto, Rainaldo, Guglielmo – mostrano per converso, come da tempo affermato, il riconoscimento da parte dei contemporanei di una componente progettuale e organizzativa, oltre che meramente esecutiva. Non si tratta di un fenomeno esclusivamente urbano. Nell’ambito della Maritima medievale, per esempio, dai primi decenni del XII secolo soggetta all’espansione pisana, alcuni edifici plebani presentano precocemente iscrizioni e segni lapidari connessi alle attività costruttive, inquadrabili nell’ambito della seconda metà dello stesso. I segni lapidari appartengono alla tipologia definita “di utilità”, le iscrizioni sono invece classificabili tra quelle definite “firma”, attestanti l’operato degli artefici di cui riportano il nome. La maggior parte di queste forniscono inoltre datazioni assolute. Nella prima metà del secolo successivo una nuova tipologia di scrittura esposta commemorativa comparirà in questi territori celebrando attività edilizie diversificate, segno inequivocabile della volontà politica di porre in evidenza, mediante scritture esposte potenzialmente fruibili da un pubblico il più vasto possibile, quanto realizzato.
Muovendo dalla materialità agli aspetti propri della storia sociale e delle mentalità, nel contributo si è cercato di evidenziare tale passaggio mediante una disamina dei diversi aspetti peculiari di questi manufatti, nell’ambito degli spazi grafici e dei contesti per i quali furono commissionati.
During the investigations conducted in Nonantola between 2004 and 2009 in the external area occupied by the abbey garden were found numerous stone finds, properly documented in the years 2008-2009. The different fragments, of heterogeneous nature, have been fully examined, not making a prior selection between the materials but extending the documentation to cases of small size and stone fragments in relation to the different UTS and stratigraphies of origin, consistent with the choices made in other contexts in which, gradually, the attention devoted to them has grown on a par with the potential for interpretation.
Durante le ricerche, in una delle vasche pertinenti all'impianto termale furono recuperati numerosi frammenti in stucco, predisponendo campioni per la caratterizzazione mineralogico-petrografica dei materiali costitutivi, come già effettuato per altri leganti impiegati nel cantiere e in genere per le diverse componenti dell'articolato ciclo costruttivo.
Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been studied through minero petrographic and thermogravimetric methods. Stone tesserae have been analyzed by minero-petrographic and sedimentologic methods, to obtain information on the provenance of the raw materials used. Finally, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS analyses have been performed on vitreous tesserae, to obtain information on colouring and opaquening agents. The studies carried out on the building elements suggested that, in spite of iconographic
and architectural models proper of the great Mediterranean villae, local and spolia raw materials were used in this great construction work.
The study of the materials and construction techniques used in the construction site of the 'Vetti' villa allows a classification by type of masonry, based on the different technological aspects of the masonry equipment. The structures brought to light were therefore documented and investigated. The construction processes were analyzed and interpreted in the context of the overall dynamics that characterized the site and in comparison with the historical and cultural contexts.
Lo studio dei materiali e delle tecniche costruttive impiegati nel cantiere della villa dei 'Vetti' consente una classificazione per tipi delle murature, basata sui diversi aspetti tecnologici delle apparecchiature murarie. Le strutture poste in luce sono state pertanto documentate e indagate anche in tal senso, nell'intento di correlare i processi costruttivi alle dinamiche complessive che connotarono il sito, nel più generale ambito storico e culturale.
The single-aisle layout with a protruding transept and three apses, which marked phase II of the San Quirico church, is typically monastic. Used since the early medieval period in buildings of modest size, where the main chamber has a moderate longitudinal extension, it was adopted in the following centuries (11th-12th centuries), also in monastic contexts, for larger buildings. During the 12th century, the Latin cross iconography, with or without side apses, spread from monastic buildings to buildings used by the priesthood, as in the case of canonical churches. The dominant development of the choir compared to the main chamber is recurrent in this typology, one of the most widespread in Benedectine contexts. In the regional context, it is possible to find it in numerous buildings among which some similar types may be mentioned, similar examples limited to iconographic features: for the 11th century, San Gennaro di Capolona; for the 12th century, Badia Agnano at Bucine; San Michele Arcangelo in Siena; and SS. Trinità di Spineta at Sartiano. For south-western Tuscia, this layout is found in the building pertaining to the abbey of S. Pietro di Acquaviva at Campiglia, and so, significantly, in the same diocesan area as San Quirico di Populonia.
The position of the walls with lesenes made using stone blocks of modest size, and fragments of brick or tile, recurrent in many 11th century buildings in central and northern Italy, and Europe, can be seen in some urban buildings closer to this aea, and in the Pisan area, and the immediate surroundings. Similar solutions are displayed by the apses of S. Piero at Grado, S. Cristina, datable to the start of the 11th century and S. Matteo, mentioned for the first time on 18 May 1027, and relating to one of the city’s monasteries. In the territory of the diocese of Massa and Populonia, lesenes made in a similar way, and resting on a protruding plinth, are visible in the tribune of the church which it is thought belonged to the monastery of S. Pietro di Acquaviva. This was initially Benedictine, but later, like San Quirico di Populonia, it passed to the Order of St William and, later, to the Domenican nuns in Pisa. The building retains part of the masonry of the tribune in the elevation, almost completely in the south apse, while the rest of the walls are the result of modern renovation. The building’s iconography, which cannot be wholly interpreted as it stands, could cor- respond to a single chamber with a protruding transept and three apses, as would be suggested by the tribune apses. The layout, and the presence of lesenes in the wall of the tribune, make the building close to the solutions adopted in the San Quirico church, in both cases attributable to the 11th century. This parallel will appear even more significant considering that the two monastery buildings for worship are today the only ones known with this iconography, and technical solutions (lesenes) in the wider coastal area south of the city of Pisa, until the later abbey church of S. Maria Alborense, in the Monti dell’Uccellina, the Tau cross-shaped layout of which dates to the 12th century phase.
The cloister (area 3000) of San Quirico di Populonia has a quadrangular layout, and has regular proportions, based on an observation of elementary geometric norms. Several rooms gave on to the loggias that run along the perimeter walls, originally with an opus signinum flooring. These rooms were responsible for the various functions of monastic life. The internal perimeter of the cloister, which was once looked out over by the arches formed by miniature columns and their capitals (capitelli a stampella), was completely robbed also of the thick slabs with which they were originally lined. Like illustrious examples in Benedictine contexts, the San Quirico di Populonia monastery cloister featured arches overlooking the internal lawn, having decoration and carved column capitals. The case of San Quirico, although only partially with scattered finds, and being fragmentary, affords the first case (and the only case, for a long time) of a monastery cloister having a form of decoration known for the whole area, coastal and internal. The construction of Populonia’s monastery buildings, and later interventions, are part of a series of building episodes involving the diocesan area in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries .
The intention is to contribute, on the one hand, to a reconstruction of the original context, and on the other hand to an understanding of the attempts at restoration and of the dynamics of abandonment and robbing, in a process ranging from the genesis of the artefact to its finding, encompassing the full range of these phenomena.
plaster
As evidenced by the reading of the stratigraphy, large traces of painted plaster are still present, although covered over for the purposes of conservation, on the interior wall of the monastic church of S. Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, Tuscany), in the apse hemicycles, on the half-columns of the crossing, in the head of the surviving transept, and in the perimeter walls. In addition, inside the place of worship some stone blocks with painted plaster, as well as fragments of plaster that have become detached from their support, were recovered. In both cases, they were reused in in-fill for the floor, and, in the case of the fragments, also in the levelling layers of the latest phases.
Finally, a tiny amount of plaster fragments was recovered in the internal perimeter wall of the cloister, almost only around the well.
The identified wall-mounted stratigraphic contexts affected by pigment consist in: an initial layer of paint applied on smoothed plaster; a subsequent stratum with plaster that was pressed flat and then painted; and a third, slightly shiny stratum that covered everything, which was found to be uniformly beige at the time it was revealed.
In view of the interpretation of this stratigraphy, and the recognition of the original phase of smoothing the wall surfaces and the individual wall lining contexts, it was possible to focus on the oldest phase of painting, tracing the various technical aspects of execution, the chosen decorative motifs, and possible comparable features in the context of painting in the same period, with special attention to the area under Pisa’s influence, and rare examples in the local area, highlighting the aspects that provide datable elements.
In his work, the author focuses on the oldest decorative intervention, the wall-painting used in the religious building built in the 11th century.
Nell’area adiacente al perimetrale meridionale della chiesa di S. Sisto (Pisa) numerosi elementi lapidei sono stati riutilizzati in epoca moderna per definire camminamenti, aiuole e spazi ortivi, lasciando a vista parte di essi a prescindere dalla presenza o meno di motivi decorativi, semplicemente privilegiando il fatto che fossero già a disposizione, essendo probabilmente qui dislocati da tempo. Un epifenomeno del reimpiego, laddove elementi architettonici, lastre e componenti di arredo di varia cronologia sono confluiti in un contesto che è stato documentato e che contribuiscono a leggere, optando per una schedatura analitica di ciascuno di essi. Al pari di quanto accaduto in altri casi di recente indagine, non è stata operata una scelta o selezione preliminare dei materiali che al contrario sono stati presi in considerazione in modo globale e nel lungo periodo, predisponendo una documentazione che consenta di indagarne i diversi aspetti, dall’attribuzione di una identità funzionale al contesto di provenienza, dai litotipi alla litotecnica, fino alle diverse dinamiche di uso, spoliazione, reimpiego, dislocazione e rinnovato utilizzo con mutata destinazione d’uso. Lo stesso dicasi per i manufatti lapidei rinvenuti nel deposito delle aree indagate.
La scelta metodologica ha comportato l’avvio di una parallela indagine dell’edilizia storica, in primo luogo conoscitiva dell’edificio nelle sue diverse componenti materiali, afferenti alle diverse fasi e comprensiva della documentazione d’archivio, prodotta in particolare durante i diversi interventi di rifacimento e restauro che interessarono S. Sisto e l’intera area in Età moderna e contemporanea, comprensiva della fotografia storica. La documentazione acquisita contribuisce all’analisi degli spazi, delle strutture e dei materiali.
The contexts. Discovery, reuse, provenance
Most of the stone artifacts were found in USM 1438, the eastern perimeter wall of a building which was interpreted as being the Bishop’s Palace and to which a chronology of the 11th-12th century was assigned. (Period 4, Phase 3). The number of artifacts (132) in this case corresponds to 87,41% of the total of all the stone objects found. The artifacts represented a heterogeneous group of materials, mostly fragmentary but in some cases large objects which had been in the foundations in association with bricks which had also been recycled and showing an abundant use of construction mortar. The dimensions of the stone flakes and the elements used in the foundations were of dimensions (cm 80/95) such as to determine an irregular width in some cases double that of the wall. A small quantity of stone artifacts also of a different typology, were found in other contexts (tab. 1). In area 1000, which corresponds to the facade of the cathedral of St Cassiano they found stone artifacts in US 1027 (Period 2, Phase 2, Activity 1); US 1059 (Period 5, Phase 1); US 1074 (Period 3, Phase 1); US 1097 and US 1098 (Period 5, Phase 2). The context of discovery and reuse for most of the artifacts was the same (figs. 2-3-4), however the area in which also the remaining artifacts have been or could have been transferred several times is unique and, on the contrary the context of provenance is diversified and multiple.
The artifacts. Functional identity and production aspects
Late Antique furnishings and architectural elements. This material comes from buildings or phases dated to Late Antiquity. In particular, the breakdown is valid for the fragments (cat. n. 39, n. 40) decorated using a drill, with visible traces pertaining to one or more capitals of a particular typology with acanthus leaves moving in the wind of the “butterfly” type on the rim and an egg-and-dart motif on the abacus (tav. 1), from the period of Theodoric, with an eastern provenance and used in buildings in Ravenna. There are also other fragments from architectural elements (tab. 2) of the same period which can be identified as being part of composite or impost capitals where traces of production that are still visible suggest their identification (cat. n. 38, nn. 42-44). These materials were probably part of a group of fragments from cornices and lintels as well as a number of fragmentary elements for which the demolition activity and recycling have made it impossible to identify with certainty their original function (cat. nn. 104-108). The numerous fragments of columns (tab. 3) coming from large sized shafts some of which are made of polychrome marbles and, in some cases, were imported, had originally been used in Late Antiquity (cat. nn. 54-77; cat. nn. 83-99).
Early Medieval liturgical furnishings and architectural elements. These are mostly materials pertaining to elements from liturgical furnishings (cat. nn. 1-35), from the Early Middle Ages and correspond to 23,17% of the artifacts discovered. Despite the fragmentary state of the artifacts which were small and in some cases, very small sized, in most cases we were able to determine or hypothesize the original function: small pillars with or without grooves meant to hold slabs, pluteus-slabs, with tenon; simple slabs; cornices; trabeations; capitals of different sizes (graph. 2). With these artifacts it was possible to make comparisons with analogous materials which had been published or, in any case, were known, which were useful for the definition of the functions and typological characteristics, technical and production solutions and decorative motifs.
Technological aspects (instruments, techniques and assembly)
The analytical review of the visible traces left from the manufacture on the surface of the artifacts (tabs. 8-9-10) allowed us to determine the use of pointed instruments of different sizes with indirect percussion, used for the preliminary execution of the individual components which in this way were rough-hewed (cat. n. 16; cat. n. 26), as was done for the production of the accommodation slits for slabs in pillars (cat. n. 1; cat. n. 3), trabeation grooves (cat. n. 26), as well as for the preliminary positioning of a lintel fragment (cat. n. 22). Visible traces of a direct percussion tool with a flat cutting edge would seem to suggest a stone-cutter’s axe, while a chisel with a smooth cutting edge was probably used to make the traces which were found also on the artifacts from Comacchio. A tool with a small-sized flat cutting edge was used to make the double-grooved bands, with the triangular section groove made by slanting the instrument with respect to the working surface, as is evident in some of the elements. In a few cases we were able to identify a small cutting tool with a serrated blade which had been used to rectify the surface of some of the slabs (cat. n. 10, blade cm 2-2,5 with at least 4-5 teeth; cat. n. 13).
Appropriation of materials and organization of the construction site
None of the artifacts were found in primary deposits as this rarely occurs for this type of material. On the other hand, in terms of relative chronology, the context offers only the terminus ante quem of the construction of the wall from which most of the artifacts come and the presence of a few artifacts in the leveling layers which pertain to the 10th century.
The presence of fragments to which a particular function cannot be assigned, as well as stone flakes and materials which show no traces of being worked and are reduced to the state of being simple stones, testifies and confirms an activity of demolition and reuse. It is significant that we found all massed together heterogeneous elements from various eras coming from different phases of the same building or from different chronological pha- ses of different buildings. These artifacts were reduced to small fragments by destructive activity as well as by their reuse as construction materials. By making the necessary disaggregations and new aggregations in proceeding with the analysis, this case once again offers the possibility of documenting a common practice which tells us much about the organization of the construction site and the extent of its activity: the materials recovered are rubble. The remnants of materials used for the production of mortars associated with plaster (fig. 7), stone flakes and other materials like bricks which were also produced by anthropic activity and reused on construction sites (fig. 8), also contribute to the definition of the organization of the site.
The reuse of Early Medieval decorative elements together with structural and architectural components from an earlier era has been noted in other cases. We can also cite examples in which a selection has been made of the materials, choosing some of them to be displayed in a recognizable way as a “memory” of a preceding era, while others which were part of the same structure or furnishings, were set aside for use in the construction site, as residue from the production of mortar or components of walls. At Comacchio these materials became rubble because they were probably the remains from baking, presumably in a lime kiln, considering the evident exposure to a source of heat (fig. 9), or else they had been deliberately crushed and broken. These materials in some case continued to circulate and be recycled in the various constructions which took place in the area from the Medieval phase to the Modern Era (fig. 10).
Si tratta di un fenomeno di ampia portata, sebbene non omogeneo, che segna una cesura con quanto accadeva in precedenza, allorquando questo tipo di riconoscimento era riservato alla figura del committente. Parallelamente si diffondono le “firme epigrafiche”, numerose in questo ambito regionale, perlopiù uniche attestazioni di personalità altrimenti destinate all’anonimato e al tempo stesso indicative di un mutato ruolo degli artefici, di una loro “autocoscienza”, come è stata efficacemente definita da Chiara Frugoni. In passato la storiografia ha spesso presentato l’artefice che opera in ambito genericamente medievale come del tutto subordinato al committente, finché studi specifici e lavori di sintesi non hanno più volte e più correttamente posto in luce diverse situazioni e contesti, anche se tale prospettiva si è di nuovo affacciata in tentativi recenti, per esempio connessi all’interpretazione delle architetture nell’ambito di studi di archeologia del costruito, evidentemente fornendo interpretazioni meno equilibrate di una dinamica, quella artefici-committenti, che non può che intendersi come dialettica, da valutare attentamente caso per caso. Gli epiteti e i riconoscimenti, come nel caso di quelli rivolti agli artefici coinvolti nelle diverse fasi del cantiere della cattedrale di Pisa – Buscheto, Rainaldo, Guglielmo – mostrano per converso, come da tempo affermato, il riconoscimento da parte dei contemporanei di una componente progettuale e organizzativa, oltre che meramente esecutiva. Non si tratta di un fenomeno esclusivamente urbano. Nell’ambito della Maritima medievale, per esempio, dai primi decenni del XII secolo soggetta all’espansione pisana, alcuni edifici plebani presentano precocemente iscrizioni e segni lapidari connessi alle attività costruttive, inquadrabili nell’ambito della seconda metà dello stesso. I segni lapidari appartengono alla tipologia definita “di utilità”, le iscrizioni sono invece classificabili tra quelle definite “firma”, attestanti l’operato degli artefici di cui riportano il nome. La maggior parte di queste forniscono inoltre datazioni assolute. Nella prima metà del secolo successivo una nuova tipologia di scrittura esposta commemorativa comparirà in questi territori celebrando attività edilizie diversificate, segno inequivocabile della volontà politica di porre in evidenza, mediante scritture esposte potenzialmente fruibili da un pubblico il più vasto possibile, quanto realizzato.
Muovendo dalla materialità agli aspetti propri della storia sociale e delle mentalità, nel contributo si è cercato di evidenziare tale passaggio mediante una disamina dei diversi aspetti peculiari di questi manufatti, nell’ambito degli spazi grafici e dei contesti per i quali furono commissionati.
During the investigations conducted in Nonantola between 2004 and 2009 in the external area occupied by the abbey garden were found numerous stone finds, properly documented in the years 2008-2009. The different fragments, of heterogeneous nature, have been fully examined, not making a prior selection between the materials but extending the documentation to cases of small size and stone fragments in relation to the different UTS and stratigraphies of origin, consistent with the choices made in other contexts in which, gradually, the attention devoted to them has grown on a par with the potential for interpretation.
Durante le ricerche, in una delle vasche pertinenti all'impianto termale furono recuperati numerosi frammenti in stucco, predisponendo campioni per la caratterizzazione mineralogico-petrografica dei materiali costitutivi, come già effettuato per altri leganti impiegati nel cantiere e in genere per le diverse componenti dell'articolato ciclo costruttivo.
Constantinople and Rome. Archaeometric analyses have been carried out on mortars, stones and vitreous tesserae, with the aim to identify the raw materials and support the archaeological investigation about cultural models and economic status of the aristocratic owner in the Late Roman Tuscany. Mortars samples from different building units of the Villas have been studied through minero petrographic and thermogravimetric methods. Stone tesserae have been analyzed by minero-petrographic and sedimentologic methods, to obtain information on the provenance of the raw materials used. Finally, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS analyses have been performed on vitreous tesserae, to obtain information on colouring and opaquening agents. The studies carried out on the building elements suggested that, in spite of iconographic
and architectural models proper of the great Mediterranean villae, local and spolia raw materials were used in this great construction work.
The study of the materials and construction techniques used in the construction site of the 'Vetti' villa allows a classification by type of masonry, based on the different technological aspects of the masonry equipment. The structures brought to light were therefore documented and investigated. The construction processes were analyzed and interpreted in the context of the overall dynamics that characterized the site and in comparison with the historical and cultural contexts.
Lo studio dei materiali e delle tecniche costruttive impiegati nel cantiere della villa dei 'Vetti' consente una classificazione per tipi delle murature, basata sui diversi aspetti tecnologici delle apparecchiature murarie. Le strutture poste in luce sono state pertanto documentate e indagate anche in tal senso, nell'intento di correlare i processi costruttivi alle dinamiche complessive che connotarono il sito, nel più generale ambito storico e culturale.
The single-aisle layout with a protruding transept and three apses, which marked phase II of the San Quirico church, is typically monastic. Used since the early medieval period in buildings of modest size, where the main chamber has a moderate longitudinal extension, it was adopted in the following centuries (11th-12th centuries), also in monastic contexts, for larger buildings. During the 12th century, the Latin cross iconography, with or without side apses, spread from monastic buildings to buildings used by the priesthood, as in the case of canonical churches. The dominant development of the choir compared to the main chamber is recurrent in this typology, one of the most widespread in Benedectine contexts. In the regional context, it is possible to find it in numerous buildings among which some similar types may be mentioned, similar examples limited to iconographic features: for the 11th century, San Gennaro di Capolona; for the 12th century, Badia Agnano at Bucine; San Michele Arcangelo in Siena; and SS. Trinità di Spineta at Sartiano. For south-western Tuscia, this layout is found in the building pertaining to the abbey of S. Pietro di Acquaviva at Campiglia, and so, significantly, in the same diocesan area as San Quirico di Populonia.
The position of the walls with lesenes made using stone blocks of modest size, and fragments of brick or tile, recurrent in many 11th century buildings in central and northern Italy, and Europe, can be seen in some urban buildings closer to this aea, and in the Pisan area, and the immediate surroundings. Similar solutions are displayed by the apses of S. Piero at Grado, S. Cristina, datable to the start of the 11th century and S. Matteo, mentioned for the first time on 18 May 1027, and relating to one of the city’s monasteries. In the territory of the diocese of Massa and Populonia, lesenes made in a similar way, and resting on a protruding plinth, are visible in the tribune of the church which it is thought belonged to the monastery of S. Pietro di Acquaviva. This was initially Benedictine, but later, like San Quirico di Populonia, it passed to the Order of St William and, later, to the Domenican nuns in Pisa. The building retains part of the masonry of the tribune in the elevation, almost completely in the south apse, while the rest of the walls are the result of modern renovation. The building’s iconography, which cannot be wholly interpreted as it stands, could cor- respond to a single chamber with a protruding transept and three apses, as would be suggested by the tribune apses. The layout, and the presence of lesenes in the wall of the tribune, make the building close to the solutions adopted in the San Quirico church, in both cases attributable to the 11th century. This parallel will appear even more significant considering that the two monastery buildings for worship are today the only ones known with this iconography, and technical solutions (lesenes) in the wider coastal area south of the city of Pisa, until the later abbey church of S. Maria Alborense, in the Monti dell’Uccellina, the Tau cross-shaped layout of which dates to the 12th century phase.
The cloister (area 3000) of San Quirico di Populonia has a quadrangular layout, and has regular proportions, based on an observation of elementary geometric norms. Several rooms gave on to the loggias that run along the perimeter walls, originally with an opus signinum flooring. These rooms were responsible for the various functions of monastic life. The internal perimeter of the cloister, which was once looked out over by the arches formed by miniature columns and their capitals (capitelli a stampella), was completely robbed also of the thick slabs with which they were originally lined. Like illustrious examples in Benedictine contexts, the San Quirico di Populonia monastery cloister featured arches overlooking the internal lawn, having decoration and carved column capitals. The case of San Quirico, although only partially with scattered finds, and being fragmentary, affords the first case (and the only case, for a long time) of a monastery cloister having a form of decoration known for the whole area, coastal and internal. The construction of Populonia’s monastery buildings, and later interventions, are part of a series of building episodes involving the diocesan area in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries .
The intention is to contribute, on the one hand, to a reconstruction of the original context, and on the other hand to an understanding of the attempts at restoration and of the dynamics of abandonment and robbing, in a process ranging from the genesis of the artefact to its finding, encompassing the full range of these phenomena.
plaster
As evidenced by the reading of the stratigraphy, large traces of painted plaster are still present, although covered over for the purposes of conservation, on the interior wall of the monastic church of S. Quirico di Populonia (Piombino, Tuscany), in the apse hemicycles, on the half-columns of the crossing, in the head of the surviving transept, and in the perimeter walls. In addition, inside the place of worship some stone blocks with painted plaster, as well as fragments of plaster that have become detached from their support, were recovered. In both cases, they were reused in in-fill for the floor, and, in the case of the fragments, also in the levelling layers of the latest phases.
Finally, a tiny amount of plaster fragments was recovered in the internal perimeter wall of the cloister, almost only around the well.
The identified wall-mounted stratigraphic contexts affected by pigment consist in: an initial layer of paint applied on smoothed plaster; a subsequent stratum with plaster that was pressed flat and then painted; and a third, slightly shiny stratum that covered everything, which was found to be uniformly beige at the time it was revealed.
In view of the interpretation of this stratigraphy, and the recognition of the original phase of smoothing the wall surfaces and the individual wall lining contexts, it was possible to focus on the oldest phase of painting, tracing the various technical aspects of execution, the chosen decorative motifs, and possible comparable features in the context of painting in the same period, with special attention to the area under Pisa’s influence, and rare examples in the local area, highlighting the aspects that provide datable elements.
In his work, the author focuses on the oldest decorative intervention, the wall-painting used in the religious building built in the 11th century.
Contiene i risultati delle ricerche svolte nella città di Piombino e nel suo territorio con particolare riferimento agli scavi archeologici del "castello" che ospita il museo della città.