The medieval progeny of the Holy Apostles

2019

In 1084 the most important of the few consecrations of St Mark’s church in Venice – that which solemnized the completion of its largest altar – took place. It is assumed that Doge Dominico Selvo (1071-1084) assigned Byzantine mosaicists to finish the decorative programme in time for the respective event. In part because of the beauty and the remarkable quality of the works they created, the eleventh century saw the prestige of this Venetian shrine increase. Also what in the popular imagination was the miraculous appearance of the relics of its patron saint from a pillar (either in 1084 or 1094, depending on the source employed) further augmented it. The article attempts to prove that the eleventh century was the most important period in the existence of the medieval Venetian church which much later became the cathedral San Marco. It will venture a description of this shrine not only on the basis of its similarities, claimed by most scholars, with the Apostoleion church in Constantin...

A Lost Monument, a Forgotten Project, and the Presentness of the Past, 2020

This paper seeks to visualise Justinian’s church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Although this church was demolished after the Ottoman conquest, it was described by Byzantine authors including Prokopios (6th century), Constantine of Rhodes (10th century) and Nikolaos Mesarites (12th century). Interpreting these descriptions helps to recapture some aspects of the lost building. Further insights can be drawn from similar monuments, including the churches of St. John at Ephesos and San Marco in Venice. From the late 19th century onwards, several scholars used this evidence to visualise the lost church. In spite of their great value, these reconstructions include ill-defined areas and sometimes contradict the evidence in our disposal. This paper tries to overcome these obstacles through a reexamination of the historical descriptions of the Holy Apostles. These documents are interpreted graphically by reference to the churches of St. John at Ephesos and San Marco in Venice. Our comparisons with St. John at Ephesos benefit from information which was not available to previous scholars. Indeed, our recent work on the Ephesian church has revealed new evidence regarding the form of the church that Prokopios considered as identical to the Holy Apostles. This helps to examine the descriptions of the Holy Apostles in a new light. This new approach also sets the basis for a re-examination of the possible relationship between the church and the first Fatih Mosque, which was probably built on the same site. In spite of our new findings, many aspects of the Holy Apostles remain obscure. Acknowledging the limited evidence in our disposal, the current paper identifies those parts of the reconstruction that remain conjectural and explores alternative visualisation hypotheses. Shedding light on one of the most sophisticated churches of Constantinople, this paper helps to gain a better sense of the development of ecclesiastical architecture in the Early Byzantine period.

St. Peter's in the Vatican, 2005

De Gruyter eBooks, 2022

"Architecture, Art and Identity in Venice and its Territories, 1450–1750. Essays in Honour of Deborah Howard", edited by N. Avcioglu and E. Jones, vol. I, pp. 159-170, 2013

When the Cassinese monks of San Nicolò del Lido - during the first decades of the Seventeenth century - had to rebuild their church, they took as a model the sister abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore, whose temple was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1565 and completed, after the architect’s death (1580), with a choir and a chancel that differed from the original idea. Both these parts of the building, in particular, were redesigned taking into consideration the principles of monastic life recently reaffirmed by the Council of Trent: the choir, in fact (contrary to the tradition hitherto observed by the Cassinese congregation), was located behind the main altar, in a deep apsidal space far from the nave and separated from the chancel by a massive architectural screen, upon which the organ was located. The same criteria were observed for the project of the new church of San Nicolò del Lido, probably designed by the venetian architect Francesco Contin: the plan of both the choir and the chancel is indeed almost identical to that of San Giorgio Maggiore. Even the furnishings were similar, those of the organ in particular, whose case was carved by the same craftsman and was located in the same place, between the chancel and the choir; the choir stalls were also crafted with a similar decoration. The contract signed between the monks and the masons (1626) refers specifically to the Palladian church: as a matter of fact, the architectural membering of the new building even had to imitate those of the other venetian abbey and had to be painted in red like they were. Architectural experimentations long elaborated during the construction of San Giorgio Maggiore provided therefore the monks of San Nicolò del Lido an already established working model: they were even able to perfect it with minor modifications, giving way to the completion of the difficult genesis of the post-Tridentine monastic church.

Buried History Monograph 3, 2007

Hortus Artium Medievalium, 2018

The problems dealing with the design and origin of some early basilicas in the young just Christianized states formed in Central Europe in the 10th century: in the lands of the Piasts in Poland, the Přemyslids in Bohemia (Czech) and the Arpards in the Hungary, haven’t been presented in a broader European context. The first monumental churches in Central Europe greatly illustrate the phenomenon of transmission of ready-made patterns or models selected according to the diplomatic relations of the ruling family. It is important to realize in this connexion that the milieu of the rulers of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary adapted the most modern solutions, representing new artistic qualities created by the Ottonian architecture from around the middle of the 10th century. The Mediterranean impulse played a role in this process of transmission.

The main aim of this work is to critically examine Santa Fosca building period through the analysis of the similarities as well as the differences with some churches located in Greece and belonging to the so-called octagonal domed type. In fact, since the second half of the Nineteenth century a historiographical tradition has compared Santa Fosca with these Greek Middle-Byzantine churches, where eight supports, piers or columns, arranged in a regular or irregular octagon, receive the loads from the cupola. The comparison is based on the direct analysis of these buildings: the structural configuration, the constructive materials and techniques as well as the affinities in decoration, occurring both inside and outside, are under investigation. This contribution offers a new perspective, from which it could be possible to study the period of erection of the Venetian church, a topic that is still object of debate among the scientific community.