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Architectural Genus
Author(s): W. Eugene Kleinbauer
Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 1987, Vol. 41, Studies on Art and Archeology in Honor
of Ernst Kitzinger on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (1987), pp. 277-293
Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University
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W. EUGENE KLEINBAUER
About 1955 John B. Ward-Perkins first visited on the other three sides of the central square.2 A
Perge in Pamphylia and examined the ruins broken black-gray granite(?) shaft resting on a base
of a double-shell centralized structure lying in the stood in the east exedra (but not necessarily in its
northwest quarter of the city. His field notes and original position), and fragments of other shafts
sketch plan of the ruins (Fig. 1) make the following were to be seen in the vicinity. Scarce as they are,
observations: "The walls of the central element the visible remains suggest that all four exedrae
consist of two faces of good reused limestone ma-into the ambulatories through segmental
opened
sonry with a concreted core of odd rubble. The screened with a pair of columns. The
openings
outer walls are of rather haphazard piers outer of ma-walls, which are not quite as thick as and are
sonry alternating with stretches of loosely more mor-poorly preserved than the inner ones, may
tared rubble. In other words the breaks in the cen- have closely repeated the tetraconch configuration
tral walls are far less clear and I would not draw of the inner walls, as is suggested in Ward-Perkins'
too many conclusions from the incidence of indi- plan. Yet it should be noted that nothing survives
vidual blocks. There may have been a door at the above ground of the outer south wall. These walls
west end. There obviously was not towards the are coeval with the inner shell, for the same large
east."'
limestone blocks occur. Although the walls of the
When I visited Perge in 1969 I was ablestructure to were repaired at some point, the spolia
confirm what Ward-Perkins had seen. Although used in their construction are original elements. It
the site was heavily overgrown, remains of bothisthe impossible to say whether doors pierced the
inner and outer shells of an aisled tetraconch outer segmental walls to the north and south. The
building were visible; those of the inner walls stood
only evidence of any neighboring structure is the
to a height of ca. 3 m (Fig. 2). Impressively large, so-called palaestra to the south (see below). Finally,
the edifice measured about 33.5 m in length.the Thebuilding was single-storied; galleries did not
central unit measures about 10 m on a side, its cor- the ambulatories.
surmount
ners bounded by powerful angled walls about 1.5
Ward-Perkins' restored plan of the building sug
m in thickness. A very shallow bay separated the
gests that it was covered by a central dome. Al-
eastern exedra from this core; such a bay is though absentthe walls of both shells seem to be thick
enough to withstand the thrusts exerted by a ma-
*The term genus is used in this paper not in any biological sonry dome, the pair of walls at the western end of
sense, implying an orderly development of the species in time
(such a natural progression for tetraconchs is in fact herein de-
the central element is designed differently from
nied), but to refer to a class of buildings marked by the same
salient double-quatrefoil layout. Genus is analogously used by 2A much deeper bay is seen in the "approximate" sketch plan
scholars examining the development of the basilican building in (not drawn to scale) of the inner shell which was published by
the late antique period: see, e.g., R. Krautheimer, "The Con- H. Buchwald, "Western Asia Minor as a Generator of Architec-
stantinian Basilica," DOP 21 (1967), 115-40. Krautheimer also tural Forms in the Byzantine Period: Provincial Back-Wash or
refers to the architectural genus of the double-shell tetraconchs
Dynamic Center of Production?" JOB 34 (1984), 206, fig. 4.
and octaconchs: Three Christian Capitals: Topography and Politics Buchwald visited the site in 1983. For the double-shell concept
(Berkeley, 1983), 86.
'Private correspondence, 1965. used in this paper, see W. L. MacDonald, The Pantheon: Design,
Meaning, and Progeny (Cambridge, Mass., 1976), 105.
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, . M. 1971
. F.M
7.Milan, Church of S. Lo
fourth century
9. Rome,
Bezold, S.
DieCostanza, plan after
kirchliche Baukunst G. Dehio and G. v.
des Abendlandes:
presence of gaean
galleries in tetraconch may antedate the
S. Lorenzo at earliest
Milan pre-
to an eastern model for the church.44 served Syrian example does not exclude such a
derivation, because the type may have existed in
If the galleries of this church attest to a source
Syria at an earlier date. In fact, some years ago I
in the East, does its double-shell configuration also
point in that direction? The only other pre- argued that the preserved examples in Syria and
northern Mesopotamia all go back to a single pro-
iconoclastic example of this genus in Italy, or any-
where else in the Latin West for that matter, is the
totype of early date in that region.48 That proto-
big church ruin known as S. Leucio at Canosa type
in was identified as the cathedral at Antioch.
Apulia. While the excavations at S. Leucio have notThis church was planned by Emperor Constantine
been properly published, preliminary studies sug- the Great in 327 and was dedicated at an encaenia
summoned by his son Emperor Constantius in
gest that this building was first laid out nearly two
centuries after S. Lorenzo.45 All other examples of341.49 From the outset it functioned as the cathe-
dral and principal congregational church of the
this genus are situated to the east of Italy and sug-
capital of Syria and, toward the end of the fourth
gest that the archetype might be located in the East
Mediterranean as well. century, as the patriarchal church of Oriens, a
supra-metropolis claiming supremacy over all of
The largest concentration of such buildings oc-
the vast ecclesiastical jurisdiction.50 Thus, it would
curs in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, and they
date from the second half of the fifth century have
and provided a natural, if not spontaneous,
model
the sixth.46 This fact recently led H. Buchwald to for other cathedrals and metropolitan
churches
conjecture that the source of the Pergaean tetra- under its direct jurisdiction. Unfortu-
nately,
conch was Syrian.47 The possibility that the Per- the layout of the Antiochian cathedral can-
not be ascertained in all of its essential details.
Since excavations at Antioch have failed to uncover
taconchs. For the church in the Hebdomon, see Mathews, Early the ruins of the church, our knowledge of it de-
Churches, 55-61; W. Kleiss, "Bemerkungen zur Kirche Johan- pends on literary sources, especially Eusebius. Eu-
nes des Taufers in Istanbul-Bakirkdy (Hebdomon), Mansel'e Ar-
magan: Milanges Mansel, Turk Tarih Kurumu Yayinlari, Dizi sebius informs us that the church was two-storied,
VII-Sa. 60 (Ankara, 1974), I, 207-19. See, however, J. Eber- and he seems to tell us that it was double-shelled:
solt, Sanctuaires de Byzance: Recherches sur les anciens trisors des xtiixhp bb rK Ew myTE xcti Xcvt ayEw xway iwm twv
iglises de Constantinople (Paris, 1921), 83, where a basilican layout
is suggested on the basis of a literary source. For important ob- cLJ8t ctEcXO1 JTepLeootTtohVov (Vita Constantini
servations on the topography of the church, see C. Mango, in
BZ 68 (1975), 390-91.
III, 50).5' But his account of the shape of the
building-he terms it 6xtd~ebog-is to my mind
"This point has often been made: see, e.g., Ward-Perkins,
"Italian Element," 13 (of separate reprint); Krautheimer, Early open to interpretation. Other commentators on
this passage have believed that 6xtdebgog refers to
Christian and Byzantine Architecture3 .ev., 85-86; Deichmann, Ra-
venna, 83; idem, Einfiihrung, 246. For the masons building the
an octagon and have reconstructed the building as
church, see W. Eugene Kleinbauer, "Toward a Dating of San
Lorenzo at Milan: Masonry and Building Methods of Milanese octagonal in shape, reminiscent of the churches of
Roman and Early Christian Architecture,' ArtL 13 (1968), 1 if, SS. Sergius and Bacchus at Constantinople and S.
esp. 16-17. For a different interpretation of the masons, con- Vitale at Ravenna.52 But Eusebius does not specify
sult S. Lewis, "San Lorenzo Revisited: A Theodosian Palace
Church at Milan," JSAH 32 (1973), 201 f.
'5See note 26 above.
gungen zur Entstehung der Kuppelbasilika, DenkWien 139 (Vienna,
'6Kleinbauer, "Origin and Functions," 89 ff. 1979), For a85-86,
slightlypl. 31, fig. 2, as demonstrated by Buchwald, loc.
modified plan of the edifice at Seleucia Pieria,cit.see Brenk, op.
cit., 225, fig. 56 (by J. Lassus). Excavations at Bosra have led to
8 Kleinbauer,Bacco
new findings: see S. Cerulli, "La cattedrale dei Ss. Sergio, "Origin and Functions," 108 ff.
e Leonzio a Bosra," FR 109-10 (1975), 163-86, fig. 9 (new '9 Ibid., 111. For the pertinent historical documentation, G.
Downey, A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Con-
plan); G. Gualandi, "Una cittfi caravaniera della Siria meridio-
nale: Bosra romana e la recente esplorazione archeologia nella quest (Princeton, 1961), 342 if, passim; F. W. Deichmann, "Das
cattedrale dei Ss. Sergio, Bacco e Leonzio," op. cit., 187-239. Oktogon von Antiocheia: Heroon-Martyrion, Palastkirche oder
For recent observations on the church of the el cAdhra at Kathedral?" BZ 65 (1972), 40-56, rpr. in his Rom, Ravenna, Kon-
stantinopel, Naher Osten (above, note 21), 783-99.
Amida, see G. Bell, The Churches and Monasteries of the Tur cAbdin,
with an introduction and notes by M. M. Mango (London, 5oKleinbauer, "Origin and Functions," 109-10.
1982), 24 if, 107 if, figs. 14, 51, pls. 13-24; M. C. Mundell, 5 Ibid., 111, citing the full Greek texts by Eusebius.
"The Sixth Century Sculpture of the Monastery of Deir Za 52See, e.g., W. Dynes, "The First Christian Palace Church
cFaran in Mesopotamia," Actes du XVe Congrks InternationalType," Marsyas 11 (1962-64), 1-9. H. A. Drake, In Praise of Con-
stantine: A Historical Study and New Translation of Eusebius' Tricen-
d'Etudes Byzantines, Athines-Septembre 1976, II. Art et archeologie,
Communications B (Athens, 1981), 510-28. nial Orations (Berkeley, 1976), 101, translated Eusebius' account
of the church in Triakontaeterikos 9, 15 as having an "eight-walled
7 Buchwald, loc. cit. I find no direct link between the tetra-
conch at Perge and the Tomb Church extra muros at Corycus, plan." The aisled tetraconchs at, say, Bosra and Adrianople,
which has been incorrectly restored by G. Stanzl, Liingsbau undmake it clear that a quatrefoil inner shell can be enclosed by an
Zentralbau als Grundthemen der frilhchristlichen Architektur: Uberle-outer shell of a completely different shape.
whether 6xtdebgog refers to the inner shell, thewere both dedicated to Christ, they dif-
at Antioch
outer shell, or even some other conspicuous
feredfea-
functionally: the Rotunda was both a me-
ture of the edifice. It is not at all certain that he morial building commemorating the site of Christ's
saw a building with eight sides. This uncertainty burial and his resurrection and the most important
notwithstanding, all of us agree that the church pilgrimage church in late Antiquity. Yet both
was a central-plan, double-shell edifice with galler-
double-shell buildings were Constantinian foun-
ies above the lower story. Thus, as early as 327, dations,
in with their plans drawn up possibly within
the capital of Syria, a building embodying the
a year of each other.
double-shell concept, be it tetraconch or octa- Earlier Roman provincial architecture in Pales-
conch, was designed, and it was planned with di-tine fails to provide a possible source for the plan
rect imperial sponsorship. of the Anastasis Rotunda.57 Surely the design of
Such a reconstruction of the cathedral at Anti- the edifice was imported, either by the architect
och is not required to establish the existence of the
Zenobius or by Eustathius, a presbyter from Con-
double-shell concept as early as the reign of Con-stantinople, either (or both) of whom was in all
stantine. Two other edifices founded by Constan- probability dispatched by Constantine's imperial
tine, or by members of his house, prove that this architectural offices at Constantinople, and per-
building type existed by the middle of the fourth haps as an essential part of the emperor's religious
century-that is, before S. Lorenzo at Milan was policy with special reference to promoting the
planned. The first, and perhaps the earlier of the
unity of Christendom.58 Although he was still per-
two, is the Anastasis Rotunda of the Holy Sepul- ipatetic in the 320s, Constantine is known to have
cher compound at Jerusalem.53 The Anastasis was been in Constantinople in 326, and again in the
a huge rotunda 33.70 m in diameter, which com- following year.59 Yet his presence would not have
prised an irregularly shaped circular center space
been required for the drawing up of architectural
(19.5 m in diameter) defined by supports and sur-plans, which would have been left in the hands of
rounded by ambulatories, with semicircular nichesan appropriate imperial office.60
in the west, north, and south sides of the thick pe-
rimeter wall (Fig. 8). Thus it was a double-shell
building. Perhaps the main (east) facade wastine
a Architecture3 .... 490 note 11; E. D. Hunt, Holy Land Pilgrim-
age in the Later Roman Empire AD 312-460 (Oxford, 1982), 11-
straight wall pierced by openings. (The cathedral
12.
at Antioch also apparently featured a reverse 57Deichmann, "Empore," 1260; Brenk, op. cit., 192. The
solid ashlar construction is, of course, rooted in local Palestinian
alignment.54) That galleries surmounted the am-
practice.
bulatories is possible but not certain; and originally
5For the problem of the exact responsibilities of Zenobius
a wood dome probably crowned the edifice.55 and Eustathius, see C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire,
Planned under Constantine, possibly as early312-1453
as (Englewood Cliffs, 1972), 14 note 37; Krautheimer,
All we can do is wonder whether it was one of the identity, it was an innovative and influential mo
"many places of worship and martyrs' shrines ument of which was conceived at a place and time-
great size and beauty" that Eusebius reports surely between 324 and 326 or 327-that wit-
Em-
peror Constantine built in that city.82 Whatever nessed the
its introduction of a number of novel ar-
chitectural plans and a flurry of building activity to
82Constantine is said to have planned a new imperial palace accommodate the new seat of the government and
and one or more churches dedicated to Christ at Constanti-
the Christian faith in the East, indeed a revolution-
nople, but their arrangements are unrecorded. See C. Mango,
ary
The Brazen House: A Study of the Vestibule of the Imperial and of
Palace decisive period in the history of western
Constantinople, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes architecture.
Selskab,
Arkaeologisk-kunsthistoriske Meddeleser 4, 4 (Copenhagen,
1959); R. Janin, Constantinople byzantine: Dtveloppement urbain et
rtpertoire topographique, 2d ed. (Paris, 1964), 106 if; Dagron, op. Indiana University-Bloomington
cit., 88 f, 92 if; Miuller-Wiener, op. cit., 20, 144. For the refer-
ence to Eusebius see VC, III, 44.