Chapter III: Peru (5)

The older church has been so altered and ruined by the subsequent
rebuildings that it is extremely difficult to make out its history. It
seems, however, to have been built originally above the site of an old
Mithraic temple, which has recently been cleared out, and probably
before the time of Gregory the Great. It was apparently rebuilt, or
nearly so, by Adrian I., 772, and burnt by Robert Guiscard, 1084. The
upper church seems to have been erected by Paschal, 1099-1118. The
question is, to what age do the frescoes found on the walls of the
older church belong? Some of the heads and single figures may, I
fancy, be anterior even to the time of Adrian; but the bulk of the
paintings seem certainly to have been added between his age and 1084,
and nearer the latter than the former date. If it had not been
entirely ruined in 1084 Paschal would not have so completely
obliterated it a century afterwards. A considerable quantity of the
materials of the old church were used in the new, which tends further
to confuse the chronology.

Footnote 263:

Gutensohn and Knapp, ‘Die Basiliken des Christlichen Roms.’

Footnote 264:

Cicero de Legg., ii. 24; Festus, s. v.; Smith’s ‘Dictionary of
Classical Antiquities.’

Footnote 265:

The dates here given generally refer to the building now existing or
known, and not always to the original foundation.

[Mr. G. G. Scott, in his work before referred to (p. 506), after
giving a full quotation from Eusebius of Constantine’s basilica at
Jerusalem, in which he points out that the orientation of primitive
times is the reverse of that which has become general in later times,
continues his enquiry into the evidence afforded by the numerous early
basilicas in Rome itself. Of about fifty churches of early date, in
forty of them the sanctuary is placed at the western end, and of the
remaining ten (one of which is the great church of St. Paolo fuori le
Mura), there are only seven which appear to have retained their
original form, and which have an eastward sanctuary.

The exact orientation of the sanctuary in each case has been added to
the list.—ED.]

Footnote 266:

‘Il Vaticano discritto da Pistolesi,’ vol. ii. pls. xxiv. xxv.

Footnote 267:

The new church which superseded this one is described in the History
of the Modern Styles of Architecture, vol. i., page 111, woodcut 45.

Footnote 268:

It should be observed that the dosseret is first found in Italy in the
Church of St. Stefano Rotondo, built 468-482, and is there of similar
design to examples in Thessalonica.

Footnote 269:

‘L’architecture en Italie du vie au xi^e siècle.’ Venice, 1891.

Footnote 270:

‘Altchristlichen Kirchen nach Baudenkmalen und alteren
Beschreibungen,’ von D. Hubsch. Carlsruhe, 1862.

Footnote 271:

These piers were built in the 12th century, taking the place of the
columns of the original Basilican church of the 9th century, and the
arches date from the same period (Cattaneo).

Footnote 272:

It is now called S. Martino in Cielo d’Oro, from its having been
decided in the twelfth century that the other church in Classe
possessed the true body of the saint to which both churches were
dedicated.

Footnote 273:

A. F. von Quast, ‘Die Altchristlichen Bauwerke von Ravenna.’

Footnote 274:

The basilica Pudenziana at Rome has similar arcades externally.

Footnote 275:

The twenty-four marble columns are said to have been brought over from
Constantinople, but they were probably obtained from Greek quarries.

Footnote 276:

[The narthex as shown in Woodcut No. 409 is of much later date than
the church, and has been partially rebuilt on two or three occasions.
It is now (1892) being taken down, and the removal of the central
portion has uncovered the triple window which originally lighted the
nave.—ED.]

Footnote 277:

“La basilica di San Marco in Venezia,” by Cattaneo, continued by
Boito. Venezia, 1890.

Footnote 278:

Probably owing to its having been utilized to receive the relics of
St. Mark, which were temporarily hidden there.

Footnote 279:

This church, built by Justinian, no longer exists, having been pulled
down in 1464 by Mohammed II. to make way for his mosque. From the
description of it, however, given by Procopius, the plan was similar
to that adopted in St. Mark, being that of a Greek Cross with central
and four other domes. Procopius speaks of the church being surrounded
within by columns placed both above and below, probably referring to
galleries similar to those in St. Sophia of Constantinople. In St.
Mark’s the columns exist in one storey only, and the main wall is
carried up at the back of the aisles to give increased size inside.

Footnote 280:

Originally, according to M. Cattaneo, his was the vestibule to the
atrium from the south, but it is now blocked up by an altar.

Footnote 281:

[They are shown in the mosaic of the doorway of St. Alipe, executed at
the end of the 13th century, as also the filling in of the great west
window.—ED.]

Footnote 282:

‘Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria,’ by T. G. Jackson, M.A. Oxford,
1887.

Footnote 283:

In support of this statement he points out that twice during Christian
times it had been found necessary to raise the floor of the church.
The nave floor, which in 1857 was two steps below that of the aisles,
was raised in 1881 to the same level; but two feet nine inches below
the nave floor before it was raised there existed, according to Prof.
Eitelberger, another mosaic pavement, which must have been the floor
of the first basilica erected, and which was pulled down by Bishop
Euphrasius in 543. This lower pavement extended also under the three
chapels of the confessio, which suggests that these are part of the
first basilica.

Footnote 284:

The same polygonal form is found in the apses of St. Agatha, St.
Apollinare in Classe, St. Apollinare in Nuovo, St. Spirito, and St.
Vitale, all in Ravenna, and St. Fosca, Torcello.

Footnote 285:

The apses of two churches, of the 4th and 6th century respectively, in
the island of Paros, are similarly fitted with marble seats: in the
6th century church there are eight rows, so that the apse looks like a
small amphitheatre.

Footnote 286:

That is on the supposition that the word kirk is derived from the
Latin word “circus,” “circular,” as the French term it, “cirque.” My
own conviction is that this is certainly the case. The word is only
used by the Barbarians as applied to a form of buildings they derived
from the Romans. Why the Germans should employ κυρίου οἶκος, when
neither the Greeks nor the Latins used that name, is a mystery which
those who insist on these very improbable names have as yet failed to
explain.

Footnote 287:

The Tholos at Epidaurus seems to be an exception to this rule.

Footnote 288:

Isabelle, ‘Édifices Circulaires,’ plates 26 and 27.

Footnote 289:

M. Cattaneo states that it was built by Pope St. Simplice, 468-482.

Footnote 290:

Above the capitals are impost blocks or dosserets, the earliest known
examples of that feature in Italy.

Footnote 291:

[The Vaults over the outer aisle of St. Stefano Rotondo were built
with hollow pots, the remains of which can still be traced in the
outer walls of the 2nd aisle.

Prof. Middleton points out also the existence of rings of earthen pots
in the vault of the tomb of Sta. Helena (Woodcut No. 227), and also in
the vaults of the Circus of Maxentius, on the Via Appia.—ED.]

Footnote 292:

In this building they now show a sarcophagus of ancient date, said to
be that of Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius. She, however, was
certainly buried at Ravenna; but it may be of her time, and in these
ages it is impossible to distinguish between baptisteries and tombs.

Footnote 293:

Frederick Von Osten, ‘Bauwerke in der Lombardei.’ Darmstadt, 1852.

Footnote 294:

By an oversight of the engraver, the vault of the nave, which ought to
be made hexapartite, is drawn as quadripartite. [The nave was so
completely restored in the 14th century as to render doubtful the
original existence of a vault.—ED.]

Footnote 295:

Étude de l’Architecture Lombarde,’ par F. de Dartein. Paris, 1878.

Footnote 296:

These are incorrectly shown on woodcut. The central pier is nearly 4
feet wide and carried a transverse rib of the same size and of two
orders.

Footnote 297:

Ferrario, ‘Monumenti Sacri e Profani dell’ I. R. Basilica di S.
Ambrogio,’ Milan, 1824.

Footnote 298:

“Quid dicamus columnarum junceam proceritatem? Moles illas
sublimissimas quasi quibusdam erectis hastilibus contineri substantiæ
qualitate concavis canalibus excavatas vel magis ipsas æstimes esse
transfusas. Ceris judices factum quod metallis durissimis videas
expolitum. Marmorum juncturas venas dicas esse genitales, ubi dum
falluntur oculi laus probatur crevisse miraculis.” In the above,
_metallum_ does not seem to mean metal as we now use the word, but any
hard substance dug out of the ground. (Cassiodorus, Variorum, lib.
vii. ch. 15.)

Footnote 299:

See vol. i. p. 372.

Footnote 300:

‘The Land of Moab,’ by Dr. Tristram (Murray, 1873), pp. 376 _et seqq._
[The small triangular marble panels referred to in Murano are of a
very elementary character in their carving, and have scarcely the
importance attached to them by Mr. Fergusson. Besides, the same wall
decoration in brickwork is found in the apse of St. Fosca, Torcello
(c. 1008), where, however, the triangular recesses are simply covered
with stucco and painted; being closer to the eye in Murano, they
filled the spaces with incised marble slabs: in other words, it seems
more probable that the slabs were made for the triangular panels than
the converse, which is suggested by Mr. Fergusson.—ED.]

Footnote 301:

The typical example of this class is the San Giorgio at Venice, though
it is not by any means the one most like St. Pietro; many attempts
were made before it became so essentially classical as this (see
Woodcut No. 39, Vol. I. in the ‘History of Modern Architecture’).

Footnote 302:

From the boldness of the construction, M. Cattaneo is induced to place
the erection of the building at the end of the 11th or beginning of
the 12th century.

Footnote 303:

The four square towers of San Lorenzo, Milan, and the circular
campanile by the side of the cathedral of Ravenna, are the earliest
examples known, the latter dating from the commencement of the 5th
century.

Footnote 304:

[The tower of St. Satiro at Milan (879 A.D.), is considered by
Cattaneo to be the most ancient campanile known in which the wall
surface is broken up with flat pilasters or vertical bands in relief,
and divided into storeys by horizontal string courses, with ranges of
small blind arches below, carried on corbels, and may be regarded as
the prototype of the most characteristic Lombard towers.—ED.]

Footnote 305:

‘History of Medieval Art,’ by Dr. F. M. Reber, translated by J. T.
Clarke. New York, 1887.

Footnote 306:

‘Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria,’ by T. G. Jackson, A.R.A. Oxford,
1887.

Footnote 307:

Schultz, ‘Denkmäler der Kunst der Mittelalters in Unter-Italien.’
Folio, 1860.

Footnote 308:

The polygonal form given to the apse externally shows the direct
influence of Byzantine art.

Footnote 309:

The cornice projects 1 ft. 10 in., and consequently overhangs the base
by 13 ft.

Footnote 310:

The present cathedral is only a portion, viz. the transept of a much
vaster edifice which was never completed; but the beautiful unfinished
south front and portions of the gigantic nave and aisles still exist
on the western side of the present cathedral, and the drawings of it
are preserved in the archives of the Duomo.

Footnote 311:

[Since this was written the façade has been completed to harmonize
with the rest, but not in accordance with the original design, if we
may judge by the painting in Sta. Maria Novella, which shows side
gablets similar to those of the cathedral of Siena.—ED.]

Footnote 312:

If we may trust Wiebeking, the first two bays of the nave from the
front were vaulted in 1588, but the work was suspended till 1647, and
completed only in 1659. Yet no difference can be perceived in the
details of the design.

Footnote 313:

The plan and section being taken from two different writers, there is
a slight discrepancy between the scales. I believe the plan to be the
more correct of the two, though I have no means of being quite certain
on the point.

Footnote 314:

‘Dispareri d’Architettura.’

Footnote 315:

Within the last few years a façade has been added to Sta. Croce, but
about which the less said the better. It is wretched in design.

Footnote 316:

Similar buildings at Bergamo, Brescia, and Monza are illustrated in
Mr. Street’s beautiful work on the architecture of the North of Italy,
from which the two last illustrations are borrowed.

Footnote 317:

In the Bodleian in Oxford is a MS. of the 14th century containing a
view of the Piazzetta, engraved in Yule’s ‘Marco Polo,’ Introduction,
p. xlviii., in which the outer wall of the building is shown resting
on the inner wall of the arcade. This would suggest either that in
Ziani’s building the upper wall was set back or that some subsequent
changes were made in the two parts, of which, however, there is no
record.

Footnote 318:

So called from its having been, according to Signor Boni (see
Transactions R.I.B.A., vol. iii., new series, 1887), richly decorated
with colour and gilding.

Footnote 319:

The same drawing shows that a calle or small street existed on the
west, or left-hand side, as well as on the east, and the enriched work
carved by Giovanni Bon, stonecutter (the architect of the Porta delle
Carta of the Ducal Palace), was to extend along the whole front facing
the Grand Canal and ten feet at each end down the two streets.

Footnote 320:

‘Architecture Moderne de la Sicile,’ fol. Paris, 1826-30.

Footnote 321:

‘Del Duomo di Monreale e di altre Chiese Siculo-Normane,’ fol.
Palermo, 1838.

Footnote 322:

‘Normans in Sicily,’ 8vo. text, fol. plates, London, 1838.

Footnote 323: