Il congegno figurativo, fra Antico Testamento e Giudizio finale : sistema ornamentale, iconografia, vettori
Capitolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2015
Citazione:
Il congegno figurativo, fra Antico Testamento e Giudizio finale : sistema ornamentale, iconografia, vettori / F. Scirea (RICERCHE DI ARCHITETTURA STORICA). - In: San Tommaso ad Acquanegra sul Chiese : storia, architettura e contesto figurativo di una chiesa abbaziale romanica / [a cura di] F. Scirea. - Prima edizione. - Mantova : Società Archeologica Padana (SAP), 2015 Oct. - ISBN 9788899547004. - pp. 89-131
Abstract:
The Romanesque decoration of the church of San Tommaso in Acquanegra sul Chiese (Mantua, Lombardy), formerly a Benedictine abbey church and now a parish church, is the result of a single project that can be attributed to the long-lived and enigmatic Abbot Peter (chronicled in 1101, 1119 and 1130). According to its architectural features (Piva in this volume, Architecture) and the archaeological evidence (Gallina, Breda in this volume), the church was built around the middle of the eleventh century, or slightly later, as an aisled basilica with a transept, a deep presbytery raised on a crypt-oratory, and three apses. It was done in brickwork and covered with a wooden roof.
At the beginning of the twelfth century Abbot Peter had the nave and the presbytery raised (by 2.20 metres) and the clerestory windows enlarged, in order to considerably increase the brightness as well as the surface area on which an impressive painted cycle would unfold, modestly preserved today and split by late Renaissance vaults. The decoration was executed in two stages (first the presbytery, then the nave) by different painters, who may have been hired by a single workshop, and was completed soon after by a figurative mosaic pavement (Vaccaro in this volume). The paintings and mosaics were so closely connected to the architecture as to allow us speak of a visual device, involved in the dynamics of the monastic liturgical space.
The iconographic programme starts on the west side of the west crossing arch with a sequence showing the story of Adam and Eve. It continues on the nave walls with forty-four Old Testament figures standing in two registers, from the probable Noah (S01) to Judas Maccabeus (S44), each one formerly identified by a titulus and holding a scroll reading a verse drawn from the relative Book of the Bible. Between the arcades, close to the point of view of the monks or members of the faithful, a scene concerning the Prophet Balaam and the Ass (Num 22, 22-35) is depicted on the south side, while a rare narrative sequence about Jerome and the lion is displayed on the north side. The representation of the Old Testament continues on the west side of the east crossing arch, with the ascensions of Elijah and Enoch flanking what is probably the Ark of the Covenant inside a clypeus held by two angels. On the other face of the arch is juxtaposed a similar composition, with angels bearing the Holy Lamb (or Christ) in a clypeus worshipped by two enigmatic men without halos, who are coming out of arched city gates next to a domed ciboria in perspective: could they be the Witnesses of Apocalypse 11 in Jerusalem? Perhaps the Benedictine commissioners? Or other people entirely? Paolo Piva's contribution to this volume (Iconography and Liturgical Space) attempts to identify them. A part of what is probably an apostle holding a book, on the north wall, is all that remains of the apse depiction, which must certainly have included the Christ in majesty on the half dome. The historical narrative reaches its conclusion with the Last Judgment on the counter-façade, without leaving aside the semantic connections to the unfortunately lacking mosaic.
The whole cycle is framed by several meander bands; the most luxurious, alternating full-coloured perspective ribbons and framed figures, run at the top of the walls next to the missing painted wooden ceiling, as documented by archaeological evidence. The progressive variation on the theme from the apse (swastika ribbons and angels), through the crossing (swastikas and Temple Priests dressed in decorated breastplates: Piva and Kessler in this volume), and into the nave (double "T" ribbons and secular representations), seems to have been connected to the underlying narrative sequence, which attests the function of O
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Keywords:
Romanesque Wall Paintings; Iconography; Ornamental painting
Elenco autori:
F. Scirea
Link alla scheda completa:
Link al Full Text:
Titolo del libro:
San Tommaso ad Acquanegra sul Chiese : storia, architettura e contesto figurativo di una chiesa abbaziale romanica