ABPL90267 Development of Western Architecture

basilicas & martyria

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Copyright Regulations 1969
Warning
This material has been reproduced and communicated to you
by or on behalf of the University of Melbourne pursuant to Part
VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act).
The material in this communication may be subject to copyright
under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this
material by you may be the subject of copyright protection
under the Act.
do not remove this notice

the state and the church

the Roman Empire AD 362

Colin McEvedy, The Penguin Atlas of Ancient
History(Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1988
[1967]), p 89

the advance of Christianity

c 200 many Christians in Rome
313 Edict of Milan makes Christianity legal
314 Armenia becomes the first Christian state
337 Christianity the official religion of the Empire

giant statue of Constantine from the Basilica (about ten times life size), now in
the Capitoline Museum, Rome
Nigel Rodgers, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome (Hermes House, London 20108 [2004], p 35

principal forms of the Constantinian monogram

Dora Ware & Maureen Stafford, An Illustrated Dictionary of Ornament (London
1974), p 145

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 432-440, ceiling c 1500

Scala 7622 (1972)

Santa Maria Maggiore

plan
modern view
reconstruction

James Fergusson, The

Illustrated Handbook of
Architecture (2 vols, London
1855), II, p 490
Scala 7622 (1972)
Richard Krautheimer, Rome:
Profile of a City, 312-1308
(Princeton [New Jersey] 1980), p
48

the catacombs

the catacombs
(underground burial galleries)
loculus [pl loculi] a long slot for a body
arcosolium [pl arcosolia] an arched space with the body in a
trough across the bottom
cubiculum [pl cubicula] a room or burial chamber with a
number of loculi or arcosolia, and possibly serving as a chapel
decoration often includes pagan iconography recycled with
Christian meanings; also the orans, a figure with its hands
raised in prayer, representing the soul of the deceased

plan of the Catacombs of San Callisto [Callixtus]

Pontificia Commissione Archeologia Sacra CSC/21

Catacombs of
S Callisto,
Rome: gallery
with loculi

Lewis, Architectura, p 96

Catacombs of S Callisto, Rome: arcosolium

Pontificia Commissione Archeologia Sacra CSC/24

arcosolium in the Coemeterium Maius, Rome, C3rd

Jean Lassus, The Early Christian and Byzantine World (London 1967), pl 7

cubiculum, Catacomb of Sant' Agnese

chapel in the Catacombs of S Sotere, plan
chamber, S Sebastiano complex, Via Appia
Miles Lewis
Cecil Stewart, Early Christian, Byzantine and
Romanesque Architecture, p 2
Bussagli, Rome, pl 179

catacomb
chapels,
Rome
Salita del
Cocomero,
Via Latina
Sant Agnese
R de Lasteyrie,
lArchitecture Religieuse
en France lpoque
Romane (2nd ed,
August Picard, Paris
1929 [1911]), p 61

serving new religions, especially Mithraism

sometimes with a nave and aisles, resembling a basilica
a mithraeum (temple of Mithras) is often underground, and
commonly has benches down either side

underground basilica
at the Porta Maggiore,
Rome, AD C1st
interior & plan

Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of

European Architecture
(Harmondsworth [Middlesex]
1968 [1943]), pp 29, 30

underground basilica of the Porta Maggiore: vaulted ceiling

Miles Lewis

Mithraeum below the Church of San Clemente, Rome, AD ?C2nd

view and detail of altar
Miles Lewis
No 21, S Clemente set

Mithraeum at Tiddis, Algeria

the symbol & the chamber
Miles Lewis

Mithraeum
at Tiddis
the initiation
chamber

Miles Lewis

Mithraeum, London, AD c 150: plan

Pevsner, Outline of European Architecture, p 30

house churches
earliest known at Dura Europos,
Mesopotamia, AD c 230
Roman tituli equitii (like parish churches)
such as
S Martino ai Monti
SS Giovanni e Paolo

scholae at Pompeii
R de Lasteyrie, lArchitecture Religieuse en France lpoque
Romane (2nd ed, August Picard, Paris 1929 [1911]), p 368

house at Lagash, Isin

Larsa period (20251594): plan
house at Dura-Europos,
A D c 230, axonometric
view
MUAS 14,621
Jean Lassus, The Early Christian and
Byzantine World (London 1967), p 10

Baptistery in the Christian house at Doura Europos, Syria, AD c 230

Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, p 10

SS Giovanni e Paolo,
Rome
reconstruction of the
domus ecclesia below the
present church: a two story
dwelling and a hall built for
the cult in the C4th, shown
in red
plan of the church built in
410
Fabrizio Mancinelli, Catacombs and
Basilicas: the Early Christians in Rome
(Florence 1981)
Matilda Webb, The Churches and
Catacombs of Early Christian Rome: a
Comprehensive Guide (Sussex
Academic Press, Brighton 2001), p 102

S Martino ai Monti, Rome

cutaway isometric of the hall used in the C6th
plan of the hall and the later church
Grabar, Beginnings of Christian Art, p 6
Webb, Churches and Catacombs of Rome, p 73

the Roman basilica

the Roman basilica

the Roman basilica is a hall-like space,
usually for public purposes such as
lawcourts, but the word can apply even to
stables and warehouses
transverse (broad or eastern) type
longitudinal (Pompeiian or western) type

Basilica of Trajan, or Ulpian Basilica, AD 98-11

unusually grand - double aisles, double apses
apses are screened by colonnades, so the space reads as rectangular
entered from the long sides, not the end
Fletcher, History of Architecture, p 200

Basilica of Trajan, reconstructed interior view by Gorski & Packer

James Packer, The Forum of Trajan at Rome: a Study of the Monuments (Los Angeles 1997)

late republican and early imperial basilicas of the 'broad'

[eastern] type
J B Perkins, 'Constantine and the Christian Basilica', Papers of the British School at
Rome, XXII (1954), p 73

Basilica Julia, Forum Romanum, Rome, reconstruction

Bodo Cichy, The Great Ages of Architecture: from Ancient Greece to the Present Day
(Oldbourne Press, London 1964 [1959]), p 22

late republican and early

imperial basilicas of the
Pompeiian or western type

Pompeii
Corinth
Lepcis Magna

Perkins, 'Constantine and the Christian

Basilica', Papers of the British School at
Rome, XXII (1954), p 72

the Christian basilica

the Christian basilica

longitudinal: it relates to the Roman western type

plans of Roman basilicas of the western type (left); and Christian churches (right)
E H Swift, Roman Sources of Christian Art (New York 1951), p 30

the Christian basilica

longitudinal: it relates to the Roman western type

plans of Roman basilicas of the western type (left); and Christian churches (right)
E H Swift, Roman Sources of Christian Art (New York 1951), p 30

basilica in the Flavian

Palace (Domus
Augustana), Rome, by
Rabirius, AD c 85
plan and section

MUAS 15,434

S Crisogono, Rome, beginning of the C4th: reconstruction drawing

Richard Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture [Pelican History of Art]
(Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1965), p 1

S Sebastiano, Rome, 312-?313, excavation plan

Webb, Churches and Catacombs of Rome, p 224

S Sebastiano,
Rome, 312-?313
reconstruction
model

Mancinelli, Catacombs
and Basilicas, p 19
Krautheimer, Early
Christian and
Byzantine
Architecture, pl 6A

church and monastery at Tebessa, Algeria, plan, from Gsell

R de Lasteyrie, lArchitecture Religieuse en France lpoque Romane
(2nd ed, August Picard, Paris 1929 [1911]), p 31

cantharus in the atrium of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th

Miles Lewis

nave of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th

Miles Lewis

chancel of the basilca at Tebessa, C4th

Miles Lewis

nave
ordonnance
of the basilca
at Tebessa,
C4th

Miles Lewis

Basilica Julia, Forum Romanum, Rome, reconstruction

Bodo Cichy, The Great Ages of Architecture: from Ancient Greece to the Present Day
(Oldbourne Press, London 1964 [1959]), p 22

THE
CIRCULAR TRADITION
the circular temple
(rare)
the Roman heroum
a tomb of or shrine dedicated to an
important figure
gives rise the Christian martyrium
tomb of, or shrine dedicated to, a
martyr or important
Christian figure

a circular temple
the Pantheon,
Rome, AD 120-124
view & side elevation

photo Paradoxplace.com
Bussagli, Rome, p 117

the Pantheon
Lewis, Architectura, p 224

Pantheon
section
& plan

Henri Stierlin,
Encyclopdia of
World Architecture
(2 vols, London
1977), I, p 81

the heroum

Mausoleum of Diocletian at Spalato or Split, 284

plan & elevation
Robert Adam, Ruins of the Palace of the emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (London 1764)

Basilica of SS Marcellinus and Petrus, Rome, with the

mausoleum of St Helena (mother of Constantine) originally
intended for Constantine himself
Webb, Churches and Catacombs of Rome, p 280

a heroum / martyrium
Reconstruction of the Basilica of SS Marcellinus and Petrus,
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 40

a herooum /
martyrium
Coemeterium Agnetis
(cemetery of Sant'
Agnese), with the
mausoleum of Santa
Costanza, c 338-350,
and the church of
Sant' Agnese fuori le
Mura, c 625-38

Mancinelli, Catacombs and

Basilicas, p 50

aerial view of the remains of the Coemeterium Agnetis

and the mausoleum of Santa Costanza, c 338-350
photo Santagnese.org

Santa Costanza, Rome, c 360: views, section, plan

MUAS 15,445; Miles Lewis;
E H Swift, Roman Sources of Christian Art (New York 1951), p 40

Santa Costanza, interior

Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 16

Santa Costanza
view in the
ambulatory

Bussagli, Rome, p 167

Santa Costanza, apse mosaic in the sanctuary

Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 17

Santa Costanza, details of the ambulatory vault mosaic

Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine World, pl 14; Bussigli, Rome, p 305

Constantinian churches

the great Constantinian basilicas

St John Lateran, Rome
313 onwards
the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
before 333
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
328-336
St Peters, Rome
333-360-390

eastern Christian sites, C4thC6th, with the locations of the

great Constantinian basilicas
indicated
S15,417

Lateran Church and Palace, Rome

restoration study as in c 1450 by K J Conant, with the
basilica at the top and the baptistery at the right
modern view of Baptistery
K J Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture [Pelican History of
Art] (Harmondsworth [Middlesex] 1959), pl VIIIB
MU Fine Arts c10097

Lateran Basilica
begun 313
isometric reconstruction as
in 320

plan showing the

foundations in relation to the
present building

Krautheimer, Early Christian and

Byzantine Architecture, p 251
Mancinelli, Catacombs and
Basilicas, p 11

detail of the apse mosaic

from the church of Sta
Pudenziana, Rome, c 400

Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine

World, pl 20

apse mosaic from Sta Pudenziana

showing the jewelled cross on Golgotha, Jerusalem, church of the Holy Sepulchre at
Jerusalem, and the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem
Arnold Toynbee [ed], The Crucible of Christianity (London 1969), p 192

Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, Jordan, 325-333 and later

interior view & isometric reconstruction
Peter Bamm, The Kingdoms of Christ: the Story of the Early Church (London 1959), p 165
Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, p 37

Church of the
Nativity at
Bethlehem,
nave elevation

R de Lasteyrie,
lArchitecture
Religieuse en France
lpoque Romane
(2nd ed, August
Picard, Paris 1929
[1911]), p 11

basilican church on Golgotha

(Church of the Holy Sepulchre),
Jerusalem, 328-336
reconstructed plan as in c 335
isometric reconstruction of the rotunda

Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture,

p 39
Charles Couasnon, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
Jerusalem (London 1974), pl XVII

Church of the
Holy Sepulchre
plan & section 'as in
the 4th century',
according to
Lambert, including
the Anastasis
Rotunda, c 350
reconstruction plan
by Krautheimer, as
in c 335

Miohel Join-Lambert,
Jerusalem (London 1958),
p 124
Krautheimer, Early
Christian and Byzantine
Architecture, p 39

Church of the Holy

Sepulchre, Jerusalem,
328-336
reconstructed plan & sectional
perspective as in c 335
Krautheimer, Early Christian and
Byzantine Architecture, pp 39,40

pre-Constantinian
necropolis on the site of
St Peter's, Rome
view of faades to the
roadway

Mancinelli, Catacombs and

Basilicas, p 13

early C4th mosaic from a

chamber in the preConstantinian necropolis
under the Basilica of St
Peter, Rome

Lassus, Early Christian and Byzantine

World, pl 13

shrine over the grave of St Peter, Rome, AD C2nd

plan, with the adjoining tombs
reconstruction model
J M C Toynbee & J B W Perkins, The Shrine of St Peter and the
Vatican Excavations (London 1956), p 139
Bussagli, Rome, p 178

shrine over the grave of St Peter, Rome, AD C2nd

reconstruction model, compared with a domestic shrine from Herculaneum
Bussagli, Rome, p 178; MUAS 840

St Peter's Basilica, Rome, isometric of the classical cemetery in relation

to the structures of the lower church
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 15

St Peter's Basilica, Rome, 333-360-390

longitudinal section through the foundations of the church; plan
Lees-Milne, St Peter's, p 71; MUAS 10,278

comparitive plans
of the three
Constantinian
churches which
combine a basilica
and a martyrium

Perkins, 'Constantine
and the Christian
Basilica', p 83

St Peter's, Rome
reconstruction view
as in ?c 400
MUAS 15,439

St Peter's Basilica
interior view from a fresco by Domenico Tasselli
reconstruction of the west end by Letarouilly
X B i Altet [translated Lory Frankel], The Early Middle Ages from Late Antiquity to A.D. 1000
(Kln 1997), p 34 ; MUAS 14,807

St Peter's Basilica compared with the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

MUAS 14,807; Peter Bamm, The Kingdoms of Christ: the Story of the Early Church (London 1959), p 165

St Peter's Basilica, C4th apse mosaic

as represented in a fresco in the present St Peters
surviving fragment showing St Paul
Walter Oakeshott, The Mosaics of Rome: from the third to the Fourteenth
Century (London 1967), pl 29, pl 19

St Peter's
Basilica, one of
the original
salmonic
columns

Bamm, Kingdoms of
Christ, p 118

St Peter's Basilica, one of the original salmonic columns

ivory casket from Pola representing the baldacchino over the Shrine of St Peter
Bamm, Kingdoms of Christ, p 118 ; Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 15

St Peters Basilica, isometric reconstruction &

plan of the C4th shrine, based uipon the casket
from Pola
Toynbee & Perkins, The Shrine of St Peter, p 202
Lees-Milne, St Peter's, p 80
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 15

St Peter's Basilica: plan superimposed on the circus and necropolis,

grottoes and present basilica
Mancinelli, Catacombs and Basilicas, p 12