Restoration and Remembrance at the Basilica of San Crisogono
Title
Subject
Description
According to Richard Krautheimer, by 312 CE, approximately one third of the Roman population was Christian or sympathetic to the Christian cause. This is a powerful statistic that, he argues, defines the early history of the Basilica of San Crisogono. The first mention of the church occurs in 499 CE, which suggests that the church was constructed at some point in the fifth century. But the church was not one of the huge, ornate basilicas that we are used to seeing in modern Rome, it was a so-called “House of the Church,” a rather simple building (often a private apartment or mansion) owned by the church and used much in the way that we would use a modern community center. Many of these “Houses of the Church” served as housing for the clergy, administrative centers, classrooms, and places for religious practice – often built specifically to serve these multiple functions, they were completely integrated into the cityscape. Cardinal John of Crema re-founded the church in 1123, razing the earlier basilica and dedicating a new monastic complex. The new church was meant to celebrate and signify John of Crema’s capture and removal of the anti-pope Gregory VIII from Sutri in 1121.
Archaeologically speaking, the site is rich. It is a wonderful example of the restoration practices that were characteristic of the 17th century. Cardinal Scipione Borghese was engaged in a feud with his uncle (also a cardinal), and made the competitive move to renovate San Crisogono in 1618-1628 in order to keep pace with his uncle’s equally impressive building program. The restoration project was meant to modernize the basilica, glorifying the existing structure and recalling the magnificence of the late antique church. Thus, Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s renovation project was a restoration, meant to bring the building into the future while simultaneously celebrating the past.
The early Christian basilica of San Crisogono is still visible via a small door in the left nave of the modern church. A trip down a set of stairs leads visitors into the cool quiet of what appears to be an active excavation site, where the structure of the original basilica and its surrounding houses is still apparent. Frescoes and sarcophagi abound, as are nooks and crannies featuring artifacts, pottery, and even the occasional bone fragment.
Abstract
Creator
Source
Hill, Michael. “The Patronage of a Disenfranchised Nephew: Cardinal Scipione Borghese and the Restoration of San Crisogono in Rome, 1618-1628.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 60, no. 4 (2001): 432-449.
Kinney, Dale. “Rome in the Twelfth Century: Urbs Fracta and Renovatio.” Gesta 45, no. 2 (2006): 199-220. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Identifier
Spatial Coverage
Description
According to Richard Krautheimer, by 312 CE, approximately one third of the Roman population was Christian or sympathetic to the Christian cause. This is a powerful statistic that, he argues, defines the early history of the Basilica of San Crisogono. The first mention of the church occurs in 499 CE, which suggests that the church was constructed at some point in the fifth century. But the church was not one of the huge, ornate basilicas that we are used to seeing in modern Rome, it was a so-called “House of the Church,” a rather simple building (often a private apartment or mansion) owned by the church and used much in the way that we would use a modern community center. Many of these “Houses of the Church” served as housing for the clergy, administrative centers, classrooms, and places for religious practice – often built specifically to serve these multiple functions, they were completely integrated into the cityscape. Cardinal John of Crema re-founded the church in 1123, razing the earlier basilica and dedicating a new monastic complex. The new church was meant to celebrate and signify John of Crema’s capture and removal of the anti-pope Gregory VIII from Sutri in 1121.
Archaeologically speaking, the site is rich. It is a wonderful example of the restoration practices that were characteristic of the 17th century. Cardinal Scipione Borghese was engaged in a feud with his uncle (also a cardinal), and made the competitive move to renovate San Crisogono in 1618-1628 in order to keep pace with his uncle’s equally impressive building program. The restoration project was meant to modernize the basilica, glorifying the existing structure and recalling the magnificence of the late antique church. Thus, Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s renovation project was a restoration, meant to bring the building into the future while simultaneously celebrating the past.
The early Christian basilica of San Crisogono is still visible via a small door in the left nave of the modern church. A trip down a set of stairs leads visitors into the cool quiet of what appears to be an active excavation site, where the structure of the original basilica and its surrounding houses is still apparent. Frescoes and sarcophagi abound, as are nooks and crannies featuring artifacts, pottery, and even the occasional bone fragment.
Creator
Nora Katz (2016)Coverage
400sSource
Hill, Michael. “The Patronage of a Disenfranchised Nephew: Cardinal Scipione Borghese and the Restoration of San Crisogono in Rome, 1618-1628.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 60, no. 4 (2001): 432-449.
Kinney, Dale. “Rome in the Twelfth Century: Urbs Fracta and Renovatio.” Gesta 45, no. 2 (2006): 199-220. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.