The Word in the Image: an Epiconographic Analysis of Mosaics of the Reform in Rome

Abstract

Using a new methodological approach, called epiconography, the present paper examines the most significant monuments produced in Rome during the Gregorian reform: the mosaics of S. Clemente and S. Maria in Trastevere. This approach situates the works in the historical and cultural contexts of their production and attempts to resolve the divide between “visible” and “legible”, figure and text, which has been present for so long in art-historical studies. The two mosaics are exemplars of a practice of “visual composition” that followed the rules of medieval rhetoric in order to emphasize an ecclesiastical message. This strategy was typical during the Gregorian reform since S. Clemente was composed under the direct influence of the initial ideals that gave impetus to this ecclesiastical reform, while S. Maria in Trastevere constitutes the apex of “Gregorian art”, showing the triumph of the Reformed Church. In both mosaics, the scripts guide the viewer by the type of letters used, the placing of texts and images, and their colors, depending on the position of the viewer in the architectural space of the church. Gregorian art demonstrates how traditional models of decoration are reinterpreted to create new schemata, closer to the contemporary message of the Church. Reformers created a visual rhetoric based on the display of closely connected scripts and images, which systematized knowledge for the benefit of the beholder.