Church Of SS Research Articles

New evidence for the design and urban integration of the Forum of Caesar, Forum of Augustus, Curia Julia, and Chalcidicum

AbstractThis article presents a new hypothesis about the urban arrangement and function of the southeast end of the Forum of Caesar, together with the Forum of Augustus, the Curia Julia and the present-day church of SS. Luca e Martina, when the area was finalized in 2 BCE. The analysis focuses on the geometric framework of the extant structures and the topography of the site and, in relation to them, a new interpretation of the historical records and the archaeological data. It demonstrates that Augustus and his architects authored the urban composition and architectural forms of the entire area, including making significant changes to the original design of the Forum of Caesar. The article also shows that the site of the church of SS. Luca e Martina was the location of the Augustan Chalcidicum, which served as the monumental entrance to the first two Imperial fora.

11th International Conference on Clustering Aspects of Nuclear Structure and Dynamics

PrefaceThe 11th edition of the International Conference on Clustering Aspects of Nuclear Structure and Dynamics (CLUSTER‘16) was held in Napoli, Italy, on May 23-27 2016. All the Conference Sessions took place in the magnificent Complesso Monumentale dei Ss. Marcellino e Festo, located in the Historical Centre of Naples. This is one of the most prestigious building complexes of the Federico II University of Naples, the main home institution of the organizers, together with the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Naples division). This building is 500 years old; in the XVIII century, it was reshaped by Luigi Vanvitelli, a famous architect of the pre-Neoclassical period in Italy, designer of the prestigious Royal Palace in the near town of Caserta. The site of Plenary Sessions was the Church of Ss. Marcellino e Festo, where all the participants were surrounded by the Baroque frescoes by Belisario Corenzio and, among the others, the paintings of Battistello Caracciolo, Massimo Stanzione, Giuseppe Simonelli and Francesco De Mura, important artists of the late Baroque period in South Italy. The sites of Parallel Sessions were two halls in the arcade of the S. Marcellino cloister: this gave the opportunity to the participants to enjoy the beauty of the architecture of the cloister with its fountains, gardens, sculptures.As organizers of the Conference, our main aims were: (1) to provide an excellent programme, with the expectation to be a reference point for the Nuclear Cluster Physics in the next four years; (2) to assure a very relaxing stay to the participants, allowing them to explore the bounty of artistic, and also culinary, masterpieces that Naples offers to its guests. The first point was assured by all the conveners that, with their excellent talks, gave a very precise and complete overview of the most recent achievements on Nuclear Cluster Physics, both from the experimental and theoretical point of view. We are indebted with the International Advisory Committee for their suggestions of excellent invited speakers and with all the conveners for their contributions to the discussion.

Spectroscopic analyses of an ancient silver fragment of the reliquary bust of St. Leo

A fragment of the silver reliquary bust of St. Leo, made in Messina, Italy, in the last of 1739 and now preserved in the church of SS. Savior of Africo Nuovo, Reggio Calabria, Italy, was investigated with spectroscopic techniques (scanning electron microscopy (SEM)+energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD)) in order to analyze the composition of the sample in terms of elements and compounds. EDX analysis employs an electron beam that interacts with the sample, leading to the emission of characteristic X-rays as secondary radiation. In the XRD analysis, a Cu Kα X-ray radiation is detected by a Si(Li) solid-state detector after the interaction with the sample. The chemical composition of the bulk allowed to identify the constituting metal alloy, while the detection of surface elements and compounds, closely related to the sample preservation, was useful in order to suggest to restorators the best interventions to minimize the conservation problems that could affect the durability of the precious artefact.

Appropriating Sacred Space: Private-Chapel Patronage and Institutional Identity in Sixteenth-Century Rome—The Case of the Office of Ceremonies

The author explores the efforts of papal ceremonialist Paris de' Grassi (1504-28) to transform the Office of Ceremonies from a group of semi-corporate, specialized papal attendants into a curial college with fixed regulations and social clout. The reform bull Pastoralis officii (1513) permanently reserved benefices at the Church of Ss. Celso and Giuliano in Rome, where de' Grassi served as archpriest. Between 1524 and 1551 ceremonialists endowed three private chapels at Ss. Celso and Giuliano; in 1578 another ceremonialist established a chapel at the Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, where a personal monument did not reference or depend on de' Grassi's legacy. The construction of memorial chapels at Ss. Celso and Giuliano allowed ceremonialists to establish both individual and collected corporate identities and reveals the continued entwining of private and institutional goals in both patronage and the papal bureaucracy.

O reljefu s prikazom kralja iz Splitske krstionice

Poneke ploče (izvorno pluteji) iz Splitske krstionice uključujući one iz crkve sv. Stjepana na groblju u Jesenicama potječu možda iz samostanske crkve sv. Petra Gumajskog. Među tim pločama nalazila se moguće i ona s likom kralja. Možda su na toj ploči prikazani Petar Črnjin, kralj Zvonimir i osoba (Streza) koja je izgubila spor. No, moguće je da je prikazan kralj Slavac, a osoba koja leži ničice bio bi neki od Neretljana koji su izgubili spor s Petrom Črnjinim, utemeljiteljem samostana sv. Petra Gumajskog.

Domestic Piety in Fourth Century Rome: A Relic Shrine beneath the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo

The late 4th century reliquary shrine found within the domus complex below the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Rome has already been noted in previous scholarship for the archeological and hagiographical problems this monument poses to scholarship. In the text that follows the main focus of inquiry are its owners—the wealthy and pious senator Pammachius and his wife Paulina who through their network of family and friends belonged to highest ranks of Christian patriciate in Rome. What was the function of this shrine within their household? What does it tell us about the domestic piety in Rome? Why did it remain an isolated example of a domestic shrine? Answers to some of these questions are found in the dynamic of domestic asceticism which was particularly strong in the social circle to which Pammachius and Paulina belonged. The thesis that has been put forward here is that the spread of house-bound piety resulted in building a shrine intended for ecclesia domestica, as Saint Jerome described such enviro...

The Re-emergence of The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in the Church of Saint Peter and Paul, Famagusta, Northern Cyprus

This article presents the first study of a painting, possibly the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, which has been concealed for over 500 years, and which has, this century only, re-emerged through plaster removal in the church of SS. Peter and Paul in Famagusta, N. Cyprus. Though very badly damaged the painting, which has remained undocumented and unstudied in the history and art history of Cyprus, may offer vital clues concerning internationalism and cultural interaction in Cyprus in the 14th and 15th centuries. It also offers specialists a rare glimpse at Italian ecclesiastical wall painting from this rich period in western art history, and makes clear the intellectual loss that might be felt if some basic conservation processes are not begun soon. Lastly, in the light of the changing political situation in that island it invites scholarship in a range of disciplines to the church and to other historic landmarks within the old city walls.

Elysium: A Prelude to Renaissance Theater

In late spring of 1473 an elaborate wooden building was constructed in the piazza before the Roman church of Ss. Apostoli. This structure was to provide the setting for entertainments offered in honor of the marriage of Eleonora of Aragon, daughter of Ferrante, king of Naples, to Ercole d'Este, duke of Ferrara. The bride and her Neapolitan retinue, together with the Ferrarese contingent sent to Naples to fetch her, stayed in Rome for five days, from 5 June to 9 June. They were the guests of nephews of Sixtus IV: Pietro Riario, the cardinal of San Sisto, and Giuliano della Rovere, the cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli.

The Gentle Art of Persuasion: Angelica Kauffman's Praxiteles and Phryne

When in 1771 the Mandosi family ceded the chapel of Saint Bonaventure to the Collegio, Rome was tense. The Pope was about to suppress the Society of Jesus and the Collegio found itself in the crossfire of the Society's enemies and friends. Clement XIV Ganganelli issued the Brief of suppression on July 21, 1773 after long and acrimonious debate among the courts of Europe and the ecclesiastical hierarchy.'7 The church of Ss. Apostoli and the Collegio were especially dear to the Pope: he had studied at the Collegio as a young man, had been elected its rector in 1740, and when raised to the purple had chosen Ss. Apostoli as his titular church.18 There remains his tomb, erected by Antonio Canova. But Cardinal Alessandro Albani, protector of the Conventuals at the Collegio, saw to the commissioning of the chapel of Saint Bonaventure. The Cardinal was openly allied with the Jesuits and hostile to the Pope.19 At the time of the suppression, precisely when the chapel was under reconstruction, the French ambassador Bernis wrote in a letter: Above all [Clement XIV] fears the revengeful and angry spirit of the Fathers and the intrigues of the old Cardinal Albani, their protector.20 Small wonder then that the Conventuals of the Collegio di S. Bonaventura wished diplomatically and artistically to transcend the bitter and vituperative quarreling among Pope and clergy, to follow the mind's road to God, and to seek, in the spirit of Saint Bonaventure and with the assistance of Paolo Cavaceppi, the peace of perfect wisdom. The University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO 80302

A Recently Discovered Inscription by Arab Veterans

The photograph here reproduced (pl. XIII) was received recently by Dr. A. Mingana from the Syrian Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem I of Antioch. His Beatitude writes that the stone, which measures 55 cm. in height and 40 cm. across, and is white, was discovered in the course of digging in the yard of the church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus at Ṣadad. Ṣadad is a small town some thirty miles east of Ras Baalbek station (Beirut-Aleppo line), on the edge of the desert, almost at, but a little south of, the point nearest to Palmyra. In antiquity the longer route from Palmyra to Damascus must have passed near its site. The stone is now preserved in the baptistry on the south side of the church.

Italian Votive Offerings

A very pretty custom of ancient Greece and Rome was the laying of votive offerings before the shrines of their gods. This is found amongst all ancient nations and most modern ones; but it is amongst the Greeks and Romans that it was commonest. Every crisis of life-birth, marriage, and death, sickness and safety-served as the occasion for some offering. It is not now my idea to deal with the ancient practice-that I hope to do on another opportunity-but to point out a few places where the old tradition has been kept up to the present day. Nothing is more noteworthy than the persistency of popular custom in religion; all through the classic lands can be seen the same things done as were done two thousand years ago, with just so much change as the social changes of these years have made inevitable. In many churches on the Continent may be seen votive limbs and figures hung up in token of thanks for recovery from some sickness or danger. Images of this sort, in metal, stone, or terra-cotta, have been excavated on the sites of many ancient sanctuaries; and again, as the ancients consecrated images of their gods in the temples, so the modern peasant consecrates plaster images of the Virgin. Sometimes these votive limbs are hung up in street shrines, as I have seen in Naples. A fine collection of glass and china eyes, some very large, hang in the little chapel of St. Ottilien (Black Forest), where there is a spring, still held sacred, which is believed to have healing power for the eyes. The Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, in Venice, contains a shrine of S. Vicenzo, who is credited with the power of healing cripples by miracle. Beside it hang a number of modelled limbs, and the crutches of the patients. But my present purpose is to describe two collections of II

The church of ss. anne and agnes

The church of ss. anne and agnes

IV.—On the Sculptured Doorways of the Lady Chapel of Glastonbury Abbey

At the west end of the great abbey church of SS. Peter and Paul at Glastonbury are the ruins of a chapel of very remarkable character.It was built on the site of a vetusta ecclesia dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of very great antiquity, which was consumed by fire, together with the great church and nearly all the abbey buildings, in 1184.As the vetusta ecclesia, from its sanctity and the number of relics it contained, was a holy place much resorted to by pilgrims, its reconstruction was forthwith commenced, and carried out with such speed that “about 1186” it was ready for consecration by Reginald, bishop of Bath.