Sandrine Ferrans Roman Art and Architecture in the Age of Ignatius

This week in Rome we discussed Roman art and architecture in the age of Ignatius, which was embodied by our visit to St. Peter’s Basilica. St Peter’s Basilica shows the transition and combination of Renaissance and Baroque art in addition to having important Christian iconographies.

Saint Peters Basilica as we know it is actually New Saint Peters, which was built on the site of Old Saint Peters in the Vatican city. Old Saint Peters was built by Constantine, the first Christian emperor, in the fourth century. Pope Julius II decided to demolish Old Saint Peters and rebuild the church, which is an exertion of his papal power as a patron for the arts. He commissioned Dante Bramante, a High Renaissance architect, to be the architect of New Saint Peters. Bramante’s original architectural plan consisted of a greek cross. Central plans and the greek cross were ideal of the High Renaissance due to pure geometry. However, Bramante’s pure geometry was undermined by practicality. The church needed a longer nave in order to accommodate more people, therefore New St. Peters Basilica is a Latin cross. 

 

After Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Maderno, and Bernini assumed the title of architect of Saint Peters. Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the Piazza Saint Pietro, in which he manipulated the space to create drama. It was designed like a stage, in which theatricality and grandiosity were emphasized. The facade unfortunately hides the dome of St. Peters. The  colonnade reaches out like two arms of the holy mother church to embrace all people, all of her children, even those who were not part of the Catholic church. The symbolism of the colonnade was very important in the wake of religious split of the Catholic church. The entrance is trapezoidal which is not a perfect square nor perfect triangle, and the vast colonnade is elliptical, which is not a perfect circle. This represents the transition from pure geometry of the High Renaissance to the theatricality and willingness to break the strict rules of the Renaissance. However, the colonnade is four columns deep, which still employs the precise geometry characteristic of the Roman Renaissance, as well as trompe l’oeil for depth. The fountain is another example that shows the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque, where symmetry and harmony are critical, but there is a sense of theatrical and spectacle. It was originally designed and created by Carlo Maderno, and Bernini made another identical copy. Overall, the building of New Saint Peter’s Basillica was a two century process. 

After being in awe from the Piazza Saint Pietro, we went into the porch of church. The filarete bronze doors are critical to Roman history because they exhibit papal supremacy, donor portrait, and important Christian iconographies. The doors have six sections, surrounded by decorative motifs, such as the scrolling acanthus, which is reminiscent of classical culture. From left to right the sections contain Christ as salvator mundi enthroned, Mary, Paul, Peter, and the martyrdom of Paul and Peter. The portrait of Paul portrays him holding the sword he will later be beheaded with. The portrait of Peter depicts the saint handing keys to the kneeling Pope Eugene IV. By including Pope Eugene IV, the benefactor of the doors, this section is a donor portrait, in which its purpose is to memorialize the donor. The handing of the keys from Paul to Pope Eugene IV represent papal supremacy, in which he has spiritual power as well as temporal power and dual power over souls and kingdoms. The donor portrait and papal supremacy are ways to advance the Pope’s political agenda through art. The Matyrdom of Paul is a simultaneous narrative, which depicts Paul being beheaded blindfolded as well as his soul returning the blindfold to Plautilla in the sky. The Matyrdom of Peter contains an image formula of the saint being matyred upside down. 

We then finally went inside of the St. Peter’s Basilica, a moment I’ve been looking forward to. I loved the Pieta by Michelangelo very much. It depicts Mary holding the deceased Christ. Usually the depiction of the Pieta is awkward because Mary appears too large in comparison to Christ, in which she is holding his body. However, Michelangelo uses her drapery to disguise her width. This brings an incredible amount of gracefulness and balance to the which are markers of the High Renaissance.

Roman art in the age of Ignatius is religious art and Christian iconographies, often with intent to increase papal power with papal supremacy and donor portraits. Roman architecture during this period was Renaissance or Baroque. Renaissance architecture focuses on pure geometries and harmony, while Baroque architecture emphasizes the theatrical, spectacle, and grandiose.