Santa Maria Antiqua () is a Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy, built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum, and for a long time the monumental access to the Palatine imperial palaces.
Located at the foot of the Palatine Hill, Santa Maria Antiqua is the oldest Christian monument in the Roman Forum. The church contains the earliest Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina, the Virgin Mary as a Queen, from the 6th century.Erik Thunø, 2003 Image and relic: mediating the sacred in early medieval Rome page 34Bissera V. Pentcheva, 2006 Icons and power: the Mother of God in Byzantium page 21Anne J. Duggan, 2008 Queens and queenship in medieval Europe page 175
History Built in the middle of the 6th century on the north-western slope of the Palatine Hill, Santa Maria Antiqua is the earliest and most significant Christian monument within the Roman Forum. The church contains a unique collection of wall paintings from the 6th to late 8th century. The discovery of these paintings have given many theories on the development of early medieval art and given distinctive beliefs in archaeology. The church was abandoned in the 9th century after an earthquake buried the buildings; it remained sealed for over 1000 years until its rediscovery in the early 20th century. Therefore, Santa Maria Antiqua represents a key element for the understanding of the cultural and urban development of the Roman Forum from Antiquity into the first centuries of the Christian period. From 1980 to 2012 the monument was closed to the general public and limited to scholars who applied for a special visit. Following a conservation program carried out by the Soprintendenza per il Patrimonio Storico in partnership with World Monuments Fund, the church is now open for tours.
Santa Maria Antiqua is a ruined church in the Roman Forum, and is part of the Foro Romano e Palatino archaeological site which requires a ticket purchase in order to get access inside. The church itself is not always open to the public, owing to ongoing excavations which began 2004 under the aegis of the World Monuments Fund. Thanks to centuries of sealing off, its walls showcase a cycle of beautiful colourful frescoes depicting the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus, popes, saints, and martyrs, thus forming one of the largest and most important collections of pre-iconoclastic Roman and Byzantine art in the world. These frescoes date to a period of iconoclasm when in the East, figures in churches were destroyed.
Pope John VII used this church in the early 8th century as the seat of the bishop of Rome.
The church was partially destroyed in 847, when an earthquake caused parts of the imperial palaces to collapse and cover the church. For this reason, a new church called Santa Maria Nova (New St Mary, now Santa Francesca Romana) was erected nearby by Pope Leo IV, on a portion of the ruined temple of Temple of Venus and Roma, where once stood a chapel commemorating the fall of Simon Magus. Santa Maria Antiqua suffered further damages during the Norman Sack of Rome (1084).
Prior to the present structures, the church of San Salvatore in Lacu, occupied by Benedictines, was located at this site, named because of its proximity to a site called the Lago di Gioturna. The church was assigned in 1550 by Pope Julius III to the Oblates of St Frances of Rome from the nearby Monastery of Tor de' Specchi.Guida metodica di Roma e suoi contorni, by Giuseppe Melchiorri, Rome (1836); page 427. The church of Santa Maria Liberatrice (Sancta Maria libera nos a poenis inferni) was built in 1617 on its ruins of Santa Maria Antiqua. This refurbishment was patronized by Cardinal Marcello Lante della Rovere and utilized the architect Onorio Longhi. The church was decorated by the painters Stefano Parrocel, Gramiccia (Lorenzo?), Francesco Ferrari, and Sebastiano Ceccarini.Melchiorri; pages 427=428. The church of Maria Liberatrice, however, was demolished in 1900 to bring the remains of the old church to light.
Santa Maria Antiqua was closed for restoration from 1980 to 2016.
Byzantine frescoes
The heavily layered walls of Santa Maria Antiqua feature numerous frescoes of varied artistic styles, dating from its time of intense decoration from the sixth to the ninth centuries.Folgero, Olav. "The Lowest, Lost Zone in the Adoration of the Crucified Scene in Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome: A New Conjecture". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 2009, p. 207. Each alcove, wall and altar can be attributed to different times and trends of style representative of its artists and patrons, including the Popes Martin I (649-653), John VII (705-707), Zachary (741-752) and Paul I (757-767). The amount of erosion and destruction makes obtaining an accurate record of the styles difficult. Using the fragments of the frescoes, archaeologists and historians have assembled a rough chronology of the decorations.Nordhagen, Per Jonas. "The Frescoes of John VII (A.D. 705-707) In S. Maria Antiqua in Rome". 1986, p. 4. Historians who study Santa Maria Antiqua often rely on contemporary churches to help create a chronology of styles and influences: in the case of Santa Maria Antiqua, this is less successful due to the fact that no other church from Late Antiquity has quite the same collection and evolution of styles through this time.Knipp, David. "The Chapel of Physicians at Santa Maria Antiqua". Dumberton Oak Papers, 2002, p. 15. The change of style at Santa Maria Antiqua is recognized through its layering of trends and styles.
Rome changed hands multiple times during Santa Maria Antiqua's use. The defeat of the Western Roman Empire by the Goths in the fifth century gave way to Byzantine and Lombard influence in the late fifth to mid eighth centuries.Frothingham Jr., A.L. "Notes on Byzantine Art and Culture in Italy and Especially in Rome". The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, 1895, p. 152, 157. Artists from the Greek community surrounding the church had local influence, but there was also a Byzantine administration operating atop the Palatine Hill, at the base of which is Santa Maria Antiqua.Knipp 2002, p. 2. This continual change in influences is thought to be a determining factor in the different styles in this church.Maguire, Henry. "Style and Ideology in Byzantine Imperial Art". Gesta, 1989, p. 217. Influences can also be traced through remaining inscriptions: Greek in Pope Martin I's (649-653) decorations, Greek and Latin in Pope John VII's (705-707) and completely Latin in Pope Paul I's.Avery, Myrtilla. "The Alexandrian Style at Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome". The Art Bulletin, 1925, p. 137.
The Palimpsest Wall, located in the sanctuary (number two on map) has at least six layers of decoration, representing different styles, dates and influences.Nordhagen, Per Jonas. "Studies in Byzantine and Early Medieval Painting". Pindar Press, 1990, p. 163. The first two layers from the fourth to sixth century are of Ancient Roman Pagan mosaics, which quickly were replaced by the earliest frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua.Nordhagen, Studies, p. 175. About two percent of these mosaics survive because they were overpainted with fresco.Nordhagen 1990, p. 158. The third layer, c. 500-550, contains remnants of Queen of Heaven, the earliest association of this title with the Virgin Mary and the Pompeian Angel.Osborn, John. "The Atrium of S. Maria Antiqua, Rome: A History in Art". Papers of the British School at Rome, 1987, p. 195.Nordhagen 1990, p. 175. It is on this layer that archaeologists note the turn toward Hellenistic or Byzantine styles and away from a traditional linear Roman style. Layers four and five, c. 570-655 see the complete take over of Hellenistic style from earlier Roman styles, asserting Byzantine influence in Rome. Layer six belongs to Pope John VII (705-707) who is responsible for the extensive repairs and decorations that currently survive.
Hellenistic style is notable for white highlighting and shadowing of hair and robes along with placing figures is stances of motion.Avery 1925, p. 135. Although many of the surviving frescoes at Santa Maria Antiqua are Hellenistic, they lack classical Hellenistic backgrounds of villas and columns.Nordhagen 1990, p. 309. Instead, the backgrounds are more detached and neutral looking.Avery 1925, p.137. Early examples often have the blackened pupils staring straight ahead with contour details on the face. The first stage of each frescoes involved penciling in outlines, then the darker colours
would be added as clothing while the finer details were finished last.Osborne 1987, p. 192. Hellenism began to manifest itself during the time the Pompeian Angel was painted and eclipsed the more Pagan styles by AD 650.Nordhagen 1990, p. 308.
The eras of Popes Martin I (649-653), John VII (705-707) and Paul I (757-767) provide clear examples of the stylistic trends through their surviving decorations. The surviving frescoes exemplify the ability of the artists to incorporate different techniques and styles; consequently, these styles soon became unique as generations of artists formed specific skill sets for Santa Maria Antiqua to continue or discontinue trends seemingly at random.Nordhagen 1990, p. 465.
The Martin I (649-653) frescoes are few but reasonably preserved. These in Hellenistic style as it had fully eclipsed the traditional Roman style by the time he entered office, which was after the Byzantines had taken over. Roman style was much less detailed: no contour lines or shading and very subdued backgrounds.Nordhagen 1968, p. 104. The earliest Martin I decorations are the Church Fathers AD 649 who are expressing movement by having a leg lifted in the walking motion while their robes are draped and highlighted to exaggerate this effect.Nordhagen 1968, p. 119. The Church Fathers are exemplifying more fluidity with their tunics swirling than compared to later frescoes but their faces are much stiffer, also compared to later frescoes.Nordhagen 1968, p. 106. The precise date is referenced by a Greek inscription below as pertaining to the Lateran Council of 649 that condemned Monothelitism.Osborne 1986, p. 188. Martin I was ultimately exiled for his condemnation of Monothelitism but John VII commissioned his image to be painted in the Presbytery (see map) with other images of popes in Santa Maria Antiqua.Osborn 1986, p. 188. Martin I is depicted in Hellenistic fashion by white brush strokes shading his brown facial hair that is painted on a heavily contoured, emaciated jaw and he carries a jewelled book.Nordhagen 1968, p. 43. He wears an ecclesiastical hairstyle that is balding, short and has a central lock of hair around the forehead. Martin I's eyes are not staring straight ahead with jet-black pupils as was typical of contemporaries, instead they are gazing downward and individualized. Most notably is that Martin I and John VII's images are clothed in the same colour paenula of light yellow with green underlay showing through, suggesting a sort of solidarity among the popes against the Byzantines, using art to convey political messages that the Byzantine decision to exile Martin I was wrong.Maguire 1989, p. 217.