Architecture of Monotheism in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Jewish and Early Christian Architecture

Architecture in the Middle Ages ( ) 476 Fall of Rome c Italian Renaissance begins Middle Ages (“Dark Ages”) Late Antique or Early Christian Byzantine for the Eastern Empire (Byzantine Empire) medieval for Western Europe 622 official beginning of Islam

Architecture in the Middle Ages ( ) 476 Fall of Rome c Italian Renaissance begins Byzantine = Eastern Empire Late Antique or Early Christian Byzantine EARLY MEDIEVAL AND ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN

I. Monotheistic religions (Judaism and Christianity) shared characteristics that distinguished them from Greco-Roman polytheism Greco-Roman polytheism Monotheistic religions: congregational spaces Synagogue at CapernaumSanta Sabina (church)

Temple of Jerusalem I. A. Monotheistic did require some veneration or occasional architecture 1. What was the main occasional temple for Judaism? Temple of Yahweh, Arad, Israel Sacrificial temples to Yahweh as rebuilt by King Herod, c. 20 BC 9 th cen. BC

I. A. 2. What form did veneration architecture take in early Christianity? Christian mausoleum to Santa Costanza Rome, Italy, AD 350 Church of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem, Israel, AD

Converted residences in Dura Europas, Syria Synagogue Christian meeting house (domus ecclesiae) I. B. But, monotheistic religions had the idea of... and needed congregational architecture 1. What form did the first congregational architecture take for Jews and Christians?

I. B. 2. When did purpose-built congregational architecture come into being for Jews and Christians? Synagogue, Capernaum, Israel 4 th - 5 th cen. AD Old St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, AD

II. Late-antique synagogues (synagogue = assembly) Synagogue at Capernaum, Capernaum, Israel, 4 th - 5 th century

diaspora synagogues II. A. Context: What events might have caused synagogue architecture to develop rapidly in the 1 st century AD ? Priestly power (Temple) vs. Pharisees (after 167 BC ) Temple of Jerusalem model, as rebuilt by King Herod, c. 20 BC

II. B. Precedent: What is one architectural model Jewish congregations adapted to their needs? Synagogue at CapernaumGreek bouleuterion (senate house)

Synagogue at Capernaum seating for service communal meal II. C. Ritual: What ritual demands had an impact on the overall plan of the synagogue? literature-sustained service (Torah)

Synagogue at Capernaum II. C. façade facing the direction of Jerusalem prayer hall

Synagogue at Capernaum II. C. 1. What were the two principle influences on the design of the synagogue’s prayer hall itself? bimah and ark no fixed place for the ark no fixed place for the bima prayer hall

II. D. Architectural language of classical antiquity: How was Greco-Roman architecture changed in adapting it to the new religion?

II. E. Architecture of the persecuted: why aren’t there more synagogues surviving from late antiquity and the Middle Ages? Synagogue at Ostia, Italy, AD 50Synaogue at Stobi, Greece, 4 th cen. AD

Spread of Christianity

III. Function, not symbolism, seems to be the predominant consideration in Early Christian architecture Old St. Peter’s, Rome, Italy, A.D New St. Peter’s, Rome, Italy, Old St. Peter’s, Rome, Italy, A.D

III. Old St. Peter’s, Rome, Italy, A.D

III. S. Sabina, Rome, Italy, A.D

III. Early Christian basilicas, parish churches, and catacombes in and around Rome S. Sabina

III. A. Political context: What event inspires the first purpose-built Christian congregational buildings? Old St. Peter’s, AD Roman emperor Constantine legalizes Christianity in AD 313 pre AD 313: Christian meeting houses after AD 313: Christian basilicas appear in Rome, the Holy Land, and North Africa Domus ecclesiae in Dura Europas, Syria, AD 231 Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (or Constantine I), r

III. B. Basic parts of the Early Christian basilica Precedent: Roman civil basilicaConservative Early Christian basilicas in Rome Basilica at Pompeii Old St. Peter’s Basilica Santa Sabina

III. C. Ritual: If the spaces of the Early Christian basilica were functional, how did they organize believers for worship? S. Sabina Aisles for catachumens during the sacrament of the Eucharist

Old St. Peter’s III. C. a contact relic at the shrine of St. Peter

III. D. Formal analysis of Early Christian basilicas 1. What characteristics of Roman civil precedent are preserved? Basilica in Trajan’s Form Basilica at PompeiiEarly Christian basilicas apse Old St. Peter’s Santa Sabina apse

III. D. 2. In terms of architectural language, how does the Early Christian basilica alter the Roman precedent? (two ways) nave of S. Sabina nave of Old St. Peter’s

III. D. 2. S. Sabina Old St. Peter’s colonnaded nave arcaded nave arcuated lintels at Hadrian’s Villa

III. D. 3. How does the form of the Early Christian basilica change the Roman precedent to intensify the ritual of Christian congregation and sacraments? S. SabinaOld St. Peter’s

Constantine’s Basilica in Trier, Germany, c. AD300 (civil basilica) S. Sabina (early Christian basilica) III. E. Symbolism: Is the Early Christian basilica recognizable as an architectural symbol of Christian ideology: 1. strictly in terms of architecture?

III. E. 2. in terms of location? Location of 4 th -cen Christian basilicas in cemeteries outside the walls of Rome S. Sabina

“Circus basilicas” with attached mausolea outside the wall most common basilical form in 4 th -century Rome Old St. Peter’s outside the wall too but not a circus basilica III. E. 2.

Mausoleum of Santa Costanza, Rome, c. 350 Lateran Baptistery, Rome 315, and Anastasis Rotunda Jerusalem, BaptisteriesMausoleaMartyria IV. Early Christian occasional space for veneration A. Centrally-planned mausoleums, baptisteries, martyria based on Greek tholos form

S. Costanza (mausoleum), Rome, Italy, ca. AD 350 S. Agnese S. Costanza IV. A. 1. Context: Why were Christian mausolea not built until the 4 th century AD ?IV. A. Eusebius: Jews and pagans needed holy places, but not Christians. IV. A. 2. Plan and design: How did Christian mausolea differ from pre-Christian Roman tombs?

IV. A. 2. S. Costanza (mausoleum) clerestoreyambulatorydome Composite Order – invented by the Romans, last of the classical orders

IV. A. 3. Ritual: What Christian ritual was accommodated by the ambulatory? S. Costanza (mausoleum)

IV. A. 4. Symbolism: Were centrally-planned Early Christian mausolea symbolically a Christian architecture? S. Costanza (Christian mausoleum) Roman mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, Rome, ca. 50 BC Greek tholos at Epidauros, BC