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Prior to the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the North East section of Rome now known as Vatican City was occupied by building referred to as Old Saint Peter’s Basilica. Construction began on Old Saint Peter’s Basilica during the early half of the fourth century and the building remained in use until its demolition in the early 16th century.

The building itself consisted of five aisles, with a wide, central nave. There were two smaller aisles flanking the center. Each aisle consisted of 21 marble columns, which were reused from pagan buildings from the area. The building was over 350 feet long and 100 feet tall. The building was in the shape of a cross and in the sixth century a large atrium, which was known as the Garden of Paradise, was added to the building.

The atrium consisted of five doors leading to the main church. The top of atrium held a grad mosaic known as the Navicella mosaic. This mosaic was made in the early fourteenth century by Giotto di Bondone and was commissioned by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi. The mosaic showed a Saint Peter walking on the water.

The nave of the basilica contained an arch, which was dominated by a mosaic depicting Constantine and Saint Peter presenting a model of the church to Christ. Each wall of the basilica had eleven windows and frescoes depicting the accounts of both the Old Testament and New Testament. The church had a grand alter which used several Solomonic columns. Traditionally, it was believed that the columns were brought by Constantine from the Temple of Solomon, however it is much more likely that they came from an Eastern church. In contrast to the pagan temples in the area, the exterior of the church was not lavishly decorated.

The history of the church is considerably more complicated then the design and has historically attracted the attention of a number of noteworthy scholars including G.W. Bowersock and Hugo Brandenburg. Traditionally Old Saint Peter’s Basilica was thought to have been constructed on the orders of Constantine although in recent times doubt has been cast upon that assumption. Bowersock had laid evidence that suggests Old St. Peter’s Basilica was actually created by Contstantine’s son, Constan.

Both scholars look to find a date upon which St. Peter’s was completed. Bradenburg claims that the date of completion was in the year 333 A.D. however he acknowledges that the earliest documentation of the church’s completion was the testimony of the Liber Pontificalis which states that Pope Liverius took possession of St. Peter’s when he took the position in the year 352 A.D. Bowersock disagrees with the year 333 A.D. as the year of completion for the Basilica. He bases this idea off a study of the documentation of the era and archaeological evidence. Bowersock acknowledges that documentation showing that Constantine was responsible for the creation of the basilica, however Bowersock is very reluctant about relying on the documentation from centuries later. This apprehension is due to the belief that the history had been altered by the Catholic Church, in order to strengthen the history of Christianity.

It is clear however that the basilica was built in the location that is believed to have been the final resting place of Saint Peter although there is little proof to support this myth. Bowersock lays claims to the near impossibility of both Peter and Paul’s remains to have even been recovered and this claims hold great merit.

Bowersock’s most impressive argument that sheds doubt upon Constantine’s involvement in Old St. Peter’s Basilica, is the shear like of supporting documents that point towards Constantine. Constantine’s life was heavily documented during his era, yet the first documentation of Constantine’s involvement with the creation of the basilica is not for centuries later, well after Christianity had astonishing influence in the area.

This confusion over the history of St. Peter’s Basilica is even heightened by the fact that since the completion of the basilica to the time period when it was deconstructed, the importance of the basilica steadily increased. Subsequently, the building had a large number of altercations to both the interior, exterior, and even architectural layout.

Old Saint Peter’s Basilica remained an important building throughout Rome for a number of years. St Peter’s Basilica architecture underwent several altercations and restorations, but in the early sixteenth century, Pope Julius II decided that it was time for a new structure to be created and this lead to the unfortunate deconstruction of Old Saint Peter’s Basilica. This deconstruction ruined much of the archeological evidence from the building and the exact history is still unknown. While Brandenburg claims the creation of Old St. Peter’s can be attributed to Constantine, Bowersock successfully pokes a number of holes in the traditional story of the building. Unfortunately concrete evidence remains to be seen and the precise history of Old St. Peter’s Basilica is still unkown.

Shaun

Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the most famous artists of all time. He was a true renaissance man; having been a well known painter, sculptor, poet, architect, and engineer. Although the Michelangelo is often first thought of as a sculptor, one of his best known works is the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel had originally been commissioned and built in 1477 by Pope Sixtus IV. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512 at the request of Pope Julius II.

The painting itself was quite complex and was comprised of a number of biblical scenes from the old testament. The ceiling focuses around nine different scenes from the Book of Genesis. In the most famous of these scenes, titled The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo depicts God giving life to Adam. The entirety of the painting is very architectural.

Michelangelo also utilized the nude male figure as decoration throughout the ceiling. The painting nine main scenes of the ceiling can be separated in three different categories.
The first category shows God creating the Heavens and Earth. This section consists of; The Separation of Light and Darkness, The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Earth, and The Separation of Land and Water. The second category depicts scenes regarding the creation of humans and it includes The Creation of Adam, The Creation of Eve, and The Temptation and Expulsion. The final category shows the plight of Humanity and includes the paintings The Sacrifice of Noah, The Great Flood, and The Drunkenness of Noah.

The method of which Michelangelo used when approaching the painting of the Sistine Chapel is still not definitively known. The movie The Agony and the Ecstasy by filmmaker Carol Reed, based off of the book by Irving Stone and Malcomb Bull’s “The Iconography of the Sistine Ceiling,” from Burlington Magazine (August 1988) can be both examined to answer this unknown. Each source depicted Michelangelo’s approach to the chapel ceiling as a dramatically different approach.

This is part 1 of a two parts Series, Sistine Chapel Facts. If you would like to read part 2 of Sistine Chapel Facts, please click here.

Shaun

The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius was built in approximately 12 B.C. under the reign of emperor Augustus, previously known as Octavian. The pyramid was built as a tomb for Gaius Cestius Epulo, who was a member of the Roman collegium, Septemviri Epulonum, which was a religious, legal group. The tomb’s design was of Egyptian influence, which can largely be attributed to the conquest of Egypt by emperor Augustus only 18 years prior to the construction of the tomb.

The tomb itself was constructed out of brick-faced concrete, and was covered in slabs of white marble. The entirety of the pyramid was situated on a travertine foundation. The base of the tomb was 30 meters by 30 meters wide and was nearly 37 meters tall. The pyramid was sealed shut when originally built, however was reopened in 1660 and was found to contain a single burial chamber which was 5.95 meters long, 4.10 meters wide, and 4.80 meters high. The majority of the contents of the tomb have since been stolen and nothing remains except faded paintings which cover the inside of the burial chamber.

The pyramid is located in the southern part of Rome and was incorporated into the construction of the Aurelian Walls, which were built around 270 A.D. In modern times, the pyramid is adjacent to a busy road on one side, and a Protestant Cemetery on the other.

In addition to its role in Roman history, the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius has played a role in the development of European art. Compared to the actual Egyptian pyramids the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius was built to be much more steep. The only location in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance to see a pyramid was in Rome and because of this the vast majority of the depictions of the Egyptian pyramids throughout this time period show the pyramids with the Roman dimensions.

To this day, the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius remains in excellent condition, including the original inscription on the Eastern edge of the pyramid, which states:

“C. Cestius L.F. Pob. Epulo pr. tr.pl.
VII vir epulonum
Opus apsolutum ex testamento diebus CCCXXX arbitratu
L. Ponti P.F. Cla. Melae heredis et Pothi L.”

Which means:

“Gaius Cestius Epulo, son of Lucius, of the Poblilian district, praetor, tribune of the people, official of the public banquets. According to his will, this work was completed in 330 days, and executed by his heirs L. Pontus Mela, son of Publius, of the Claudian district, and his freedman Pothus.”

The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius has become a distinct monument in Rome, and still pays tribute to the man whose life it commemorated.

Shaun

The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Carol Reed, depicts Michelangelo as being divinely inspired to create the Chapel. This is depicted in the movie in a scene where Michelangelo is running away from Roman soldiers after he had abruptly halted working on the Chapel. In the scene, Michelangelo is hiding in the mountains near the stone quarry and his inspiration for the ceiling is divinely inspired. Michelangelo, while gazing into the sky, witnesses the clouds take the formation of the scenes that eventually cover the Sistine Chapel ceiling. This divine inspiration seems to be an obvious departure from factual history for the sake of dramatic effect. It seems that Reed’s depiction of Michelangelo’s inspiration being divine is in many ways and insult to Michelangelo. Reed portrays the scene where Michelangelo is inspired with very clear, articulate images within the clouds. This depiction in many ways downplays the role or Michelangelo in the conception of the ideas that became his most famous work.

“The Iconography of the Sistine Ceiling,” brings the inspiration of Michelangelo as something dramatically different then Reed’s depiction. Malcomb Bull in many ways is looking at Michelangelo’s work very narrowly. He describes specific sections as having very specific meanings. It seems that while Reed stretches to make Michelangelo’s inspiration emotionally appealing, Bull stretches to make it intellectually appealing. Bull leaves out any room for randomness. Many of the connections throughout the various painted scenes are surely inevitable, based on the fact that Michelangelo painted all nine main scenes based all on the same book: Genesis. Bull tries to place great significance on the placement of the individual paintings, however arguably, the paintings are placed in chronological order. While it is certainly apparent that a great deal of iconology exists within the paintings, it is a stretch to say that all of the iconology was intentional, and even more of a stretch to say that the painting was planned with the iconology in mind.

Both “The iconography of the Sistine Ceiling” and The Agony and the Ecstasy have certain insights into Michelangelo’s approach to painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It seems that the most logical explanation to Michelangelo’s inspiration comes as a combination of both Reed and Bull’s depictions. Michelangelo certainly utilized a great deal of iconology in his painting. This required a great depth of theological founding for the chosen subject. This iconology would certainly lay claims to Bull’s beliefs. At the same time, a certain amount of creative inspiration was needed on the behalf of Michelangelo.

While the idea of that inspiration being divinely inspired may seem like a stretch, a separate seemingly unrelated portion of The Agony and the Ecstasy may be relevant to Michelangelo’s work on the chapel. This section of the movie is the part where Michelangelo receives a new piece of granite, looks at the large stone for a while, and then proclaims that it will be a statue of Moses. Michelangelo sees it as freeing the figure within. This part in many ways may have relevance towards Michelangelo’s inspiration when choosing the subject matter of the ceiling. It is quite apparent that Michelangelo thought very philosophically about his art work, and maybe for him, painting was simply bringing to life an image that already existed; even if only in his mind. While neither Bull nor Reed can fully satisfy how Michelangelo approached the painting of the Sistine Ceiling, when combining the two depictions they compliment each other in order to piece together a fairly adequate idea of Michelangelo’s inspiration.

This is part 2 of a two parts Series, Painting of the Sistine Ceiling. If you would like to read part 1 of Painting of the Sistine Ceiling, please click here.

Shaun

On September 28, 1362 Guillaume Grimoard was elected to succeed Pope Innocent the VI. Grimoard adopted the name Urban V.

As a pope, Urban V was very religious and known as a disciplinarian. He denounced the luxury that many past popes had chosen to live in and brought about reforms in the church.

Pope Urban the fifth worked toward the reformation of the clergy. He took strong measures against heretical teachers and immoral monks. He adhered to papal laws and forced other Catholics to do the same.

Urban V’s great worked stretched beyond that of Catholicism. Urban V founded the University of Hungary. He saved the University of Music in Toulouse, the School of Medicine in Montpellier, and founded the College of Saint Benoit. In addition to that, he founded a college in Quezac and Bedoues, a library and church in Ispagnac, and he provided food, lodging, books, and education for over 1,000 students.

The biggest accomplishment of Urban V was the attempt to restore the papacy to Italy. One way that Urban V accomplished this was excommunicating members of the church that went against Urban V’s teaching. He also led a crusade through Italy teaching his message and speaking against his adversaries.

When Italy’s troubles did not cease, Petrarch and St. Bridget of Sweden urged Urban V to set out for Rome. When Urban V arrived in Rome on October 16, 1367, he received much joy from the clergy and people of Rome however it soon became clear to Urban V that ruling from Rome granted him no additional power.

Due to the request of French cardinals, and the revolts in a number of Papal States, Urban V left Rome on September 5, 1370. He arrived in Avignon on the 24th of September. Shortly after arriving in Avignon, Urban V fell ill, and died on December 19, 1370. He was to be succeeded by Pope Gregory XI.

Urban V ruled the papacy for a very short period, however he made the most of the time that he did have. Urban V’s rule is characterized by great accomplishments. He was a very pious man, who served with the interests of Catholicism at his forethoughts. Although Pope Urban V was not successful at returning the Papacy to Rome, his rule brought many positive changes to the Catholic Church.

Shaun