Zeno of Verona

Saint Zeno of Verona
Statue of Saint Zeno from the Basilica of San Zeno
Bishop, Martyr
Born	300 Mauretania
Died	12 April 371 (aged 71-72) Verona
Major shrine	Basilica of San Zeno, Verona
Feast	12 April; 21 May (translation of relics)
Attributes	fish, fishing rod, or a bishop holding a fishing rod, or with a fish hanging from his crozier.
Patronage	Fishermen, anglers, newborn babies, Verona, Campione d'Italia

Zeno of Verona (Venetian: Xenòn de Verona or Xen de Verona; Italian: Zenone da Verona; about 300 – 371 or 380) was an Afro-Italian Christian figure believed to have either served as Bishop of Verona or died as a martyr. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

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(music) ("In The Sky With Diamonds" by Scalding Lucy) Beth: We're in the Basilica of San Zeno in the town of Verona in northern Italy looking at an altarpiece in situ by the great Renaissance artist, Andrea Mantegna. Steven: This is an altarpiece that has one foot in the older traditions of the Trecento and one foot that's beginning to move into a much more sophisticated understanding of pictorial space. So on the one hand, you have this frame which we think may be original to Mantegna himself which divides the main scene into three sections with these four Corinthian columns we're calling the Classical paths. Beth: So you might think about that older Trecento 1300s tradition of an altarpiece with and an image of Mary and Christ in the center with separate panels within a larger frame. Steven: But Mantegna's image behind the columns is a insistently continuous. Beth: Instead of very separate panels with figures with a gold background, Mantegna's unified that space behind the frame so that the figures really seem to occupy a very real space created with the illusion of linear perspective. Steven: That's not completely unheard of before Mantegna, but he's also pairing the actual physical wooden carved frame columns with more classicizing columns in the pictorial space immediately behind them. Beth: So those columns in the front that are real, are coming into our space, right? They're real columns. And the garland that unites them seem to be on that edge of our space and the pictorial space. And then we move back where we see Mary holding the Christ child on her lap, angels around her singing and playing music. On either side, four saints in this space showing us the court of heaven, but it's a christian heaven in an insistently classical, antique, pegan space. This is a kind of painting called a "sacra conversazione", a sacred conversation or holy community. Steven: You have to gather in one pictorial space figures that come from different historical periods. If we start all the way on the left, you see a figure with a red undergarment and a yellow mantle on top. He's holding keys so that's Saint Peter. Beth: Behind Saint Peter is Saint Paul, behind him, Saint John. Steven: Saint John looks sensitive as is traditional, almost feminine. Finally, the fourth figure on the left in the back, is Saint Zeno, the namesake for this church and somebody we think was the person who brought christianity to the town of Verona. Beth: And is the patron saint of Verona. Steven: On the other side of the Virgin Mary, in the front, there is this extraordinary rendering of Saint John the Baptist. Look at the S-curve of that body. This is a christian figure, but links christian tradition back to the classical tradition. That body is just a tour de force example of contrapposto. Beth: That's right. Mantegna we know was devoted to studying ancient Greek and Roman antiquities and it's so obvious that he's been looking at classical sculpture with that figure of John the Baptist. And it's not just in the tilt of his hips and that contrapposto in the S-curve, it's also just an amazing naturalism of his pose, the way he looks down, reads the book, that he holds the book. He's so believable and he's so close to us we can imagine him as a real figure about to step out of that painting. Steven: That's the thing that grabs me, the vividness, the use of oil paint with a kind of linear quality that Mantegna brings to his paintings with a careful use of light which, by the way, reflects the way the light is actually entering into this church, all of which creates this really intense illusionism. Beth: These are real figures that we can engage with. These are figures that we can pray to who will intercede on our behalf with Christ. But we also know at the same time, given all of that accessibility, that we're looking at an image of the court of heaven and that one day perhaps through our own prayers, through our own good works, we could hope to join the blessed in heaven. So like in, for example, Mantegna's Saint Sebastian, we have a contrast between the classical path which is represented by those sculptures in [Grazei] that we see and there's some carving in the [freeze] and in the [roundels]. Then we have the christian present in this painting, full color in the figures in the court of heaven. The altarpiece in this guild frame is within the apse of this church, decorated with fresco from a century or two earlier. Steven: Because that's true fresco paint applied directly on wet plaster, it's lost a vividness of its color because it mixes with the white of the plaster. It makes the oil painting of Mantegna all the more brilliant, all the more saturated. Beth: We can see how oil paint could create a realism in texture and form that was really impossible with the earlier medium of fresco or even tempera. Steven: It must have felt like a kind of early technicolor. Beth: For the people of Verona in the 1460s. Steven: This painting has had an interesting history. We're not the only people who admired it. Napoleon admired it and in fact, brought it back to Paris. It was returned after Napoleon lost power, but not entirely. If you look down at the predella, you can see that there are additional scenes and those have not been returned. The are en tour and they're in Paris. (music) ("In The Sky With Diamonds" by Scalding Lucy)

Life and historicity

A Veronese author named Coronato, who was a notary in the 7th century, claimed that Zeno was a native of Mauretania who taught children of Africa about the Catholic religion and he also helped them with their education.^[a] Another claim was that Zeno was a follower of Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, who accompanied his master when the latter visited Verona in 340.^[a]

The style of the more than 90 Sermones attributed to Zeno is also considered evidence of his African origins due to its literary style, since Christian African writers of the time frequently used neologisms and wordplay.^[a] Many of the Sermones concern Old Testament exegesis and are said to "have a definite anti-Semitic element in them".^[b] This interpretation is not shared by Giuseppe Laiti, expert on San Zeno’s tractatus.^[1]

Staying in Verona, Zeno entered the monastic life, living as a monk until around 362, when he was elected successor to the See of Verona after the death of Bishop Gricinus [Wikidata].^[a]

Zeno had "received a good classical education".^[b] As bishop he baptized many people and won converts back from Arianism. He lived a life of poverty. He trained priests to work in the diocese and set up a convent for women. In addition he reformed how the Agape feast was celebrated, and forbade that funeral masses be accompanied by attendees' loud groans and wailing.^[b] Zeno's other reforms included instructions concerning adult baptism (which occurred by complete immersion). He instituted the issuing of medals to people newly baptized to the Catholic faith.^[b]

Zeno's episcopate lasted for about ten years, and the date of his death is sometimes given as 12 April 371.^[a]

Zeno is described as a confessor of the faith in early martyrologies.^[b] Saint Gregory the Great calls him a martyr in his Dialogues, though Saint Ambrose, a contemporary of Zeno, does not.^[b] Ambrose speaks of Zeno's "happy death", although as a confessor, Zeno may have suffered persecution (but not execution) during the reigns of Constantius II and Julian the Apostate.^[b] The entry in the modern Roman Martyrology lists his date as 12 April, but makes no mention of martyrdom.^[2]

The first evidence for his existence is found in a letter written by Saint Ambrose to Bishop Syagrius [Wikidata] in which Ambrose refers to the holiness of Zeno. Later, Bishop Saint Petronius of Verona [Wikidata] (r. 412–429) wrote of Zeno's virtues and also confirmed the existence of a cult dedicated to Saint Zeno.^[a]

A poem written between 781 and 810, called the Versus de Verona, an elegy of the city in verse, states that Zeno was the eighth bishop of Verona.^[a]

Veneration

Zeno's liturgical feast day is celebrated on 12 April, but in the diocese of Verona, it is also celebrated on 21 May, in honor of the translation of his relics on 21 May 807.^[a]

Tradition states that Zeno built the first basilica in Verona, situated in the area probably occupied by the present-day cathedral.^[a] His eponymous church in its present location dates to the early ninth century, when it was endowed by Charlemagne and his son Pepin, King of Italy. It was consecrated on 8 December 806. Two local hermits, Benignus and Carus, were assigned the task of translating Zeno's relics to a new marble crypt.^[a] King Pepin was present at the ceremony, as were the Bishops of Cremona and Salzburg, as well as an immense crowd of townspeople.^[a]

The church was damaged at the beginning of the tenth century by Hungarians, though the relics of Zeno remained safe.^[a] The basilica was rebuilt, and made larger and stronger. Financial support was provided by Otto I, and it was re-consecrated in 967 at a ceremony presided over by the Bishop Ratherius of Verona.^[a]

The present church of San Zeno in Verona is a work of the twelfth, thirteenth and early fifteenth centuries for the most part. It is well known for its bronze doors (c. 1100 – c. 1200) which depict, besides stories from the Bible, images drawn from the stories of the miracles of Saint Zeno including those recorded by the notary Coronato.^[a] The church is also known for the facade sculpture signed by Nicholaus and an associate Guglielmus, and the rose window (c. 1200), which is the work of Brioloto.

Legends and iconography

Zeno is the patron saint of fishermen and anglers, of the city of Verona, and of newborn babies as well as children learning to speak and walk. Some 30 churches or chapels have been dedicated to him, including Pistoia Cathedral.

According to legend he was stolen at birth and briefly replaced by a demonic changeling. One story relates that Saint Zeno, one day fishing on the banks of the Adige, which he did in order to feed himself, saw a peasant crossing the river in a horse and cart. The horses began to get strangely skittish. Zeno, believing this to be the work of the devil, made the sign of the cross, and the horses calmed down.^[a] Zeno was often said to combat the devil, and is sometimes depicted treading on a demon. Another story relates that he exorcised a demon from the body of the daughter of the Emperor Gallienus (though Zeno probably did not live during the reign of Gallienus). The story relates that the grateful Gallienus allowed Zeno and other Christians freedom of worship in the empire.^[a]

Saint Gregory the Great, at the end of the 6th century, relates a miracle associated with the divine intercession of Zeno.^[a] In 588, the Adige flooded its banks, inundating Verona. The floodwater reached the church dedicated to Saint Zeno, but miraculously did not enter it, even though the door was wide open. The church was then donated to Theodelinda, an alleged eyewitness to the miracle and wife of king Authari.^[a]

Zeno is most often represented with fishing-related items such as a fish, fishing rod, or as a bishop holding a fishing rod, or with a fish hanging from his crozier. "Local tradition says the bishop was fond of fishing in the nearby river Adige," writes Alban Butler, "but it is more likely that originally it was a symbol of his success in bringing people to baptism."^[b]

Gallery

San Zeno Altarpiece. Zeno is on the far right
Statue of Zeno at the Radolfzell Minster [de]
Zenon with a fish on his crozier
Zeno exorcising the daughter of the Emperor Gallienus

Notes

Borrelli, Antonio (14 December 2006). "San Zeno (Zenone) di Verona" (in Italian). Santi e Beati. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
Butler, Alban; Farmer, David Hugh; Burns, Paul (1995). Butler's Lives of the Saints. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 85.

References

^ Laiti, Giuseppe (1995). "S. Zeno guida alla lettura delle Scritture la comunità cristiana di Verona" (PDF). Esperienza e Teologia (in Italian). 1: 109–114.
^ Martyrologium Romanum. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2004. p. 232.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Zeno.

Patron Saint index
The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints as reprinted by Eternal Word Television Network
Documenta Catholica Omnia (in Latin)
Zeno of Verona – Following the footsteps of a saint in Europe: article series with photographic documentation and maps (in German)

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This page was last edited on 19 June 2024, at 15:45

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