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Santa Prassede

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basilica of Saint Praxedes
  • Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquilino (Italian)
  • Basilica Sanctae Praxedis (Latin)
Ceiling of the San Zeno chapel.
Map
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°53′46″N 12°29′55″E / 41.8961°N 12.4986°E / 41.8961; 12.4986
Location9A Via di Santa Prassede
Rome
CountryItaly
DenominationCatholic
WebsiteChiesa Rettoria Santa Prassede
History
StatusMinor basilica,
titular church
DedicationSaint Praxedes
Architecture
StyleByzantine
Groundbreaking780
Completed822
Specifications
Length45 m (148 ft)
Width30 m (98 ft)
Nave width17 metres (56 ft)
Clergy
Cardinal protectorPaul Poupard

The Basilica of Saint Praxedes (Latin: Basilica Sanctae Praxedis, Italian: Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino), commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major, on Via di Santa Prassede, 9/a in rione Monti of Rome, Italy. The current Cardinal Priest of Titulus Sancta Praxedis is Paul Poupard.

Dedicated to the second-century saint Praxedes, who with her sister Pudentiana, was said to have provided comfort and care to Christians persecuted in the Roman Empire.[1][2]

YouTube Encyclopedic

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  • ROMA - Basilica di Santa Prassede
  • Basilica di Santa Prassede - Roma
  • Lezioni di Storia: Roma, Basilica Paleocristiana di Santa Prassede - Mosaici Cappella di San Zenone

Transcription

[MUSIC PLAYING] STEVEN ZUCKER: This is Steven Zucker and Beth Harris, with Richard Bowen, art historian, or other historian in Rome, at Santa Prassede. So we're walking down a side street, and what's interesting is that you have really no sense that you're about to walk into a major church. RICHARD BOWEN: We've come through our courtyard and we've come into a church. I suppose the thing that grabs our attention most are the beautiful ninth century mosaics of which this church is rightly famous for. STEVEN ZUCKER: It's completely laden with the decorative. The jewel-like colors in the apse are just stunning. RICHARD BOWEN: And I think you'll find that many medieval churches tend to have this way of trying to draw you to the high altar here with the apse, of which you will have great theological moments happening. Saint Praxedes, or Santa Prassede, she and her sister, Saint Pudentiana, are daughters of a gentleman here in Rome, in the first century AD, Saint Pudens, who is actually mentioned in the Bible. So they [? ascribe, ?] if you like, here, to the earliest times of Christianity here in Rome-- STEVEN ZUCKER: By tradition they're understood to be martyrs? RICHARD BOWEN: Not only martyrs but also those that help the Christian community here, from at least the second half to the first century AD. STEVEN ZUCKER: I would imagine that the mosaics are actually quite old. BETH HARRIS: Those are ninth century. STEVEN ZUCKER: So those are ninth century. And maybe we ought to start with the apse mosaic. RICHARD BOWEN: Should we go up closer to-- [INTERPOSING VOICES] RICHARD BOWEN: What we've got here in the apse is we've got our central figure here of Jesus Christ. And then we have the heavens at the top here, with God's hand coming down here with a crown-- BETH HARRIS: The hand of God. RICHARD BOWEN: The hand of God. Then we've got this river behind, which is the River Jordan, in which Jesus Christ was baptized. And then here we've got some very interesting saints over here to our left. We've got Saint Paul, who has his hand around Saint Praxedes here-- STEVEN ZUCKER: Embracing her. RICHARD BOWEN: Embracing her, but also-- BETH HARRIS: And introducing her to Jesus. RICHARD BOWEN: Exactly, introducing her to Jesus. And then, the bit that probably is the thing that is the crowning glory in many ways of this apse mosaic, is we have Pascal I here. STEVEN ZUCKER: And is he presenting the church himself? RICHARD BOWEN: He's presenting the church himself. But not only that. He also, see, has a square halo. Now this is very, very rare in Christian iconography. Because what you see here is a saint still alive at the time of his depiction. STEVEN ZUCKER: Had he been canonized? RICHARD BOWEN: He's been canonized. It was one of the perks of the job. Then we've got the palm here, which can be a symbol of paradise and also of martyrdom. Then we've got this little phoenix here, which is obviously a symbol of the Resurrection, as well as also the peacock can be a symbol of resurrection as well. And resurrection is something, within Christianity, is of the utmost importance. Perhaps today, in the 21st century, we tend to forget the importance that the Resurrection plays, certainly within Christianity here. And if you think that, probably, people who came to this church in the ninth century AD may not have lived beyond the age of 40 or 45, then the idea of a better life afterwards is of the utmost [INAUDIBLE] importance. STEVEN ZUCKER: Because death was a far more immediate experience. And then there's this marvelous row of lamb? RICHARD BOWEN: These little lambs here. They're coming out of the two holy cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. And these are representative, if you like, here, of the-- BETH HARRIS: The faithful? RICHARD BOWEN: --or the apostles. OK. And of course, like, Jesus, the Lamb of God, if you like, here. So you have the symbolism here. Jesus not only being pastor and the Shepherd but also the flock of the faithful, if you like. BETH HARRIS: And of course I notice right above Pascal's name, we have a lamb on an altar. And the medallion above. RICHARD BOWEN: And the cross and almost like the chair waiting for the Second Coming. And then of course obviously you've got these angels here. And then you've got the candles-- seven candles-- STEVEN ZUCKER: And I see the evangelists in the corner as well. RICHARD BOWEN: The symbols of the evangelists. And then the elders of the Apocalypse here. Let's bear in mind this is a Byzantine-style of art. In some ways, it's quite flat in some of the mosaics that we're going to see. BETH HARRIS: Incredibly flat. RICHARD BOWEN: Which I quite like, to be honest with you. STEVEN ZUCKER: Oh it's beautiful. BETH HARRIS: I love it. STEVEN ZUCKER: And the references, for instance, to the folds of the cloth-- BETH HARRIS: Are lines. STEVEN ZUCKER: Are really-- It's just tradition. It's just line. BETH HARRIS: But my favorite part is always, when I look at Byzantine mosaics like this are those feet that seem to sort of dangle down and don't really seem to have contact with the earth. These are kind of floating, ethereal figures. STEVEN ZUCKER: That's the critical issue. Here's the really direct rejection of so much of the-- BETH HARRIS: What's around us here, in Rome, of the Classical. STEVEN ZUCKER: --that's right-- of the pre-Christian. And to see it in this context really makes sense. A kind of reinvention and a kind of abstraction of the physical. The artificial lights went off just a moment ago. And the ambient light from the sky coming in from the windows from the nave were illuminating glass tiles beautifully. And the gold was incredibly reflective. And the spirituality is so powerful. RICHARD BOWEN: Definitely. [MUSIC PLAYING]

History

The church incorporates mosaic decoration that mark it among the oldest churches in Rome. A church near this site was present since the fifth century, but the church in its current place and general layout was commissioned by Pope Hadrian I around the year 780 to house the relics (bones) of Saint Praxedes (Italian: S. Prassede) and Saint Pudentiana (Italian: S. Pudenziana), the daughters of Saint Pudens, traditionally St. Peter's first Christian convert in Rome. The church was built atop of the remains of a 4th-century ancient Roman Thermae, privately owned by the family of Pudentiana, and called Terme di Novato.[3] The two female saints were murdered for providing Christian burial for early martyrs in defiance of Roman law. The basilica was enlarged and decorated by Pope Paschal I in c. 822.

Pope Paschal, who reigned 817–824, was at the forefront of the Carolingian Renaissance started and advocated by the emperor Charlemagne. They desired to get back to the foundations of Christianity theologically and artistically. Paschal, thus, began two, linked, ambitious programs: the recovery of martyrs' bones from the catacombs of Rome and an almost unprecedented church building campaign. Paschal dug up numerous skeletons and transplanted them to this church. The Titulus S. Praxedis was established by Pope Evaristus, around 112. While on a pilgrimage to Rome with his father around 855-856, the young and future English king Alfred the Great was reportedly deeply impressed and inspired by the church's beauty.[4]

The inscriptions found in Santa Prassede, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.[5]

The church contains the oratory of San Zenone.

The church provided the inspiration for Robert Browning's poem "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church."

Interior

The main altarpiece is a canvas of St Praxedes Gathering the Blood of the Martyrs (c. 1730–35) by Domenico Muratori.

Mosaic

Interior of Santa Prassede

The most famous element of the church is the mosaic decorative program. Paschal hired a team of professional mosaicists to complete the work in the apse, the apsidal arch, and the triumphal arch. In the apse, Jesus is in the center, flanked by Sts. Peter and Paul who present Prassede and Pudenziana to God. On the far left is Paschal, with the square halo of the living, presenting a model of the church as an offering to Jesus. Below runs an inscription of Paschal's, hoping that this offering will be sufficient to secure his place in heaven.

On the apsidal arch are twelve men on each side, holding wreaths of victory, welcoming the souls into heaven. Above them are symbols of the four Gospel writers: Mark, the lion; Matthew, the man; Luke, the bull; and John, the eagle, as they surround a lamb on a throne, a symbol of Christ's eventual return to Earth.

External videos
video icon Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Smarthistory

Those mosaics, as well as those in the Chapel of Saint Zeno, a funerary chapel which Pope Paschal built for his mother, Theodora,[6] are the best-known aspects of the church. Also noteworthy are ancient frescoes. Ascending a spiral staircase, one enters a small room, covered in scaffolding; on the wall is a fresco cycle, dating most likely from the 8th century. The frescoes probably depict the life-cycle of the name saint of the church, Praxedes.[citation needed]

Pillar of the Flogging

The Column of the Flagellation.

Santa Prassede also houses an alleged segment of the pillar or column upon which Jesus was flogged and tortured before his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The relic is alleged to have been discovered in the early 4th century by Saint Helena (mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I) who at the age of 80 undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she founded churches for Christian worship and rescued relics associated with the crucifixion of Jesus on Calvary. In 1223, Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, as emissary to the holy land in 1223 was said to have obtained this artifact and brought it to Rome.

Among these legendary relics retrieved by Helena, which included pieces of the True Cross (now venerated at St. Peter's Basilica[7] with fragments in Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, also in Rome) and wood from the Jesus' crib enshrined at S. Maria Maggiore. These items, including the Santa Prassede pillar, lack indisputable authenticity, due to absence of forensic evidence and the abundance of other objects claimed during the medieval period to have the same historic function.[citation needed]

List of cardinals

Gallery

  • Plan.
    Plan.
  • Internal façade
    Internal façade
  • Entrance
    Entrance
  • Interior
    Interior
  • Triumphal arch mosaic
    Triumphal arch mosaic
  • Ceiling of the Chapel of Saint Zeno
    Ceiling of the Chapel of Saint Zeno
  • Crypt
    Crypt

.

  • Pope Paschal I presenting a model of the Basilica to Christ. His square halo indicates that he was alive when the mosaic was made.
    Pope Paschal I presenting a model of the Basilica to Christ. His square halo indicates that he was alive when the mosaic was made.
  • Funerary monument of Bishop Giovanni Battista Santoni († 1592); bust by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, circa 1612.
    Funerary monument of Bishop Giovanni Battista Santoni († 1592); bust by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, circa 1612.
  • "San Tesauro Beccaria" by Domenico Pestrini
    "San Tesauro Beccaria" by Domenico Pestrini
  • Tomb of Giovanni Carbone, 14th century
    Tomb of Giovanni Carbone, 14th century

See also

References

  1. ^ Jameson (Anna), Mrs (1848). Containing legends of the patron saints and virgin patronesses, the Greek and Latin martyrs, the early bishops, the hermits, and the warrior saints of Christendom. Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. pp. 243–244.
  2. ^ Tabor, Margaret Emma (1913). The Saints in Art: With Their Attributes and Symbols Alphabetically Arranged. Methuen. p. 101.
  3. ^ Accurata, E Succinta Descrizione Topografica, E Istorica Di Roma, Volume 1, by Ridolfino Venturini, published by Carlo Barbellieni, Rome (1768); page 43.
  4. ^ Woodruff, Douglas, The Life and Times of Alfred the Great (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993), p. 33
  5. ^ V. Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chese e d' altre edifici di Roma, dal secolo XI fino al secolo XVI Volume II (Roma: Fratelli Bencini, 1873), pp. 489–524.
  6. ^ "The Chapel of Saint Zeno at Santa Prassede: mosaic revival and survival". ArtTrav. 16 November 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  7. ^ Basilica of St. Peter,
  8. ^ Kartusch, Elfriede (1948). Das Kardinalskollegium in der Zeit von 1181–1227 (in German). Wien. pp. 392–393.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Klaus Ganzer (1963), Die Entwicklung des auswärtigen Kardinalats im hohen Mittelalter. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Kardinalkollegiums vom 11.bis 13. Jahrhundert (in German), Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, pp. 146-148.

Bibliography

  • B. M. Apollonj Ghetti, Santa Prassede (Roma: Edizioni Roma, 1961).
  • Gillian Vallance Mackie, The Iconographic Programme of the Zeno Chapel at Santa Prassede, Rome [M.A. University of Victoria (B.C., Canada) 1985].
  • Marchita B. Mauck, “The Mosaic of the Triumphal Arch of Santa Prassede: A Liturgical Interpretation.” Speculum 62–64 (1987), pp. 813–828.
  • Rotraut Wisskirchen, Mosaikprogramm von Santa Prassede in Rom (Münster: Aschendorff, 1990).
  • Anna Maria Affanni, La chiesa di Santa Prassede: la storia, il rilievo, il restauro (Viterbo: BetaGamma, [2006]) [Testimonianze di restauri, 5].
  • Mary M. Schaefer, Women in Pastoral Office: The Story of Santa Prassede, Rome (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013).
  • Maurizio Caperna, La basilica di Santa Prassede: il significato della vicenda architettonica (Roma: Edizioni Quasar, 2013).
  • Benedictine Monks of Vallombroso, The Basilica of Saint Praxedes, in memory of their eighth century of presence at Saint Praxedes: 1198–1998 (Genova, Italia: B.N. Marconi, Fourth Edition, January 2014).

External links

Media related to Basilica di Santa Prassede (Roma) at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
San Pietro in Vincoli 		Landmarks of Rome
Santa Prassede 		Succeeded by
Santa Pudenziana
This page was last edited on 13 December 2023, at 19:57
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