San Clemente al Laterano: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{Infobox church

|name=Saint Clement

|country=[[Italy]]

|denomination=[[Catholic Church]]

|website={{url|www.basilicasanclemente.com}}

|dedication=[[Pope Clement I]]

|architectural type=[[Church (building)|Church]]

|style=[[Paleochristian architecture|Paleochristian]], [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]]

|width nave={{convert|13|m|ft}}

}}

 

== History ==

Apart from those in [[Santa Maria Antiqua]], the largest collection of Early Medieval wall paintings in Rome is to be found in the lower basilica of San Clemente.<ref>10th-century frescoes discussed in Osborne 1981, and mid-8th-century fragmentary frescos discussed in John Osborne, "Early Medieval Painting in San Clemente, Rome: The Madonna and Child in the Niche" ''Gesta'' '''20'''.2 (1981:299-310).</ref>

 

 

Art historians have long regarded Beno de Rapiza and Maria Macellaria as partisans of the now-canonical 'reform' popes Gregory VII, Urban II, and Paschal II and the frescoes as reform-party propaganda. However, if the paintings date to the 1080s or 1090s, as many art historians believe, then Beno and Maria may instead have favoured the [[Antipope Clement III|Antipope Clement III (Wibert of Ravenna)]], whom they sought to honour through paintings about the early Christian pope of the same name.<ref name=yawn/>

=== The second basilica ===

[[File:Rom, Basilika San Clemente, Apsis 1.jpg|thumb|left|Apse mosaic, San Clemente, c.1200, showing a common form of Byzantine [[Arabesque (European art)|arabesque]] motif of scrolled [[acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]] tendrils]]

 

The current basilica was rebuilt in one campaign by Cardinal Anastasius, ca 1099-ca. 1120. A now-outdated hypothesis held that the original church had burned out during the [[Italo-Normans|Norman]] [[Sack of Rome (1084)|sack of the city]] under [[Robert Guiscard]] in 1084, but no evidence of fire damage in the lower basilica has been found to date. One possible explanation is that the lower basilica was filled in and the new church built on top due to the close association of the lower structure with the imperial opposition pope ("antipope") [[Antipope Clement III|Clement III / Wibert of Ravenna]].<ref name=yawn>[http://www.rmojs.unina.it/index.php/rm/article/view/urn%3Anbn%3Ait%3Aunina-3357 Lila Yawn, "Clement’s New Clothes. The Destruction of Old S. Clemente in Rome, the Eleventh-Century Frescoes, and the Cult of (Anti)Pope Clement III," ''Reti Medievali Rivista'', 13/1 (Apr. 2012), pp. 175-208.].</ref> Today, it is one of the most richly adorned churches in Rome. The ceremonial entrance (a side entrance is ordinarily used today) is through an [[atrium (architecture)|atrium]] (''B'' on plan) surrounded by arcades, which now serves as a [[cloister]], with conventual buildings surrounding it. Fronting the atrium is the chaste facade of Carlo Stefano Fontana (nephew of [[Carlo Fontana]]), supported on [[spolia|antique columns]], and his little [[campanile]] (''illustration''). The [[basilica]] church behind it is in three [[nave]]s divided by arcades on ancient marble or granite columns, with [[Cosmati|Cosmatesque inlaid paving]]. The 12th-century schola cantorum (''E'' on plan) incorporates marble elements from the original basilica. Behind it, in the [[Presbytery (architecture)|presbytery]] is a [[Ciborium (architecture)|ciborium]] (''H'' on plan) raised on four gray-violet columns over the shrine of Clement in the [[crypt]] below. The [[Cathedra|episcopal seat]] stands in the [[apse]], which is covered with mosaics on the theme of the ''Triumph of the Cross'' that are a high point of Roman 12th century mosaics.

[[File:Side entrance to the Basilica of San Clemente.jpg|thumb|upright|Main entrance to the basilica]]

 

 

On one wall in the atrium is a plaque affixed by Pope [[Clement XI]] in 1715, praising the Basilica of St. Clement, "This ancient church has withstood the ravages of the centuries."<ref>V. Forcella, ''Inscrizioni delle chese e d' altre edifici di Roma, dal secolo XI fino al secolo XVI'' Volume IV (Roma: Fratelli Bencini, 1874), p. 509, no. 1259: ''antiquissimam hanc ecclesiam quae pene sola aevi damnis invicta priscarum urbis basilicarum formam adhuc servat''....</ref> Clement undertook restorations to the venerable structure, which he found dilapidated. He selected Carlo Stefano Fontana as architect, who erected a new facade, completed in 1719.<ref>John Gilmartin, "The Paintings Commissioned by Pope Clement XI for the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome" ''The Burlington Magazine'' '''116''' No. 855 (June 1974, pp. 304-312) p 304.</ref> The carved and gilded [[coffer]]ed ceilings of nave and aisles, fitted with paintings, date from this time, as do the stucco decor, Ionic capitals and frescos.

In one lateral chapel, there is a shrine with the tomb of Saint Cyril of the Saints [[Cyril and Methodius]], who translated the Bible into Slavic language, created the [[Glagolitic alphabet]], and [[Christianization of the Slavs|Christianized]] the [[Slavs]]. [[Pope John Paul II]] used to pray there sometimes for Poland and the Slavic countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.basilicasanclemente.com/italiano/stcyril.htm |title=Basilica San Clemente Roma |website=www.basilicasanclemente.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924113346/http://www.basilicasanclemente.com/italiano/stcyril.htm |archive-date=2008-09-24}} </ref> The chapel also holds a Madonna by [[Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato]].

 

 

During the Second World War, Jewish religious services were conducted in the [[Basilica di San Clemente]], since it was under Irish [[diplomatic protection]], under a painting of [[Book of Tobit|Tobias]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Coogan|first=Tim Pat|year=2002|title=Wherever Green is Worn|location=London|publisher= Hutchinson|isbn= 0-09-995850-3|page=86}}</ref>

* [[John Joseph Glennon]], (22 June 1946 – 9 March 1946)

* [[Johannes de Jong]], (12 October 1946 – 8 September 1955)

* [[Lawrence Joseph Shehan]], (25 May 1965 – 26 August 1984)

* [[Adrianus Johannes Simonis]] (25 May 1985 – 2 September 2020)