The Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore is a Roman Catholic church in Milan, Northern Italy. Located within the city's ring of navigli, it is one of the oldest churches in the city, originally built in Roman times, but subsequently rebuilt several times over the centuries. It is close to the medieval Porta Ticinese and near the Basilicas Park, which includes both the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, as well as the Roman Colonne di San Lorenzo. The art historians H.W. Janson and Anthony F. Janson write that it is a building of "daring originality" and "gives a glimpse of the great churches built by Constantine and his successors in Byzantium, none of which stand today."[1]
The basilica was built between the late fourth and early fifth centuries. The exact date is uncertain, as are the name of who commissioned it and the circumstances of its foundation. According to some scholars, but unconfirmed by the archaeology or inscriptions, San Lorenzo was erected to coincide with the "Basilica Portiana", which was built by the "Augustus of the West" (Valentinian I or Valentinian II) to please the Arian Bishop of Milan Auxentius (355–372). If true, San Lorenzo predates the foundation of the four Ambrosian basilicas. Contemporary sources recall that the so-called Basilica Portiana resisted the efforts of St Ambrose to wrest it from the Arians.
A second hypothesis, is that the church was founded some decades later between 390 and 402, and commissioned by Theodosius I or Stilicho. Evidence for this proposition comes from archaeological investigations carried out between 2002 and 2004. Supporters of this view are divided as to the function of the building; for some it is an imperial basilica that would have confirmed the role of Milan as the imperial capital of the West, in rivalry with Rome and Constantinople; for others, it is a mausoleum for the Theodosian dynasty.
What is certain is that at the time of its construction the basilica was the largest, centrally planned building in the West. The dedication of the temple to St. Laurence (San Lorenzo) the martyr has been certified only from 590, when Milan was already controlled by the Lombards.
The Medieval Period and the Renaissance
The church's exterior
While Medieval Milan underwent a period of decline, San Lorenzo maintained a leading role in the city's liturgy: as the highest place in Milan it came to represent the Mount of Olives and on Palm Sunday the bishop blessed the palms and led the procession that from there to the now-demolished Basilica of Santa Tecla.
The eleventh and twelfth centuries were marked by numerous disasters: fires, in particular, the terrible "fire of the Stork", that in 1071 devoured the basilica, devastating the internal decorations, and earthquakes, that undermined the stability of the complex, making new restorations necessary between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Towards the middle of the eleventh century, the open space behind the basilica, called Vetra, was used as the place of executions: this practice continued until 1840 and was reported, among others, by Alessandro Manzoni in the history of the infamous column. By 1167, with the construction of the medieval walls, the basilica was to be found within the city, at the new Porta Ticinese (Ticinese gate).
Recent and contemporary times
The basilica of San Lorenzo remained throughout the Middle Ages a symbol of the legacy of the Roman Empire in Milan. Subsequently, during the age of the Renaissance, especially after the 1154 destruction of the other Ancient Roman structures by Emperor Barbarossa, the temple was an example of the classical architectural canons admired by humanists, and studied by architects and artists such as Bramante, Leonardo, and Giuliano da Sangallo. Painted references to the church from that era can be identified.
On 5 June 1573, the dome of the basilica suddenly collapsed, fortunately without causing casualties. Construction of a new dome in a more modern style began immediately and was completed in 1619. During the reconstruction, a miracle occurred, one predicted by Archbishop Carlo Borromeo: one year after his death in 1585, a sick woman was cured in front of the icon of the Madonna del Latte, displayed on the Piazza della Vetra. Following this event, donations increased enabling more rapid progress in the reconstruction. In 1626, the Madonna del Latte was transferred to the high altar where it remains to this day.
In the 1830s the Austrian Government began a redevelopment of the Vetra: houses built leaning against the basilica and inhabited by tanners were demolished; the channel of the Vetra was covered over; and executions were abolished. After the bombings of 1944–1945 the houses that had been destroyed were not rebuilt enabling the park of the basilicas to be created, from which there is an excellent view of the complex. In 1934 in place of the demolished houses a sort of a courtyard was formed, with the creation of a public square opposite the basilica.
Art and architecture
Interior open central area
The basilica, perhaps to avoid the unstable and marshy ground, was built on an artificial hill not far from the walls, along the Via Ticinensis, the main access route to the city, and not far from the Imperial Palace and the amphitheatre, from which were taken some of the materials used in constructing the temple itself. The complex was surrounded by various waterways, coming together to form the Vettabbia, the canal that takes away the waters of Milan, which still flow towards the agricultural areas to the south of the city.
The building had a central plan approached by a four-sided portico and surrounded by two connected structures. Access to the portico was through a colonnade which in turn gave access to three portals leading to the main body of the building. This consisted of a square hall inscribed as a building with four apses, whose semicircular hollows overhung by semi-cupolas were articulated by four columns. Around this space ran the ambulatory surmounted by a space later used as a women's gallery. Towers rose at the four corners of the square building. The whole was topped by a dome of which we know little, this having been lost. The interior was lit by large windows, and probably decorated with marble in the lower parts and with mosaics in the vaults and arches. Of the two side buildings, the smaller was in the east, opposite the entrance: a chapel in the shape of a Greek cross, later on octagonal, dedicated to St Hippolytus. The larger building was to the south, having the function of the imperial mausoleum: tradition attributing its foundation to Galla Placidia, which is why the sacellum took on the name of the chapel of the Queen.
Between 489 and 511 Bishop Lorenzo had a third structure built to the north, a chapel dedicated to St Sixtus, to be used for the burial of metropolitans. Perhaps in this period, when Roman imperial authority in Italy had diminished, the mausoleum to the south of the basilica was transformed into a chapel dedicated to St Genesius the martyr. By the sixth century, on the east wall, opposite the entrance, two portals were opened giving access to two local apses.
Plan of the church
In the tenth century, probably in the Ottonian era, reconstruction took place possibly involving the participation of a Byzantine workforce who had retained knowledge of the classical techniques of construction and decoration. Little is known regarding these restorations, but it is assumed that the cupola (dome) had been reconstructed using pipes made of terracotta, making it lighter than the previous one, perhaps already damaged to the extent of justifying a reconstruction. After the disasters of the eleventh century, the restorations of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries focused on providing stability to the whole complex, rebuilding the pillars that supported the cupola and carrying out other interventions on the load-bearing structures (columns, towers). In this period, a lantern was added above the dome, supported by flying buttresses leaning against the towers. In the fifteenth century, the Chapel of the Citizens was created from the hall of the apse in the southeast, which had already been refashioned in the eleventh century.
After the collapse of 1573, a new cupola was commissioned from the architect, Martino Bassi. His collaboration with Rinaldi, Meda and Trezzi resulted in numerous changes and was only completed in 1619. Archbishop Borromeo had the chapel of St Genesius rededicated to St Aquilino, whose relics were placed in the chapel; to its sides were added two chapels, dedicated to St John the Baptist and the Holy Family. In 1623, at the wish of Archbishop Federico Borromeo there began the construction of the chapter house to the side of the courtyard, a project carried out by the architects Aurelio Trezzi and Francesco Maria Richino; construction was completed in 1626.
In 1713 at the initiative of Francesco Croce, the Chapel of Redemption was inserted between those of St Aquilino and the Holy Family (now a sacristry).
In 1894, the engineer and architect Cesare Nava built a vestibule in front of the church, consisting of three ionic arches in stone-like cement. In 1934 the houses that had sprung up in the courtyard were demolished, and in their place the following year was positioned a bronze statue of Constantine the Great, a copy of an original late antiquity preserved in Rome in San Giovanni in Laterano; the courtyard was opened to form a public square.
Pipe organ
On the face of the women's gallery to the right of the apse is to be found the pipe organ, built by the Milanese organ builder Pietro Bernasconi, re-using materials from the organ constructed in 1840 by Felice Bossi; he in turn had re-used parts from an earlier organ, restored in 1820 by Antonio Brunelli II and probably originally from the church of San Giovanni in Conca.
The instrument, with a fully mechanical transmission, has its console situated at the centre of the organ case, comprising two manuals (keyboards) each of 61 notes (Great Organ, first manual; Second Organ, second manual), with a first extensive chromatic octave and a pedal board of 24 notes. The case, with its three arched façade, presents a display of 29 pipes of the Principal 8' arranged in three groups, one for each of the three arches, with the mitred mouths of the pipes aligned. Following on, the layout of the organ is arranged according to the position of the mechanisms that control the various stops in the columns of the stops either side of the console (at the left of the console the Second Organ; at the right the Great Organ and Pedal).
Column to the left of the console – Second Organ
Tromba dolce 8' Voce tremula 8' Treble Viola I 4' Bass Violin I 4' Treble Viola II 4' Bass Violin II 4' Treble Voce flebile Treble Flute in VIII 4'
Column to the left of the registry – Concert
Bassoon Bass Trumpet Treble Clarion Bass Clarinet Treble Trumpet Bass English horn Treble Contra Oboe Treble Contra Oboe Bass Flute Treble Viola Bass Flute in VIII Bass Flute in VIII Treble Piccolo Treble Open twelfth Treble Principal cornet Treble Vox humana Treble Violine 8' (on the pedals) Kettledrum (on the pedals) Bombarde 16' (on the pedals)
Column to the right of the registry – Full
Principal 16' Bass Principal 16' Treble Principal I 8' Bass Principal I 8' Treble Principal II 8' Bass Principal II 8' Treble Octave 4' Bass Octave 4' Treble Open twelfth 2⅔' Bass Open twelfth 2⅔' Treble Super octave 2' Octave twelfth 1½' Octave fifteenth 1' Mixture I Mixture II Mixture III Bass viols and octave 16'+8' (on the pedals) Bass viols II 16' (on the pedals) Coupler IP Coupler II-I Third hand
Chapel of Saint Aquilino
Other chapels were added to the original edifice. Notable is the octagonal Capella di Sant'Aquilino (chapel of St Aquilino), adjoining the main church to the south. The chapel, which may have originally been built as an imperial Roman mausoleum,[2][3] features important 4th-century Paleochristianmosaics. Among the mosaics is included a formulaic depiction of Jesus, as "Christ the Lawgiver" ("Traditio Legis" - "handing over the law") or possibly "Christ the teacher". Jesus is seated on a throne, flanked by a "school" of his Apostles, with a scroll box at his feet.[4] The chapel was later dedicated to the martyr Saint Aquilino of Milan (or Saint Aquilinus of Cologne), with his remains being housed in the chapel.[2] A 17th-century reliquary ark for the saint was crafted by Lombardian architect Carlo Garavaglia[it] (fl.1634–1635). The frescoThe Rediscovery of the corpse of Saint Aquilinus of Cologne, by Carlo Urbino, decorates the wall behind the main altar in the Sant'Aquilino chapel.
The square facing the basilica features the so-called "Colonne di San Lorenzo" (Columns of St. Lawrence), one of the few remains of the Roman "Mediolanum", dating from the 3rd century AD and probably belonging to the large baths built by the emperor Maximian. They were carried in the current place when the basilica construction was finished.
Chronology of the provosts (parish priests)
The parish priest of San Lorenzo has long held the position of provost. The complete list of provosts is not known; the following names are derived from a list compiled from studies undertaken by the priest A. Baruffaldi, carved in marble and placed in the basilica itself. Among them were two Archbishops and one Pope.
Anselmo da Bovisio (?–1097), who was appointed Archbishop of Milan
...
Ambrogio (1116–1119)
...
Belengerio (1137–?)
...
Guifredo (1146–1152)
...
Corvo (1158–1176)
...
Giacomo (1187–1203)
Anizone (1208–1225)
Guglielmo (1228–1251)
Ardizone del Conte (1254–1285)
Filippo del Conte (1285–1312)
Bonifacio Pusterla (1313–1314)
Ardizone del Conte (1321–1338)
Antonio del Conte (1340–1347)
Francesco da S. Zenone (1350–1359)
Francesco da Legnano (1363–1371)
Giovanni da Mandello (1376–1385)
Giovanni di Sommariva (1392–1399)
Martino di Canale (1406–1436)
Enea Silvvio Piccolomini (1436–1440), in 1458 elected Pope as Pius II
Leonardo da Vercelli (1441–1444)
Filippo da Gallarate (1448–1460)
Nicolò da Appiano (1461–1496)
Bernardino Lanterio (1500–1505)
Francesco Cazzaniga (1510–1519)
Giacomo de Spaldis (1522–1525)
Francescco Aaccursio (1528–1545)
Ottoviano Arcimboldo (1546–?)
Giovan Battista della Chiesa (1551–?)
Giovan Aandrea Pionnio (1569–1579)
Giovan Battista Recalcato (1579–1589)
Giulio Cesare Negri (1589–1594)
Massimiliano Pusterla (1594–1607)
Giovan Stefaano Ciami (1607–1608)
Andrea Bassi (1609–1629)
Tullo Piantanida (1629–1630)
Giulio Maschera (1630–1650)
Giovan Ambrogio Torriani (1650–1666)
Orazio Baruverio (1667–1688)
Giovan Antonio Gallo (1688–1717)
Carlo Ambrogio Curioni (1717–1728)
Settimio Lodi (1728–1733)
Pier Antonio Valmaginio (1733–1747)
Carlo Antonio Belvisi (1748–1770)
Antonio Airoldo (1771–1795)
Giovan Battista Aloardi (1795–1819)
Giovanni dell'Oro (1820–1830)
Giovan Battista Redaelli (1830–1854)
Giovan Battista Gadola (1855–1865), formerly Parish priest of Legnano
Achille Achino (1867–1876)
Giovan Battista Thomas (1877–1895)
Luigi Bignami (1896–1905), who was appointed Archbishop of Siracusa
Carlo Rigogliosi (1906–1932)
Giovanni Maria Stoppani (1932–1960)
Anselmo Redaelli (1960–?)
Carlo del Corno (1968–1984)
Angelo Manzoni (1984–1986)
Riccardo Busnelli (1986–1996)
Augusto Casolo (1996–still in office)
The apse area of the ancient basilica is now a park. Previously the area was occupied by a channel or a lake (probably with a port), while later it was used in public executions, one of which is recounted in Alessandro Manzoni's Storia della Colonna Infame.
Cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monastic churches like those of abbeys and priories, often have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary architectural style and the work of accomplished craftsmen, and occupy a status both ecclesiastical and social that an ordinary parish church rarely has. Such churches are generally among the finest buildings locally and a source of regional pride. Many are among the world's most renowned works of architecture. These include St Peter's Basilica, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cologne Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Antwerp Cathedral, Prague Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of San Vitale, St Mark's Basilica, Westminster Abbey, Saint Basil's Cathedral, Antoni Gaudí's incomplete Sagrada Família and the ancient cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, now a mosque.
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark, commonly known as St Mark's Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cathedral of San Pietro di Castello. It is dedicated to and holds the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the city.
Donato Bramante, born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome, where his plan for St. Peter's Basilica formed the basis of the design executed by Michelangelo. His Tempietto marked the beginning of the High Renaissance in Rome (1502) when Pope Julius II appointed him to build a sanctuary over the spot where Peter was martyred.
The Basilica di Santa Croce is a minor basilica and the principal Franciscan church of Florence, Italy. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres southeast of the Duomo, on what was once marshland beyond the city walls. Being the burial place of notable Italians, including those from the Italian Renaissance such as Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, as well as the poet Foscolo, political philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, it is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories.
The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, commonly abbreviated to the Frari, is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy. It is the largest church in the city and it has the status of a minor basilica. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, facing onto the central part of the Via del Corso. The apse of the church faces across the street, the Mausoleum of Augustus on Via di Ripetta.
The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Construction began in 1390 and its main facade has remained unfinished since. The building was transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929; the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna's patron saint only since 2000; until then they were preserved in the Santo Stefano church of Bologna.
Genoa Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Lawrence is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Italian city of Genoa. It is dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Genoa. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Gelasius II in 1118 and was built between the twelfth century and the fourteenth century as fundamentally a medieval building, with some later additions. Secondary naves and side covers are of Romanesque style and the main facade is Gothic from the early thirteenth century, while capitals and columns with interior corridors date from the early fourteenth century. The bell tower and dome were built in the sixteenth century.
Mantua Cathedral in Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Peter. It is the seat of the Bishop of Mantua.
Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period or region, due to Italy's division into various small states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs. Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements, such as the construction of aqueducts, temples and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th century, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world, notably in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America during the late-17th to early 20th centuries.
St. George's Basilica or the Basilica and Collegiate Parish Church of Saint George, also simply known as San Ġorġ in Maltese, is a historic Baroque church situated in the middle of Gozo, the second largest island in the Maltese archipelago, and is surrounded by a maze of old narrow streets and alleys. The church had been rebuilt numerous times during the Middle Ages. Today's basilica was built between 1672 and 1678.
Padua Cathedral, or Basilica Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, is a Catholic church and minor basilica located on the east end of Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the bishop's palace in Padua, Veneto, Italy.
The Duomo of Monza, often known in English as Monza Cathedral, is the main religious building of Monza, Italy. Unlike most duomi, it is not in fact a cathedral, as Monza has always been part of the Diocese of Milan, but is in the charge of an archpriest who has the right to certain episcopal vestments including the mitre and the ring. The church is also known as the Basilica of San Giovanni Battista from its dedication to John the Baptist.
The basilica of San Nazaro in Brolo or San Nazaro Maggiore is a 4th-century Roman Catholic church in Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy.
Italy has the richest concentration of Late Antique and medieval mosaics in the world. Although the art style is especially associated with Byzantine art and many Italian mosaics were probably made by imported Greek-speaking artists and craftsmen, there are surprisingly few significant mosaics remaining in the core Byzantine territories. This is especially true before the Byzantine Iconoclasm of the 8th century.
Vicenza Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Vicenza, and is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
The Abbey of Santa Giustina is a 10th-century Benedictine abbey complex located in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. Adjacent to the former monastery is the basilica church of Santa Giustina, initially built in the 6th century, but whose present form derives from a 17th-century reconstruction.
The church and monastery of San Vittore al Corpo were an ancient monastery of the Olivetan order built in the early 16th century. The site was once a fourth century Roman imperial mausoleum of Maximian, that may also have held the burials of the emperors Gratian and Valentinian II, though they were more likely buried in another mausoleum, now the Chapel of Saint Aquilinus in the Basilica of Saint Lawrence. The basilica was enlarged in the 8th century to house the relics of the saints Vittore and Satiro. A Benedictine monastery soon was attached to the church. In 1507, the monastery was transferred to the Olivetans, who began a major reconstruction. Reconstruction of the church was begun in 1533 by Vincenzo Seregni, and completed in 1568 by Pellegrino Tibaldi. The façade remains incomplete. The dome was frescoed in 1617 by Guglielmo Caccia. In the chapel of St Anthony is a 1619 canvas by Daniele Crespi. In the transept on the left, is an early 17th-century cycle of canvases of the Stories of San Benedetto, by Ambrogio Figino while the right transept has three altarpieces by Camillo Procaccini. Other chapels have paintings by Pompeo Batoni and Giovanni Battista Discepoli.
The Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore is a church in Largo San Giovanni Maggiore in central Naples, Italy.
The Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara is the Palatine Chapel of the House of Gonzaga in Mantua, Italy.
References
↑ Janson, H.W. and Anthony F. (2004). History of Art (Revised sixthed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson. pp.235–6. ISBN0-13-182623-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
↑ Krautheimer. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. p.56.
↑ Beckwith. Early Christian and Byzantine Art. p.31.
Sources
Beckwith, John (1979) [1970]. "Early Christian Art: Rome and the Legacy of the Caesars". Early Christian and Byzantine Art. The Pelican History of Art (2nded.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp.31. ISBN0-14-056033-5.
A. Calderini; G. Chierici & C.Cecchelli (1951). La basilica di S. Lorenzo Maggiore in Milano (in Italian). Milan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
de Capitani d'Arzago, A. (1942). Architettura dei secoli quarto e quinto in Alta Italia (in Italian). Milan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
de Capitani d'Arzago, A. (1948). "Actes du VIe Congrès International des Études Byzantines". II. Paris: 80.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Krautheimer, Richard (1965). "Christian Architecture in the Capitals 335-400". Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. The Pelican History of Art. Baltimore: Penguin Books. pp.55–57.
Verzone, Paolo (1942). L'architettura religiosa dell'alto medio evo nell'Italia settentrionale (in Italian). Milan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Ward Perkins, J. B. (1947). "The Italian Element in Late Roman and Medieval Architecture". Annual Italian Lecture of the British Academy.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Late 4th-century mosaic of Christ the Lawgiver
The octagonal chapel
Ceiling over the chapel's main altar
