The Christian Basilica

Oct. 4, 2011

Introduction

The Christian Basilica : A Building Type

Old St. Peters, Rome, begun c. 320-321

Trinity Church Wall St. NYC, 1846 Trinity Church, Newport RI, 1725

Parthenon, Athens Greece, 447-438 B.C.E. Callicrates, Ictinus and Phidias

Pantheon, Rome, c. 118-128

Icon of Christ, Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai, Egypt, 6th century CE

Dura Europos, Christian Baptistery, before 256 C.E.

I. Origin of the Christian Basilica

Old St. Peters, Rome, begun c. 320-321

Emperor Constantine

• Ruled 306-337• Edict of Milan, 313 legalized Christianity• Built churches in Rome, and on sites associated with Christ in

Judea• Founded Constantinople, (Byzantium, Istanbul), 330

Arch of Constantine, Rome 313-315

Old St. Peters, Rome, begun c. 320-321

St. Peter’s Rome, 1505 and later

Forum of Trajan, Rome, 98-117

Plan of Old St. Peter’s church, c. 320

Basilica Ulpia, Forum of Trajan, Rome, 98-117

Plan of Old St. Peter’s church, c. 320

Domes of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 326

First century grave within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, plan and reconstruction of the Constantinian church, ca. 325

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome Italy, ca. 432-40 C.E.

II. The Romanesque Monastic Church

Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120Old St. Peter’s church,

c. 320

Santa Sabina, Rome, 423-432

Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120

Plan, Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120

East end with radiating chapels, Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120

Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120

Saint Foy, reliquary statue, 10th-11th century

Plan of the monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland, c. 820

Reconstructed view from the plan of the Monastery of St. Gall, from David Talbot Rice (Ed.), The Dark Ages, The Making of European Civilization, London 1965

Cluny--Cluniac Fontenay-Cistercian

Remains of Cluny III, 1088-1130

Berzé-la-Ville, wall painting Saint Peter from Cluny

Fontenay, Monastery Church, 1139-1147

Fontenay, Monastery Church, 1139-1147

Fontenay, Monastery Church, 1139-1147

III. The Gothic Cathedral

Notre Dame, Amiens, c. 1220-1226

Notre Dame, Amiens, c. 1220-1226

Old St. Peter’s church, c. 320

Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120

East end, St. Eitenne, Beauvais, 1225-1272 and after 1284 East end with radiating chapels, Saint-

Sernin, Toulouse, c. 1080-1120

Gothic Characteristics

• Ribbed groin vaulting• Flying butttresses• Pointed (broken) arches• Continuous membering• Stained glass, diaphanous wall

Notre Dame, Chartres, 1194-1227

View of the vaults, Notre Dame, Amiens, c. 1220-1226

Ribbed groin vault

Notre Dame, Chartres, 1194-1227

Section of the choir, Notre Dame, Amiens, 1220-1236

Notre Dame, Amiens, c. 1220-1226

Stained glass, Notre Dame, Reims, 1211-1255

Window with Virgin and Child, Notre Dame Chartres, c. 1230

Old St. Peter’s church, c. 320