Verona, Duomo, Santa Maria Matricolare. Theology in Art, Architecture

What do the stonemasons, the fresco artists, tell us about belief systems that may be different from the dogma of the time.  We find the sculptures to show a burden put on the  shoulders of the non-elite, and a central role for Mary that is later suppressed.  She appears in old fresco and other representations in this way:  that the deity depended on her for the conception, the gestation, the birth; and also that the child depended upon her for survival; and later, for support when others forsook. Is that so?

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Look at ecclesiastical architecture with a new eye:  not to reinforce what you think you know, but to hear and see other perspectives. Any visit to a European country will involve some church-hopping.  See more than the guidebook or the guide say.

1.  Duomo, Verona.

Here is the Duomo, or Cathedral Santa Maria Matricolare, in Verona.  This looks like another church there,  San Zeno Maggiore, at first glance, but San Zeno has a top triangle at the roof, then a large rose window below, then the main arch entryway.  This Duomo is architecturally more complex.  If you take notes off and on, sketch out the differences to help you identify photos later.

Duomo, Cathedral, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, Italy

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 Identifying the various churches is not a priority for us. We are not extensive note-takers. We enjoy the wandering. Generally, we draw the line at two churches per town.  Max.  Our best guide at home for identification is the numeral order of the pictures on the memory card. Not infallible.

Structural identification.  Here, stripes identify the Duomo.  Brickwork identifies St. Anastasia, see previous posts. Then we squint at arch figures. More difficult are the interior views of frescoes, paintings.

Closeup, common man at work, Facade arch detail, Santa Maria Matricolare, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy
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2.  Theology in architecture, sculpture, fresco, carving.

Common people often hold up arches. They are identified by raggy clothes, usually bent over, showing exertion.  Saints and Biblicals around arches bear no burdens, apparently.  They pronounce. Note the Biblical-type clothing. Robes.  Look for more simple folk doing the work.

Common man bearing the burden, Facade arch, San Zeno Maggiore, Verona, Italy

Renderings of Biblical stories elucidate.  See Adam run. He has no real clothing, just a diaphanous something. Was that all he got instead of the leaf? Is that why he runs. Or does he realize he never told Eve where the specific tree was that they were to avoid.  He stood by and let her reach out and touch, to see what would happen.

Adam on the Run, Fresco, Duomo, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, Italy (or is it St. Anastasia?)

Everywhere you look - there are ordinary people exerting themselves to hold the place up. That looks like a woman, there in the center.

Santa Maria Matricolare, Duomo, Cathedral, arch figural details, exterior, Verona, Italy

3.  The dependence upon Mary.

Theology in Fresco:  The role of woman. See Mary here, and she is the center of attention, not Jesus. It is she who supports him while he is on the Cross. She is even larger than he is.
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Mary, in old Fresco, Santa Maria Matricolare, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy. Mary appears first in the act of supporting Christ on the Cross; then as the Central figure for worshipping petitioners
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And it is Mary who is the large focal point of the main part of the fresco below, with petitioners at each side. 
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Mary, Mary.  What did they do wi' ye? A 180 degree turn has happened, putting her in the shadows? It takes close looks at the oldest painted surfaces to see.
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Instead, where she does appear, she is buried in gilt and gewgaws, crowns and jewels supporting a monarchy, as though Himself ever valued that.


Mary, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy, here removed from role as protector, and an essential to life, into a garbed and regalia-ed Queen


Mary, painting, Duomo, Cathedral, Verona, Italy. Morphed into a new message of her role. The unreachable. 

The assumption takes over? See here below, then look up and see her above.

4.  Renovations of architecture, fresco and theology.  Changes to fit the time; or faithful reconstruction of the old.

If we were of this particular faith subgroup, we would keep before us the fresco of Mary as central to the things that matter, not the dogmas. And we would note the eternal truth, that even in our religions common people bear the burdens imposed on them while the higher ups contemplate and pronounce. Is that so? Not really, some higher ups were martyred. But if that was for an authoritarian view and dogma, perhaps it should have been rethought in terms of original teaching of the Founder. is that so? Sure.

Duomo, Verona. Major renovations, much concealed still

Aim your camera around the curtain to see what is going on.  We prefer old frescoes to newer paintings, so were interested here.

Duomo, Verona. Is the serpent here in Eden shown as a female? Isn't the serpent a "he"? Text tampering?

Excavations, Duomo, Verona, Italy

Duomo, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, layers of earlier foundations

Mary, about to nurse? Duomo, Verona, Italy

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We have seen several old frescoes of Mary nursing in public, people watching, breast bared. Here, this old sculpture (Romanesque) looks like another, with her apparently extending it to the child. When did nursing in public become anathema? It was essential to The Survival of the founder, is that so, and is that not the message - the role of the female not only for the gestation, but also its ongoing life. Have patience with us outsiders, please, but this issue interests us. Look at the demotions after. The vengeance of the Watchers.
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Duomo, Cathedral, Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona. Whimsy in figures.

This is why we like the old reliefs, the old frescoes and sculptures; rather than the gaudy later oils and decorations. Here are some folk, just hanging out. Or are they guarding the Tree, with their sceptres, but no wings, there in the center, so Adam (that is a guy) relaxing over there, cannot get back in.  Room for interpretation in everything.

Verona, Italy. Childish Adults on Board. Marbles, Loss or Enjoyment Of

Marble. Ancient to Modern. An Exhaustible Resource.

Examine It Minutely

for a change

Even marble flooring can be tweaked for entertainment's sake.

Duomo, marble flooring detail, Verona, Italy

Roar.

Antique marble, as in Greek statues, is "unknown" for use today, and carrera marble is used instead. The oldest quarries were exhausted. Marble varies, of course, with location. Countries are known for their marble. See the varieties of marble, with white being far softer than the black. The old black marble and white marble quarries are indeed gone. When scuffing along flooring, go from black to black? This site says that alabaster and granite are also marbles, see Marble Workers' Manual at ://quarriesandbeyond.org/articles_and_books/marble_workers_manual/mwh-p1_sect2.html/

Look at the varieties and colors of modern marble at ://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/stones/Marbles.htm/ Buy some. Find the chisel. Chiz.

Verona - Saint Anastasia and Simple Folk; The Theology of Art.

 The Theology of Art

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Here, we look at St. Anastasia, church in Verona, Italy; and what its art says about its theology.  See in the beleaguered supporters of its columns the place of the poor in Christian theology by the time of the Renaissance; and in frescoes, the persistence of the belief in Mary the Mother as essential not only to the birth of Christ, but also to his very survival: his dependence on her, as depicted in art where she nurses the baby openly, extending the breast.  That did not last.

Saint Anastasia Herself.

Which?  There were several Sant' Anastasia's in the third century -  one of Rome, one of Simium (where?) and one, known as The Patrician, see ://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/anastasia.html/  If this in Verona is the Roman one, as is likely given the geographic proximity, she was burned at the stake for refusing to marry. See the story, The Golden Legend, at the Iconography site.  Look it up at Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University, at ://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/. As to Simium, there is a reference in the history of the Apostles' Creed at ://www.archive.org/stream/apostlescreedexa00whee/apostlescreedexa00whee_djvu.txt/ but no map.

To us, as outsiders, the Roman Anastasia's death apparently had nothing to do with her Christian faith, as far as we can tell. She just said no to marrying the jerk, and wanted her wealth to go to the poor, not to the fellow who wanted her hand and the rest. What other theology is expressed by her sainthood? Where does Christ say not to marry.  Religious coral. What do we say.  Look out, girls, the Romans are coming? The fork in the road.

St. Anastasia, Santa Anastasia, 1480, Verona, Italy

2.  The place of the poor in Renaissance Christian theology. Is this so?


Look closer at the theology of architecture and sculpture. Does this fellow bearing burdens really want to be here.
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Unwilling beast of burden? St. Anastasia, Verona, Italy

This is one Hunchback, attributed to Gabriele Caliari, the father of Renaissance artist, Paolo Veronese. See Veronese at ://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/veronese_paolo.html

Second Hunchback, St. Anastasia, Verona, Italy

The second Hunchback bearing burdens:  he is also at the base of a column at the entrance, looks equally put upon.

We did not notice this was a hunchback - or the other one, either.

Are they? Or is that some description that just gets passed on?  We saw only the economically deprived.  Have to go back.  To us, they looked simply as the poor. Being dumped upon, again.
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Who bears the burden of our institutions. Who profits. What message?

Here is the altar and apse areas. No hunchbacks.

Interior, altar, Sant' Anastasia, Verona, Italy

3.  The Theology of Interdependence:  Mary as Essential not only to the Birth, but to the Survival

Here is Mary, nursing the baby, openly, extending the bare breast to the child as others look on.

Fresco, Sant' Anastasia, Verona, Italy. The Theology of Public Nursing: Mary nursing openly, in front of others, necessary to survival of the child; why is that female essential in Christian religion later suppressed by male dogma? Need we ask.

How many altar paintings, whatever, show this after the Renaissance? Scarce, if any. Then, look at the expressions on the faces of the men.  Do they look jealous?  Can they tolerate the idea that the Mother has this necessary connection, in order for the child to survive. And that their theories may well be disposable, but not this relationship.See discussion in connection with anther fresco of Mary nursing, at Lazise, at Vetting Roots, Centrality of Mary. Fresco Course Correction?.

Fresco, Verona, Italy. Saint Anastasia. Discomfited clerical onlookers, as Mary openly nurses. Are they, perhaps, already conjuring contrary dogma, how males could be made central to Christianity instead; Renaissance.

This theme, of Mary openly nursing the child, also appears in the ancient church of St. Anthony at Lake Garda, Italy, post pending. Then, surprisesurprise, no more Mary openly nursing.

Theological correctness:  Nursing in public is clearly theologically correct, as well as nutritionally advised.  Lactators, carry on.  Treatment of the poor.  Making the poor bear the burdens of the rich church architecture is not theologically correct. Serve the people.  Is that so?

Verona: Dante,; Scaligeri Family, and The Dogs of Vanity

Dante in Verona:

A temporary resident of Verona; a permanent memorial. Dante Alighieri, the poet we know simply as Dante,  lived in Verona for five years, from 1312 to 1318, a supporter of the Holy Roman Emperor party, the Guelphs; against the Pope's party, the Ghibellines.

Dante Alighieri, Monument, Memorial statue, Verona, Italy. Piazza dei Signori

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The Guelphs later divided into the White Guelphs (Dante's group) and the Black Guelphs, no racial reference.  As a White Guelph, and here history is beyond me, he had to leave Florence and ended up in Verona. And elsewhere in Italy, traveling about. Writing. Falling in love. Describing hell.  Is that so? Not in that order. See ://www.online-literature.com/dante/  Verona was not unique in housing him.

In his "Purgatory", Dante refers to Montecchio's and Capelletti, and their sadness; some think the story might, just might, have taken place at that time, perhaps.  See Dante's Verona at ://www.veronissima.com/sito_inglese/html/topic_dante.html, referencing Shakespeare's later story we know as Romeo and Juliet. Montagues and Capulets.
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Tombs of the Scaligeri in Verona.

The Scaligeri family ruled Verona in the 1300's-1400's.  The name, Cangrande, for one of them, means "Big Dog" and there are several on the tomb.

Scaglieri tomb, Cangrande perhaps, Verona, Italy

One story behind the obsession with canine names in the Scaglieri family is this:  That the Polos returned from the Far East talking of the might of the Khan, and the Khan was translated into a spelling like Cane, which resembled Dog. The Scaglieris would not be outdone by some dog from the east, so the tradition of outdoing began. Was that in Rick Steves' guidebook?  Will check. The memorial to the Scalieri Family is, as any other name in another language or earlier time, spelled variously:  also spelled Della Scala, or Scaligeri.

Frommer's guide says that many others in the family took on dog names, including one called the Mastiff, see ://www.frommers.com/destinations/verona/A33548.html/.  We are looking for other accounts of the original idea, going back earlier, that the family's obsession with things dog stemmed from a misinterpretation - not "dogs" at all. The NYT does not mention it. See ://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/italy/verona/33548/arche-scaligeri-scaligeri-tombstorre-dei-lamberti/attraction-detail.html/


Scaglieri Family Tomb, Cangrande, Big Dog, Verona, Italy
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See the history of the family and Verona at this google book, http://books.google.com/books?id=XixojYgnRtsC&pg=RA1-PA388&lpg=RA1-PA388&dq=canines+Verona+Italy&source=bl&ots=dqp-W_ClYr&sig=6I2SIQ5b3MdyOtP8FvaJI_a8MnU&hl=en&ei=IoTPSqinHYjllAfIuZmpCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false/.  This is from Italy, page 389.

Verona - Market, Arena, Rome Was Here. And Venice. And the Inquisition.

Verona's Old City is largely pedestrianized, but it is also a large, active community. This is not a big open-air museum, despite all the fine buildings. People live and work here.

Clocktower, street view, Old City, Verona, Italy

Market, Old Town, Verona, Italy

Verona's Arena looks like Rome's Colisseum, and was built by the Romans in the First Century. Gladiators, spectacles, all here.  See ://italy-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/touring_roman_verona/

Roman Arena, passageway (flash adjusted), Verona, Italy

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Roman Arena, close-up, brickwork, interior vaulted arch passage, Verona, Italy

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These days, come in summer for the Opera.

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After the Romans came a variety of city-state rulers and kings.  In 1184, Pope Innocent III, at a gathering called the Council of Verona, instituted the Inquisition here. See timeline at ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=p&tbs=tl%3A1&q=timeline+Verona&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=/ Support the Roman Catholic interpretations of Christianity or die. The next 80 popes continued it. Churches can represent ill-gotten gains.

Then came the big one, Venice.

Lion of Venice, Piazza della Erbe, Verona, Italy

The Lion of Venice:  In the 9th Century, some dastardly folk from Venice stole the remains of St. Mark that had been entombed in Alexandria, Egypt.  The graverobbers concealed the corpse in pork to fend off the Muslims; then suspended it from the mainmast and braved a sea crossing where Saint Mark himself instructed them to strike the sails and thus saved them from hitting rocks.  Once at Venice, the remains were given to the Doge in Venice, who adopted Saint Mark as the city's patron saint.  Accordingly, St. Mark's traditional logo, a winged lion, became symbol of they city. See ://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/winged_lion_of_st_mark.htm/

Verona was conquered by the Republic of Venice in 1405. See timeline at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=p&tbs=tl%3A1&q=timeline+Verona&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=/.

Verona - Bones About It

Your young or English major children might be surprised at the contrasting tones at Juliet's supposed house:  the sometimes rowdy groping at the Juliet statue in the courtyard, and then the shift inside to find the dancing dead.
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Here is the courtyard at Juliet's concocted house, and this courtyard (after the ticket booth) ushers you into the tour through imagined rooms. We understand that this particular house has no connection to anything Shakespearean, except for its look. Fine.  It looks as we might imagine from the outside.  And there is a nice art gallery filling much of it up as you go. Enjoy. There is also an imagined Romeo house, a serenade away, that we did not enter.

Juliet's house and balcony (ersatz), Verona, Italy

 Juliet Herself, with Daniel, the restrained Admirer, Verona, Italy

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Then, inside, bones offering a stark view of a reality, the transience of joy as a general principle? Is that it? Are all the heights heightened by their loss. Do they live on because they die in full flower, as an unsustainable ideal, instead of life taking over. Read about it at ://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-romeo-and-juliet.htm/  But soft, draw closer, ah, there ....  See a snippet at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UfUd03qOxE/

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Family Tour. Too late! Verona, Italy, Romeo and Juliet, after.

 It happened in Verona, Italy.

Is that part of life?  What say. Romeo, where art thou.