Una cosmografia Cristiana? Le radici astronomiche della cupola del perduto edificio martiriale di San Prisco presso Capua (v sec.)

Title in English A Christian Cosmography? The Astronomical Origins of the Dome of a Lost Martyrial Building
Authors

CROCI Chiara

Year of publication 2018
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Convivium. Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. Seminarium Kondakovianum Series Nova
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web http://www.brepols.net/pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503578354-1
Keywords Early Christian iconography, San Prisco’s Complex (Capua), astronomical/cosmological imagery, liturgical calendar
Description Known only through modern copies and descriptions, the iconography of the lost mosaics of the fifth-century building in the San Prisco cemetery on the Appian Way outside Capua remains unique in Early Christian art. Similarities between the composition scheme of the Capuan dome’s mosaic and images in astronomical treatises, such as the miniature of the Ptolemy’s easy Tables, attest to the influence of cosmological models in the mosaic's iconography. Specific connections between cosmological imagery and depictions in the Early Christian world emerge from the analysis, enabling the author to present San Prisco's mosaic as a Christian Cosmology adapted, by members of a highly cultivated ecclesiastical elite, to the devotional needs of the Capuan martyrial site.

You are running an old browser version. We recommend updating your browser to its latest version.