Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello (cropped)

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta (''basilica di Santa Maria Assunta'') is a

basilica church The architecture of cathedrals and great churches is characterised by the buildings' large scale and follows one of several branching traditions of form, function and style that derive ultimately from the Early Christian architectural traditio ...

on the island of

Torcello Torcello ( la, Torcellum; vec, Torceło) is a sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon, in north-eastern Italy. It was first settled in 452 CE and has been referred to as the parent island from which Venice was p ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is a notable example of Late Paleochristian architecture, one of the most ancient religious edifices in the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, and containing the earliest mosaics in the area of Venice.

History

According to an ancient inscription, it was founded by the

exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

in 639, when Torcello was still a rival to the young nearby settlement at Venice. The original church is believed to have had a nave with one aisle on each side and a single apse on the eastern wall of the cathedral. It's difficult to tell what the original church was like because very little of it survived the subsequent renovations. Much of the plan of the original church survives as its present form is very similar to the original but the only physical parts that survive are the central apse wall and part of the baptistery that survives as part of the façade of the current church. The first of two major renovations occurred in 864 under the direction of Bishop

Adeodatus II Pope Adeodatus II (c.621–17 June 676), sometimes called Deodatus, was the bishop of Rome from 672 to his death. He devoted much of his papacy to improving churches and fighting Monothelism. Rise Born in Rome in c.621, Adeodatus was the son of a ...

. In this renovation, the two aisle apses that appear today were built. Also, the synthronon that fills the central apse was created and the crypt was placed under it. After this renovation, the cathedral would have resembled the current cathedral more than the original church would have but it is not until after the second and final major renovation that the cathedral appears very similar to its current design. The final renovation was consecrated under Bishop Orso Orseolo, whose father Pietro Orseolo II was the

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 a ...

at the time, in 1008. With this renovation, Orseolo raised the nave, added windows to the western wall, and created the arcade that runs along the nave on both sides separating it from the aisles and helping to support the clerestory.

Architecture

The façade is preceded by a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

to which was once annexed the 7th century baptistry, only traces of which remain. On its side is the ''martyrion'', dedicated to Santa Fosca. The bell tower dates from the 11th century. Also annexed was in origin the Bishop's Palace. The façade has 12 semi-columns connected by arches at the tops. The narthex (11th century) was enlarged in the 13th century. In the middle is the marble portal (1000). The most striking exterior features are the decoration of the façade and the frontal portico, enlarged in the 14th century. The interior, with a nave and two aisles, has a marble pavement, the throne of the bishops of Altino and the sepulchre of St. Heliodorus, first bishop of Altino. The counter-façade has a mosaic of the ''Universal Judgement''. Noteworthy is also a mosaic depicting a ''Madonna with Child'' (of the

Hodegetria A Hodegetria , ; russian: Одиги́трия, Odigítria ; Romanian: Hodighitria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of s ...

type) in the middle apse (11th century).

Mosaics

The most important artistic element of the cathedral is the mosaics, the earliest remaining mosaics in the neighbourhood of Venice. The main

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

has an 11th-century mosaic of famous beauty of the standing ''Virgin

'', isolated against a huge

gold background Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxuriou ...

, above a register of standing saints. These seem originally late 11th-century, by a team of Byzantine mosaicists, but the main figure was reworked a century later after an earthquake, while the saints remain from the first period of work. The west wall (over the door) was done in this second phase: from the top it contains a ''Crucifixion'' in the gable, then a vigorous

Harrowing of Hell In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell ( la, Descensus Christi ad Inferos, "the descent of Christ into Hell" or Hades) is an Old English and Middle English term referring to the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his re ...

with a large figure of Christ, above a ''

Last Judgement The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

'' taking up four lower registers.Dates per the apparent latest consensus; a variety of dates are given by Dodwell, 184, 186; Talbot Rice, 216-17; Dale, 746; Demus, 18, 188 The skull of

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She b ...

is also kept as a relic here.

Gallery

Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.JPG, Exterior of the cathedral Torcello Campanile della Basilica di S. Maria Assunta.JPG, The

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

. Torcello - Santa Maria Assunta - mosaics of the choir.JPG, The main apse Torcello - Santa Maria Assunta.Last Judgement.jpg, West wall Torcello 2.jpg, Santa Maria Assunta (left) and Santa Fosca 0 Tête d'ange - OA 6460 - Louvre.JPG, Fragment of a mosaic decorating the interior wall of Santa Maria Assunta.

Notes

References

*Dale, Thomas E.A., "Mosaic", in Christopher Kleinhenz (ed), ''Medieval Italy: an Encyclopedia'', Routledge, 2004, ,
Google books
* Demus, Otto. ''The Mosaic Decoration of San Marco Venice'' (1 volume version, edited by Herbert L. Kessler), University of Chicago Press, 1988, *Dodwell, C.R.; ''The Pictorial arts of the West, 800-1200'', 1993, Yale UP, *Niero, Antonio, ''The Basilica of Torcello and Santa Fosca’s'' (Venice: ARDO, 1978) *

David Talbot Rice David Talbot Rice (11 July 1903 in Rugby – 12 March 1972 in Cheltenham) was an English archaeologist and art historian. He has been described variously as a "gentleman academic" and an "amateur" art historian, though such remarks are no ...