Main entry:

Mackie, Gillian Vallance, 1931-

Title & Author:

Early Christian chapels in the west : decoration, function and patronage / Gillian Mackie.

Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, ©2003.

Description:

xx, 378 pages, 96 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-367) and index.
Introduction: Origins, Semantics, and Functions of the Early Christian Chapel -- pt. 1. The Context of the Chapels in Italy and Istria: History, Archaeology, and Topography -- 1. Martyr Shrine to Funerary Chapel -- 2. The Mausolea of the Imperial Family in the West -- 3. The Domestic Oratory: A Mirage -- 4. Chapels within the Confines of Churches: A Late Development -- pt. 2. The Survivors: Iconography and Meaning -- 5. A Sole Survivor: The Chapel of the Archbishops of Ravenna -- 6. Commemoration of the Dead: S. Vittore in Ciel D'Oro, Milan, and the S. Matrona Chapel at S. Prisco -- 7. Mausolea of the Rulers in the West -- 8. Papal Chapels: The Chapels of Pope Hilarus at the Lateran Baptistery, Rome -- 9. A Collective Funerary Martyrium: The S. Venanzio Chapel, Rome -- 10. The Chapel Revisited: A Synthesis -- App. A Short Catalogue of Chapels Mentioned in This Book.
Dust jacket.

Summary:

Chapels were among the important types of buildings that evolved during the first four centuries of organised Christianity in the West. They were originally developed in connection with the cult of the saints, commemorating both their gravesites and their places of martyrdom. But the chapels rapidly found other uses among the ever-expanding Christian population as places of prayer and pilgrimage, and were chosen by the faithful for their own burial beside the saints. With little in the way of contemporary written records, the decorative programme of each chapel is now often the only way to determine the function, patronage, and meaning of the building. Gillian Mackie examines the decorative schemes of the surviving chapels built in Italy and Istria from AD312-740 in the context of numerous chapels known from archaeological sites or from later medieval texts. Using the decoration as the primary source of evidence on the buildings' use and meaning, this survey includes chapels, imperial mausolea, and the oratories of the popes and bishops, from Rome, Milan, Ravenna, and the smaller centres of the upper Adriatic. The author begins with an overview of the various types, and then discusses several of the most complete monuments in considerable detail. Unique in its scope and approach, Mackie's survey of the functional context of early medieval chapels is the most complete work ever published in its field and will be an important reference work for anyone interested in medieval art and architecture.

ISBN:

0802035043
9780802035042

Subject:

Chapels Italy.
Church decoration and ornament Italy.
Architecture, Medieval Italy.
Chapels Italy History To 1500.
Mausoleums Italy History To 1500.
Saints Cult Italy History To 1500.
Chapelles Italie Histoire Jusqu'à 1500.
Mausolées Italie Histoire Jusqu'à 1500.
Saints Culte Italie Histoire Jusqu'à 1500.
Chapelles Italie.
Églises Décoration et ornement Italie.
Architecture médiévale Italie.
Saints Cult
Mausoleums
Architecture, Medieval
Chapels
Church decoration and ornament
Kapellen (bouwkunst)
Heiligenverering.
Chapels Istria (Croatia and Slovenia)
Church decoration and ornament Istria (Croatia and Slovenia)
Christian art and symbolism Italy.
Christian art and symbolism Istria (Croatia and Slovenia)
Church architecture Italy.
Church architecture Istria (Croatia and Slovenia)
Patronage, Ecclesiastical Italy History.
Patronage, Ecclesiastical Istria (Croatia and Sloivenia History.
Christian art and symbolism Italy To 500.
Christian art and symbolism Italy Medieval, 500-1500.
Christian art and symbolism Istria (Croatia and Slovenia) To 500.
Christian art and symbolism Istria (Croatia and Slovenia) Medieval, 500-1500.
Patronage, Ecclesiastical Istria (Croatia and Slovenia) History.
Italy
Stained Glass.
Glass Painters.

Form/genre:

Electronic books.
History

Holdings:

Location: Library main 227061
Call No.: NA4870 .M3 2003
Status: Available