The Archbasilica of St John Lateran is the world's earliest cathedral. A Constantinian foundation pre-dating St Peter's in the Vatican, it remains the seat of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, to this day. This volume brings together scholars of topography, archaeology, architecture, art history, geophysical survey and liturgy to illuminate this profoundly important building. It takes the story of the site from the early imperial period, when it was occupied by elite housing, through its use as a barracks for the emperor's horse guards to Constantine's revolutionary project and its development over 1300 years. Richly illustrated throughout, this innovative volume includes both broad historical analysis and accessible explanations of the cutting-edge technological approaches to the site that allow us to visualise its original appearance.
1. The Lateran basilica to 1600 IAN HAYNES, PAOLO LIVERANI, LEX BOSMAN; 2. The evolution of the Lateran: from the Domus to the episcopal complex PAOLO LIVERANI; 3. At the Foot of the Lateran Hill. From Via Sannio to Viale Ipponio: Archaeological investigations prior to the construction of Metro Line C1 ROSSELLA REA AND NICOLETTA SAVIANE; 4. Ground Penetrating Radar survey in the St. John Lateran basilica complex SALVATORE PIRO, IAN HAYNES, PAOLO LIVERANI, DANIELA ZAMUNER; 5. The first residential phases of the Lateran area and a hypothesis to explain the so-called Trapezoidal Building GIANDOMENICO SPINOLA; 6. The Castra Nova and the Severan transformation of Rome IAN HAYNES AND PAOLO LIVERANI; 7. Andrea Busiri Vici and the excavations of 1876: A re-assessment of the archaeological evidence SABINA FRANCINI; 8. Visualising the Constantinian basilica LEX BOSMAN, PAOLO LIVERANI, IWAN PEVERETT AND IAN HAYNES; 9. Constantine's spolia. A set of columns for S. Giovanni in Laterano and the Arch of Constantine in Rome LEX BOSMAN; 10. The Constantinian basilica in the early medieval Liber Pontificalis ROSAMOND MCKITTERICK; 11. The Lateran baptistery in the fourth and fifth Centuries: New certainties and unresolved questions OLOF BRANDT; 12. The nymphaeum of Pope Hilarus PAOLO LIVERANI, IAN HAYNES; 13. Examples of medieval construction techniques in the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano LIA BARELLI; 14. The Medieval portico of St. John in Lateran ANNA MARIA DE STROBEL, NICOLETTA BERNACCHIO; 15. MATER ET CAPUT OMNIUM ECCLESIARUM: Visual strategies in the rivalry between S. Giovanni in Laterano and S. Pietro in Vaticano CAROLA JÄGGI; 16. The remodeling of S. Giovanni in Laterano by Pope Nicolas IV: transept, apse and façade PETER CORNELIUS CLAUSSEN; 17. Furtum sacrilegum: The 'holy heads' of Peter and Paul and their reliquaries in the Lateran DANIELA MONDINI; 18. Reconsidering the traces of Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello in the Lateran basilica ANDREA DE MARCHI; 19. The rite of the reconciliation of penitents at the Lateran basilica JOHN F. ROMANO; 20. The new Passion relics at the Lateran, fifteenth to sixteenth centuries: A translocated sacred topography NADJA HORSCH; 21. The east façade of the complex of St John Lateran in the modern era ALESSANDRO IPPOLITI; 22. The Book of Acts in the Constantinian basilica: Cardinal Cesare Baronio and the navata Clementina in San Giovanni in Laterano FILIP MALESEVIC.
Lex Bosman is Professor of Architectural History at the University of Amsterdam, with a special interest in Early Christian and Medieval Architecture. He has been a fellow of the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome and Scholar in Residence at the Istituto Universitario Olandese di Storia dell'Arte in Florence. He is the author of many publications, including The Power of Tradition: Spolia in the Architecture of St. Peter's in the Vatican (2004). Ian Haynes is Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University, specialising in Roman Archaeology. He has directed twelve field projects in five countries and in 2019 was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for a five-year investigation of SE Rome. He is the author or editor of eight books including Blood of the Provinces (2013). Paolo Liverani was Curator for Classical Antiquities at the Vatican Museum and is now Professor of Ancient Topography at the University of Florence. He is the author of eight books, including The Vatican Necropoleis (2010).
Reviews for The Basilica of Saint John Lateran to 1600
'… this undoubtedly is the book to read to better understand the multifarious and intertwined material and ideological facets assumed by the Lateran over the centuries.' Yuri A. Marano, Medieval Archaeology
