The Basilica of San Zeno, or Church of San Zenone, is an important
place of Catholic worship located in the heart of the San Zeno district
of Verona; it is one of the masterpieces of medieval architecture.
The current church was built on a site where at least five other
religious buildings had previously been built. It seems that its origin
can be found in the church built on the tomb of San Zeno of Verona, who
died between 372 and 380. However, the building was rebuilt at the
beginning of the 9th century by order of Bishop Ratoldo and the king.
the Italian Pippin, who considered it inappropriate for the body of the
patron saint to rest in a poor church. Tradition says that Archdeacon
Pacifico contributed to the construction of the factory; the
consecration took place on December 8, 806, and on May 21 of the
following year, the body of San Zeno was transferred to the crypt.
During the invasions of the Hungarians, which raged between 899 and 933,
the church was badly damaged, so much so that in 967 Bishop Raterio had
to promote a new reconstruction. Around the end of the 11th century and
the beginning of the 12th century, a massive Romanesque renovation
project began. The work failed due to the devastating Verona earthquake
of 1117, however by 1138 most of the current church was completed. In
the following centuries, the building underwent further modifications
and transformations, which, however, did not change its layout,
retaining its medieval origin almost unchanged.
Among the many
works of art here is Andrea Mantegna's masterpiece, the San Zeno
altarpiece. Also known are the bronze panels of the portal and the large
rose window on the façade, called the "Wheel of Fortune", the work of
the mason Brioloto de Balneo. Throughout its history, the basilica has
inspired many poets, including Dante Alighieri, Giosuè Carducci,
Heinrich Heine, Gabriele D'Annunzio and Berto Barbarani.
The
church, which was elevated to the rank of a minor basilica in 1973, is
the seat of a parish that is part of the Vicariate of Verona Centro.
Early Christian origins
Christian doctrine must have arrived in
Verona very soon, given the city's importance as a road junction through
which soldiers from Rome or Palestine no doubt passed. If the first
bishop of the diocese of Verona, Euprepius, was appointed around the
first half of the third century, then the eighth, Zeno of Verona, is
believed to have died between 372 and 380, and tradition says that he
was buried not far from this place. from where the basilica stands
today. The Verona notary Coronato, who lived at the end of the 7th
century, tells us in his Chronicle that a church was erected in his
honor over the tomb of the bishop. In addition, it seems that this first
Christian building was restored and enlarged in 589 after a miracle,
described by St. Gregory the Great, and also described by Paolo Diacono
in the Historia Langobardorum, on the occasion of which the church
allegedly provided protection after a terrible flood: it is said that
the waters The Adige destroyed the city walls and reached the building
in which many Veronese took refuge, flooded it, but then could not enter
either through the windows or through the doors.
It is likely
that the reconstruction of the building can be dated to the time of the
Goths, as evidenced by some fragments of stone, carved in the Byzantine
style, therefore dating back to the 5th-6th centuries, reused in the
sanctuary of San Benedetto (accessible from the monastery) and on the
belfry. Historian Luigi Simeoni confirms that this building can be dated
to the 6th century, recognizing the similarity between the pulvinus of
the monastery and the sacellum with those in the Basilica of
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. Moreover, it is not so improbable that
Theodoric the Great himself, who paid great attention to the urban
renewal of Verona, contributed to this construction, as it is indeed
mentioned in the Annals of Valesiani. Thus, it can be assumed that this
ancient building was full of columns, pillars, capitals and pulvins, all
of marble, like the floor.
When the kingdom of the Goths fell in
553 after the Greco-Gothic War, after a short period of domination by
the Byzantine Empire, Verona passed into the hands of the Lombards, and
King Alboino made it one of his favorite residences. We know very little
about the events of the church during this period, but, again thanks to
Coronato, we learn that it still kept the remains of the saint and that
the Lombards of the Aryan faith agreed that the Catholic bishop should
remain in Verona. and that King Desiderio made some donations which went
towards the creation of the Domus Sancti Zenonis.
It appears that
around 804 the church was severely damaged "ut ad nihilum esset redacta"
and the monastery set on fire "ab infidelibus hominibus", possibly by
recalcitrant Franks or Aryan survivors. In the early years of the 9th
century, King Pippin of Italy was in Verona, who, together with Bishop
Ratoldo, considered it inappropriate for the body of the patron saint to
rest in a "poor" building. So they decided, "propter divinum amorem et
reventiam", that it was necessary to start building a larger and more
beautiful church, and then the body should be transferred to the crypt:
"a dark underground church above the columns, and here is the floor of
these living stones, and they also there was a tomb of polished marble,
which they intended for the body of Saint Zeno for his burial. At least,
according to tradition, the Archdeacon Pacific was supposed to supervise
the work. The Zenonian Chronicles report that a new church was built and
therefore the existing one was not enlarged, which, however, had to
remain intact for a long time. In the new building, an "opaque cave" was
created, that is, a room without light, at least partially dug
underground and intended to house the relics of San Zeno. In any case,
we know very little about this building, as very little has survived to
this day. King Pepin also donated gold and silver vases and jeweled
gospels to the basilica.
The consecration of the new building
took place on December 8, 806, and on May 21 of the following year, the
body of San Zenon was transferred to the crypt, which today is the
lowest level of the basilica. The ceremony was very solemn, it was
decided that the transportation of the body should be entrusted to the
holy hermits Malcesine Benigno and Caro, who at that time were
considered the only ones worthy to touch the body of the saint. The
ceremony was attended by the king, the local bishop of Nocterio, Cremona
and Salzburg.
It is believed that the cave and superimposed
presbytery included an apse with a south-north orientation, like the
nearby church of San Procolo, also attributed to the Pacific, and like
the present one, and that the apse was only covered with a simple warped
wood covering. The transfer of the remains of the saint took place with
great solemnity, representing an exceptional event for that time,
reviving the cult of their patron saint throughout Veronese. Pepin's
donations, together with those of the bishops and the population,
allowed this church to be "not only beautiful, but sublime for those
times." Almost nothing remains of this building today, perhaps it
belonged to the ancient brickwork in the back of the building, after the
last pilaster. A Benedictine monastery was added to it and, in all
likelihood, a cloister along the east side. The first abbot mentioned in
the sources is a certain Leo, who held this position in 833.
According to the historian Onofrio Panvinio, the Hungarian invasions
that raged between 899 and 933 destroyed churches in the walled suburbs
of Verona. Thus, the church of San Zeno, built back in Pepin's time,
must have been seriously damaged along with the monastery, since at that
time it was still outside the defensive walls (it will only be included
with the walls built). according to the Scaligers). The same author
claims that, foreseeing danger, they moved the body to safety in the
cathedral, which at that time was probably the church of Santa Maria
Matricolare; a story not confirmed by sources, but considered, however,
probable.
With the end of the Hungarian raids, it was decided to
eliminate numerous damages with the restoration of the monastery and the
reconstruction of the church. The reconstruction was wanted by Bishop
Raterio, who received funds for the construction from the German Emperor
Otto I in exchange for the hospitality he showed in Verona in 967.
However, Raterio was soon accused of using these funds to his advantage.
so much so that he had to justify himself in the Apologetics by
explaining that instead he used them to reform the lower clergy by
eliminating concubinage among the priests. Therefore, work had to start
a little later, following the canons of the Romanesque style of Verona,
which was just beginning to take hold. Therefore, a building was built
with three naves, the main of which is raised, divided by arches
supported by columns, alternating with columns, with a crypt and a
superimposed raised floor. Its dimensions corresponded in width to the
current one, and in length by about three quarters, and the height
should have been about half. The naves ended in three apses, a large
central one and two minor side ones.
Some elements of this
building have survived to this day, such as a crypt dating from the 10th
century. Outside, its walls are also visible from the east side, near
the bell tower, where a brick is used, the height of which reaches 7.60
meters, behind which there is a jagged strip indicating the beginning of
the cornice. Another wall, probably from the same period, is located
next to the left nave and serves as the end of the monastery, in which a
tuff structure is clearly visible with irregular hewn stones arranged in
layers, mixed with some fragments of brick. A diploma from Emperor Henry
II tells us that in 1014 the relics of San Zeno had already been
transferred back to the basilica (in villula Sancti Zenonis).
Thus, in the first decades of the 11th century, the first Romanesque
church was completed and it was decided to improve it by raising it.
Today, almost nothing remains of this intervention, since subsequent
work has largely updated, and partly hidden, what may have remained.
According to the architect and superintendent Alessandro Da Lisca,
during these years the building was strengthened in its walls and raised
to the height of the current roofs.
In 1045 Abbot Alberico
(1045-1067) began the construction of the bell tower, as evidenced by
the inscription placed on its base on the outer western side. When the
abbot died in 1067 the tower must have reached more or less half its
present height, and a belfry with mullioned windows may already have
been built. Alberico also built the monks' tomb; it is located in the
monastery on the side of the church. It consists of a red marble tomb
covered with a thick slab adorned with a large relief cross. It is not a
fact that this is the original of the 11th century, but it is very
likely, given that the monastery already existed. Above the grave there
is an inscription commemorating him.
Around the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th
century, the massive renovation project of the church of San Zeno began.
The intention was to expand it by adding a building in front of the old
façade, which today corresponds to the first span of the building; in
addition to this expansion, it was proposed to update the old
longitudinal walls, both in the small and in the main nave. The new
building, as can be seen from what has survived to this day, should have
had even tuff wall claddings, protruding pilasters, a marble gallery of
small arches adorned with paired columns, at the top a cornice with
arches with a double ring and double cantilever shelves rich in the
smallest embroideries and a frieze, noblely carved in white marble. When
the devastating Verona earthquake struck in 1117, this reconstruction
must have already been under way, given that the extension was almost
complete and repairs had begun on the right nave side.
Despite
reports of damage following an earthquake that damaged countless other
buildings in the city, the work, already partially completed, was not
abandoned and it was decided to complete it, albeit in a more modest
form, by reusing as much material as possible for new masonry. , which
collapsed. Then, from 1117 to 1138, the reconstruction of the ancient
longitudinal walls, largely collapsed or unreliable, was carried out,
surrounding the walls of the main ship with new beam pylons. In 1138,
all these works were to be completed, and one could already see the
porch attached to the new facade, which is confirmed by the epigraph
located on the outer south side of the nave, near the facade. This
epigraph states that the restoration of the bell tower and the
construction of the first belfry were completed in 1120, and the
reconstruction and lengthening of the church, with the addition of at
least one span to the west, in 1138 ("A RESTAURATIONE VERO IPSIUS
CAMPANILIS CONFLUXERANT ANNI LVIII").
At the same time,
Religiosus vir, the priest of Gaudio, took care of the restoration of
the monastery, completed in 1123, and between 1165 and 1187 Gherardo
erected the bell tower, which was completed in 1173 under the direction
of Maestro Martino, as I recall. long inscription on the outer wall of
the southern flank. From 1138 to 1187, Gerardo's last year as abbot, no
significant work was done on the church, so the focus could be on
completing the bell tower and building the bells. These works are
evidenced by an inscription dated 1178 and placed on the south side,
near the facade, which mentions the restoration of the bell tower, and
then states that "renovatione autem et ecclesie augmentatione
(confluscerant anni) XL" . Abbot Gherardo is believed to have been an
abbot of San Zeno who lived under the emperor Barbarossa mentioned by
Dante Alighieri in Canto XVIII of Purgatory.
The shape of the
Romanesque columns and capitals of the cloister, which does not contain
the admixture of reused fragments, indicates that Gaudio's work was to
be a work of complete renovation, and not a simple rebuilding. Two
inscriptions posted in the monastery next to the tomb of Giuseppe della
Scala say that Gaudio also built a tomb decorated with paintings and
donated a continuous supply of oil to the abbey so that the lamp in the
monastery could burn all night. . In 1145 the great battlement tower of
the abbey was also begun, which still exists today, the interiors of
which are decorated with frescoes from the 13th century. At that time,
it served as a defensive bastion, since the basilica was outside the
walls and therefore exposed to dangers; we had to wait for the
intervention of the Scaligers in order to include them in the defensive
wall of the city.
The abbot Gherardo was succeeded by the abbot Ugone, who, in the
second year of his reign, in 1189, negotiated with a sculptor to do some
work for the church. The master's name was Brioloto de Balneo, or at
least that is how he is named in an inscription dated April 14, 1189,
walled up inside a building near the baptistery: this is the first
document in which he is mentioned, although without mentioning his
paternity or origin. . In this inscription, he is credited with the
creation of the so-called "Wheel of Fortune", a rose window on the
façade of a church adorned with six statues depicting the alternating
phases of human life or Fortune (Latin for the sense of "fate").
In the work at San Zeno, Brioloto was certainly assisted by the stone
carver Adamino da San Giorgio, who left his signature on the capitals
inside the church, which reads: "magister Adam murarius qui fuit de
Sanzorzio" and is also mentioned in two documents from 1217 and 1225 He
is credited with the rings of the entrance arches to the crypt and the
upper cornices of the facade. It is believed that Adamino may have come
from San Giorgio di Valpolicella or, more likely, from the Como region.
To accommodate the large Wheel of Fortune, an extensive gap had to
be made in the wall, which was subsequently rebuilt with an outer
cladding of regular tuff hewn stone in the area between two large
pilasters and two horizontal cornices. Inside, however, the new tufa
cladding is limited only to the renovated wall, leaving the old
alternating rows of tufa and terracotta on the sides. The wall of the
tympanum above the new horizontal cornice was lined with marble on the
outside, on which the scene of the Last Judgment, now lost, was played.
A document dated March 30, 1194, reported by Giovanni Battista
Biancolini, informs us that in the same year the canons of the cathedral
gave the Confederation of the Interior Clergy, in charge of San Zeno,
the opportunity to baptize, and therefore it was necessary to build a
cathedral. baptistery in the church. This artifact is also believed to
have been commissioned by Brioloto due to some stylistic similarity to
his work. Another inscription of 1212, which was located in a small
courtyard until 1732, and today in the Maffeyan stone-cutting museum,
recalls the reconstruction of the door in the monastery. The ophite
columns placed inside and the statue of the Holy Patron, as well as the
work of an unknown sculptor, belong to the same period. On August 24,
1225, Cardinal Adelardo Cattaneo died and was buried in the presbytery
of the church in a simple sarcophagus, and then transferred to a
monastery in the 19th century; therefore it is likely that this part of
the church was already completed in that year. In any case, it was
definitely around 1300 when the ambos were built.
On May 23,
1238, a luxurious wedding took place in the basilica between Selvaggia,
daughter of the Swabian Emperor Frederick II, and Ezzelino III da
Romano; it is assumed that the emperor himself stayed in the tower of
the abbey.
Between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th
century, the city of Verona went through a period characterized by great
structural ferment, with numerous buildings, especially religious ones,
being built or rebuilt. For example, we can mention the Church of
Sant'Eufemia, begun by the Augustinians in 1275, the reconstruction of
the Church of San Paolo in Campo Marzio and, at the beginning of the
fourteenth century, the founding of the Basilica of Santa Anastasia by
the Dominicans. . A characteristic feature of all these buildings was
the use of only brick for the walls, instead of alternating it with
tuff, which gave the previous buildings a typical Veronese Romanesque
appearance with alternating red and white stripes.
At that time,
the apse of the Basilica of San Zeno was still that of the tenth
century, so much so that the large apse must have seemed too low for its
bowl, too narrow at the knees, and therefore out of harmony. with a
recently completed spacious and tall church. Therefore, it was decided
to expand it, but it seems that this work was carried out at different
times: the first stage must be attributed to 1300, and the second could
have been completed by the end of the fourteenth century. Around the end
of the fourteenth century, the architect Giovanni da Ferrara was in
Verona, who, together with Giacomo da Gozo, designed the bridge of Navi
for Cansignorio and, most likely, the bridge of Castelvecchio. It was
Abbot Ottonello Pasti who commissioned him to complete the expansion and
make other changes. Giovanni began work on March 24, 1386 and, after
some interruptions due to political events, completed them in July 1398,
always assisted by his son Nicolò. The Gothic apse thus restored was
soon frescoed by Abbot Pietro Paolo Cappelli, whose coat of arms is
carved on the triumphal arch, and by Abbot Pietro Emily, the last
friar-abbot at the head of the abbey. , who in vain placed his noble
coat of arms in the keystone and on the pillar of the same arch.
Despite these improvements, during the fourteenth century the monastery
experienced a period of severe decline: by now there were few monks, and
economic resources were significantly reduced after the robberies
committed by the Scaligers. On June 24, 1405, with the dedication of
Verona to Venice, the city came under the control of the Most Serene,
and San Zeno ceased to be led by abbots and monks, and in 1425 the
period of meritorious abbots began.
Marco Emily, Abbe Pietro's
successor, was appointed abbot recommendatory by Pope Martin V and took
care to provide the monastery with some new rules, including separating
the abbey table from the monastery table, establishing that resident
monks were never less than twelve, while lay brothers must be at least
three. He also secured a steady income of 500 gold florins for the
upkeep of the building and had the pontiff send three monks who were in
charge of reforming the monastery in accordance with their Benedictine
rule. In order to carry out this reform and, in particular, to achieve a
minimum number of monks, it was necessary to welcome other German monks,
who in a short time became masters of the abbey of San Zeno. In 1450,
the monastery concluded an agreement of alliance and brotherhood with
the monastery of San Quirino and Tegernsee Abbey. It was not until the
plague of 1630 that the German monks were expelled from the abbey; after
a terrible epidemic, others arrived from Germany to fill the vacant
places, but there was opposition from the abbot Pietro Contarini, who
obtained a decree from the Republic of Venice, according to which only
Veroneses or, in extreme cases, Venetians could live in the monastery. .
Thus, Contarini called on the Vallambrosian monks to fill the monastery.
In 1443, Gregorio Correr was ordained abbot, and thanks to him
important works and innovations were carried out in the basilica. Until
then, worship and psalm singing had been held in the crypt, and this,
not yet having a sufficiently large apse, still dating from the tenth
century, was eventually mainly occupied by the presbytery and choir.
There was not enough space for believers, especially on solemn days. The
upper church, on the other hand, offered a more comfortable and
healthier environment. Correr, also in order to increase the honor of
his family, wanted to build a choir and a new main altar at his own
expense. However, at the time of his death, the choir was not yet
finished, but in his will he ordered that the heirs complete it at their
own expense in the form in which it was begun. Gregorio Correr was also
the commissioner of the famous San Zeno altarpiece, painted by Andrea
Mantegna for the main altarpiece of the basilica.
In the second
half of the fifteenth century, it was in the second half of the
fifteenth century that the sacristy located above the sanctuary of San
Benedetto was also restored. It seems that the work was started thanks
to the commitment of Abbot Jacopo Surein (1464-1482), who, however, did
not live to see the completion of the work and therefore ordered an
inheritance to ensure its completion, as we know from the obituary of
the monastery. The interrupted work was then resumed and completed by
his successor, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Zeno.
At the beginning of the 16th century, a new spirit was established in
Italy, which primarily concerned art. The discovery of Vitruvius'
treatise On Architecture gave one of the main impetuses to this new
style and taste, which was fully expressed in what would later be
defined as Renaissance architecture. Even the Basilica of San Zeno was
involved in these changes, so much so that at the beginning of the 16th
century many works were carried out, including demolitions,
transformations and relocations, which contributed to giving the church
its final appearance. Among other things, the pier-partition was
demolished (the same was done in the cathedral in 1534, in San Fermo
Maggiore in 1573 and in Santa Anastasia in 1580) and side stairs. In
addition, a large staircase was built which, by covering the three
central entrances to the crypt and extending the full width of the main
ship, allowed access from the plebeian church to the upper church. The
choir was removed from the upper church, and after the demolition of the
fifteenth-century chancel and the removal of the triptych to the back of
the apse under the triumphal arch, a new main altar was built. On the
whole, the work was carried out with great care and with much of the
fifteenth-century choir preserved. Material from the demolition of the
old was used for the new altar; in fact, pieces of brick pillars were
found on it as material for reuse. In 1535, the arch of the new chapel
was completed, noticeably in the Renaissance style, dedicated to the
Mother of God.
In the early years of the 16th century, in the
time of the abbot Marcus Cornelius, work on the main altar was completed
by the construction of a huge tabernacle over his table, today turned
upside down and used as a pillar for the chalice, the first entrance on
the left. The architect Da Liska believed that the change in the floors
of the apse and the cloister was also associated with this event. Other
changes to the high altar were made by Cardinal and Abbe Carlo Rezzonico
in 1771, who added a body in front of it with a new tabernacle at his
own expense. Rezzonico himself combined two old bells from 1149 into
one.
On December 5, 1770, the Serenissima issued a decree closing
the Abbey of San Zeno, whose real estate was mainly transferred to the
civil hospitals of Verona, and the collection of books became the first
core of the city library. When the nearby church of San Procolo was
closed in 1816, the local parish passed to the church of San Zeno and
the abbot was also given the title of archpriest. In addition,
sculptures, tombstones and altars from the former, now unused parish
church, were moved to San Zeno. In 1801, the demolition of part of the
monastery complex began.
1838 was an important year for the
events of the basilica, as the relics of the patron saint were found.
The search had already begun with the transfer of the parish seat from
San Procolo to San Zeno, but after many fruitless efforts, the bones
were discovered on March 22. However, it was decided to wait until
Easter for a complete exhumation, and then on April 20 of the following
year, in the presence of a large commission, the tomb was opened; Abbot
Cesare Cavattoni left a detailed description of the event. The sacred
remains were collected and placed in a gilded wooden urn with glass on
the sides. Later, out of reverence, the bones were dressed in an
episcopal paludamento (ceremonial robe) of red silk embroidered with
gold. In 1870 the central staircase was demolished and the old side
staircases restored; at the same time, a pier-partition was built
separating the plebeian church from the presbytery, on the balustrade of
which were placed thirteen statues of the medieval era.
Between
1927 and 1931, the then Superintendent Alessandro da Lisca supervised
the building site, the main purpose of which was to move the famous San
Zeno triptych, painted by Andrea Mantegna shortly after the middle of
the fifteenth century, inside the church after it had been moved into
the church. city public museum to preserve it during the First World
War. Thus, in the late 1930s, a new main altar (the current one) was
built by adding masonry on top of the old foundation block. The
following year, the restoration of the murals in the apse and the
triumphal arch began, the creation of new windows and the opening of a
window on the meridional side.
In 1938, on the centenary of
finding the body of the patron, work was carried out in the apse of the
crypt to improve its hygienic condition and bring it into a more decent
appearance, as was done with the tomb. San Zeno.
The exterior of the Basilica of San Zeno is one of the most
harmonious and uniform examples of Romanesque architecture in northern
Italy. The tufa façade (similar to that of the cathedral and San
Giovanni in Valle) belongs to the last addition to the church in the
early decades of the 12th century, despite some elements, including a
portico and a porch. the portal of the church, go back to the former
facade, from which they were dismantled and transferred here with the
necessary adjustments. Famous for the large central rose window, called
the "Wheel of Fortune" because of its symbolism. On the other hand, the
south side seems to have been built at different times in the same
number of styles. The complex culminates in an imposing and elegant bell
tower and the preserved buildings of the ancient abbey of San Zeno,
including the cloister, the chapel of San Benedetto and the abbey tower.
Facade
Looking at the facade of the Basilica of San Zeno, one can
discern a division into three parts that repeat the arrangement of the
interior spaces: two side ones, corresponding to two small naves that go
from the extremes to large triangular pilasters, and a corresponding
central one to the main nave, between the pilasters themselves. In two
side parts, the masonry consists of tuff cubes, and the gallery is made
of stone, identical to the masonry on the south side. On the eaves,
under a sloping slope, simple shelves support small arches with double
ledges carved in fine bas-reliefs; there is subsequently a frieze
sculpted in Adamino Greek marble to replace the original.
On the
right side of the façade, in the center and slightly above the window
gallery, there is a small tufa bas-relief dating from the beginning of
the 12th century in style, on which three figures are roughly stylized
standing among some plants: in the center is Christ with a cruciferous
halo, on the left a saint and on the right an abbot (now headless) with
a staff, offering the Redeemer a model of a church and a bell tower,
completed with a cell and with only two balconies on each side. It can
be assumed that the model may represent the church as it was designed in
the annex, and that it indicates how the bell tower was supposed to be
built (or how it was already completed), begun in 1046 by the abbot
Alberico.
Two more zones can be distinguished in the central part
of the façade: the lower one, which extends from the ground to the frame
of the large rose window (known as the "Wheel of Fortune"), including
the portal and the chapel, and the upper one with the rose window and
eardrum. The two areas are separated by a frame of sawtooth arches
interrupted in the middle by a large wheel. Like the lateral parts, the
central part also ends with a cornice with small arches brought under
the sloping sides and an Adamino frieze.
The rose window, which was the work of Brioloto de Balneo, is adorned
with six statues depicting the alternating phases of human life or
Fortune (in the Latin sense "fate"), and for this reason it is known as
the "Wheel". Good luck". Thus conceived by Brioloto, it is divided into
twelve sectors by the same number of pairs of red marble columns with
hexagonal shafts, decorated with leaf capitals and animal figures. In
the center is a circle or hub, open from the inside and crowned with
twelve petals, and the same number of main petals connect the two twin
capitals. Outside, it is surrounded by a ring with three steps of white
and blue marble, ending in a stone frame that serves as a connection to
the level of the pilasters. Rhythmically arranged on the last marble
step are six figures carved in Greek marble, which represent the changes
in fortune caused by Fortune: the two central ones, at the top and
bottom, respectively, represent the moments of greatest fortune and its
greatest failure, while these intermediate transitions are lateral. ,
that is, on the right, the transition from happiness to unhappiness, and
on the left, a return to a state of good luck. On the hub of the Wheel
there is an inscription explaining the symbolic concept: on the outside
it reads: “En ego Fortuna moderormortalibus una. / Elevo, depono, bona
cunctis vel mala dono.", and inside "Induo nudatos, denudo veste
paratos; / in me conidit si quis, derisus abibit".
The pediment,
which outwardly marks the apex of the central nave, is made of white
marble, which contrasts with the rest of the church's façade, which is
made of tuff and stone, and with the seven pink marble pilasters that
run along it and mark it. Massimiliano Ongaro in 1905 discovered
graffiti on the eardrum relating to the great Last Judgment. The
historian Giuseppe Gerola reproduced it in form and illustrated it in
the Art Bulletin of the Ministry of Public Education. The work
attributed to Brioloto and Adamino da San Giorgio is one of the most
important and oldest Veronese depictions of the Last Judgment. In the
center was Christ enthroned, surrounded by two angels, Mary and St. John
the Theologian. Below the apostles and on the sides are the elect and
the wicked. From the side of the elect, Abraham holds them on his knees,
the angels carry the king, the bishop and two saints to heaven, and the
dead rise from the graves to the sound of angel trumpets. On the side of
the damned, the angels drive them out with the sword and blow the
trumpets of justice. Among the damned are a bishop, a king and a woman.
Five women follow them, and one of them pulls the devil's beard. In the
background, flames burn the damned, and the devil punishes them.
The porch is signed by the master Niccolo and was built in the 12th
century, but it is likely that later changes were made that disturbed
its harmony. It seems that it has a very simple form, without an influx,
limiting itself to the fact that it covers part of the five pilasters on
the facade with a canopy with one ledge and leaves on each side, in
front of the large pilaster, a recreation area with two blind multi-leaf
windows of the gallery. The canopy rests on two telemons pressed against
each other, on which, as on the ideal continuation of the columns
themselves, bas-reliefs of Saints John the Baptist and John the
Theologian are molded. On the arch stand out the Lamb and the blessing
hand of God with a Latin inscription, which in translation reads: “The
right hand of God blesses people who enter to ask for relics.” At the
base, two lion-columns represent the guardians of the church, those who
prevent the penetration of unworthy souls (it is no coincidence that
they hold two uninvited guests under their paws), and two columns
symbolize “law” and “faith”.
Three types of representations
coexist on the porch: sacred, relating to the life of a saint,
political, associated with the birth of the municipality, and profane,
represented by the months and the crafts associated with them. Inside,
in the lunette, there is a bas-relief depicting the consecration of the
municipality of Veronese, which, in addition to its artistic value, is
also an important historical document that allows us to certify the
birth of the medieval municipality of Veronese in 1138. the date of
construction of the work. In it, the patron Zeno appears in the center,
trampling on the devil, as if symbolically sanctioning the pact between
the milites (the feudal aristocracy, represented by the knights on the
right) and the pedites (fat people, the emerging bourgeoisie). On the
sides of San Zeno on the right are representatives of the Veronese
nobility and merchant families on horseback (horsemen), and on the left
are representatives of the people, armed infantrymen (pedites). San Zeno
in this scene delivers the Veronese flag, a kind of investiture of
sacred origin. The fresco is accompanied by an inscription in Latin,
which can be translated as "The bishop gives the people a banner worthy
of protection / San Zeno gives a banner with a serene heart."
Under the lunette, Niccolo sculpted bas-reliefs depicting the miracles
performed by San Zeno: the exorcism of the daughter of Gallienus, the
victim of the devil; a man rescued from a fall in the Adige on a cart;
and finally the fish given by the fisherman San Zeno. On the inner and
outer shelves of the porch, the twelve months of the year are presented,
starting from March, with typical pieces referring to the months. Twelve
months occupy twelve sectors of the Wheel of Fortune, as well as the
rotation and repetition of the cycle, months and seasons, endlessly
replacing each other.
On the sides of the porch and portal are 18 high reliefs dating from
the 12th century, ten on the left and eight on the right, arranged in
pairs under small arches and separated by a small pilaster, in turn
decorated with vegetation. motifs and zoomorphic figures. The creation
of the bas-reliefs on the left is attributed to Maestro Guglielmo and
his assistants, while the bas-reliefs on the right belong to Maestro
Niccolò and his school.
The bas-relief scenes represent both
sacred subjects taken from the New and Old Testaments, as well as
worldly subjects with Theodoric the Great as the protagonist. More
precisely, on the right, master Niccolo sculpted from top to bottom and
from left to right: Expulsion from the earthly paradise, Ancestors,
Birth of Eve, Original sin, God creates animals, Creation of Adam,
Theodoric's Expulsion and, finally, Theodoric's Condemnation. . Above
the figure of Adam, on the right side, a phrase is carved indicating
Maestro Niccolo as the author: "Hic instancea trai possunt lauds
Nicolai" (or "Here you can find proof of Niccolo's praise"); however,
the difference between the very high quality with which the figures
relating to the life of Theodoric were made and the simpler sacred
images leads us to believe that only the former belong to the hand of
Niccolo, and the latter, apparently, are the work of masons. from his
workshop.
On the left, however, the style looks much more
uniform, and it is therefore generally accepted that Maestro Guglielmo
could have been its sole author, as evidenced by the inscription on the
top frame: “Qui legis ista pie natum placato Marie salvet in etrum qi
sculpsit sita Guillelmum. Intrates concti sucurrant huic pereunti" (that
is, "You, who read these words, piously propitiate the Son of Mary, who
will save forever the one who sculpted this Wilhelm. Anyone who enters
will help the one who perishes"). The author imagined, always from top
to bottom and from left to right: the Taking of Christ, the Crucifixion,
the Flight into Egypt, the Baptism of Christ, the Three Kings, the Entry
into the Temple, Joseph, warned by an angel, the Annunciation, the
Nativity, the Annunciation. shepherds, the Duel of Theodoric and Odoacer
and the Duel of Footmen. The art historian Adolfo Venturi identifies
Guglielmo's master in Viligelmo, the famous author of the Modena
Cathedral bas-reliefs, while Carlo Cipolla believes that he was a
student of Niccolò, observing how similar the two styles are; others
have instead suggested that both sculptors were students of Wiligelmo.
Finally, still on the left side, we notice in the large pilaster
another relief depicting the figure of a woman inserted into the arch,
where the inscription "MATALIANA" is engraved. If critics agree that
this work cannot be attributed to Niccolò or Guglielmo, there is not the
same certainty about who is depicted in it. Some suggested that it could
be the benefactor of the abbey, while others saw in the name a reference
to Matilda of Canoss, who donated some things to the monastery in 1073.
Alessandro da Lisca, on the other hand, suggests Adelaide of Burgundy as
the subject, the wife of Otto I, believing that this figure corresponds
to the adjacent duel scene, which, again according to da Lisca, would
represent the husband fighting against the Berengario. II.
The main entrance to the basilica is closed by the famous bronze
portal, made in different eras, not exactly established, by different
founding masters. It consists of a total of 73 bronze panels of various
sizes, attached to wooden doors with large iron nails and arranged
without apparent symmetry. Of these, the largest 48 (24 on each sheet)
are approximately 56 × 52 cm in size, of which 42 carry scenes from the
Old and New Testaments, in 4 the miracles of San Zeno and 2 serve as
handles; on 7 smaller rectangular panels (about 50 x 25 cm) each depicts
one figure placed between two small columns and a superimposed arch; 18
are even smaller and square (about 17 cm × 17 cm) with horned figures
and the Virtues depicted; finally, there are 7 other rectangular (about
45 × 17 cm) carved in the form of a conical tower, placed on the
gallery, which serve as a framework for large panels. Large tiles are
neatly distributed in the center of the door, with each of the two doors
organized into three vertical and eight horizontal stripes.
Each
tile is the result of small and individual fusions, a simple
construction method that allowed any mistakes to be easily corrected,
therefore different from that used in Germany, where a single alloy was
more often used. The current wooden doors are made of larch and measure
3.95 × 4.81 meters; they were most likely built on the occasion of the
expansion of the church, already completed in 1138.
As expected,
there is no doubt that the panels are the fruit of at least two
different poems from different eras, but rather three. However, all
scholars agree to attribute to the so-called "first master", who can be
attributed to about the first half of the 11th century, the Old
Testament panels inserted in the left wing, with the exception of one
with a scene from the New Testament and three from the same narrative at
the bottom of the right wing. Regarding these panels, Alessandro Da
Lisca notes that although the figurative details are presented "roughly
and schematically, each composition as a whole is admirable for its
decorative effect and dramatic appearance." According to various
authors, this first master (according to some sources, in a certain
Stefano Lagarino) created these panels, which served to decorate the
entire portal of the oldest church of smaller sizes and which,
subsequently, with the expansion of the building and the portal, were
dismantled and partly reused by integrating them with others from other
founders for application on new and larger doors; this theory could
explain the apparent confusion both in iconological terms and in terms
of a pure and simple aesthetic juxtaposition of various works.
In
addition, Da Liska defines a "second master" to whom he credits the
realization of the panels depicting the New Testament, but who, compared
to the first, "shows considerable progress, even if he has succeeded
less intensively and less effectively in expressing the meaning of
life". According to Simeoni, this master worked during the time of
Niccolo and Guglielmo, while for Trekchi he must be placed between the
end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. Finally,
according to many, the presence of at least a “third master”, whose
intervention may have taken place between the end of the 12th and the
beginning of the 13th century, should be noted, who took care of the
depiction of three scenes from life. San Zeno for the right door.
Over the years, the portal has attracted the interest of many art
historians, who have analyzed its style by relating it to previous
works; Pietro Toesca defines it as "German art from the late 12th
century", a characterization also accepted by others such as Arslan, who
suggests a resemblance to the medieval portal of Hildesheim Cathedral.
Although today the portal looks disorganized, ruined, a victim of time
and theft, it is still considered one of the most interesting examples
of its kind found in Italy.
The southern flank has different building methods and architectural
styles that allow us to identify the different phases of building and
expansion of the church. The oldest part, completed around 1120, is
probably the southern one, built entirely of brick: it includes the
apsidiole and extends to the buttress.
On the other hand, the
intermediate part of the masonry is the alternating use of rows of tuff
hewn stone and rows of brick bricks: this technique gives the masonry
the appearance of two-tone red and white stripes, typical of the
Veronese Romanesque style, which can also be found in other churches,
such as, for example , in Santo Stefano. Thus, the side of the central
nave is represented by two-color stripes, although more uniform. The end
of this intervention should be placed at 1138.
The last part,
closest to the façade, is instead made entirely of tuff and is believed
to date back to the last construction of the church, when an extension
was carried out in the thirteenth century under the direction of Adamino
and Briolo, as a result of which the building is the size it is today.
Also on the east side, near the façade, there is a long inscription
dedicated to the abbot Gerardo, who commissioned the extension work, and
to a certain Martino, a master mason. Directly above this inscription,
inside a niche, is a fresco depicting the Madonna with the Child in her
sash, painted around the second half of the 12th century and poorly
restored in the 20th century.
The Basilica of San Zeno ends in the north with two apses, a
secondary one on the left and a large one in the center, while the right
one was included in the buildings of the ancient monastery and is only
visible inside. The two visible from the outside clearly belong to
different eras: according to the historian Luigi Simeoni, the smaller
one dates from the 9th century construction, in the time of Raterio and
Pippin, while the central one would have been rebuilt later, except for
further intermediate modification. Although some elements suggest that
the present main apse dates back to the time of the Amelian abbots (in
San Zeno between 1399 and 1430), the discovery of a factory log has
allowed us to date the repair work between 1386 and 1398. works made
thanks to the efforts of the abbots Ottonello, Jacopo Pasti and Pietro
Paolo Cappelli.
Externally, the small apse has simple features
and is mostly built of brick, while the large apse has a classic
Veronese Romanesque scheme with alternating rows of tuff and terracotta,
thus masking its typically Gothic style, which instead appears clearly
in some particularly prominent elements. inside, such as a pointed
triumphal arch, a groin vault with ribs projecting from a square span,
and tall windows ending in a pointed arch.
The current bell tower, isolated from the church and built on top of
the previous one dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries, is the result
of a long building history. From the inscription on it, it is known that
construction and restoration work began in 1045 under Abbot Alberico;
about twenty years later, after the death of the abbot in 1067, it
reached about half its current height. Its construction was completed
around 1178 thanks to "Maestro Martino", who received a commission from
the abbot Gerardo. Thus it was a long building site, interrupted only by
the earthquake of 1117, followed by the rebuilding of 1120.
It
rests on an imposing rectangular base of hewn stone: the east and west
sides are 8.25 meters long, the north and south sides are 8.23 meters,
and the height of the pedestal is about 7 meters from ground level. The
use of stone also continues above the base, both at the corners of the
chimney and in the central pilaster of each side, while in the space
between them the use of rows of tuff and terracotta alternates, a
technique that takes first place. one has already been used in the
perimeter walls of the church and gives it the two-tone characteristic
of the Veronese Romanesque style.
Each wall is divided
horizontally into four unequal orders by frames fitted with small ledges
with simple ring-shaped tufa arches and superimposed rows of crenellated
terracotta; of these cornices the first and second have only one
sawtooth strip between rows of tuff, the third two and the fourth four.
On the western side, above the pedestal, there is a rectangular entrance
door similar in appearance to the doors of other modern bell towers.
From the same side, we can observe various reused elements: above the
second frame, in the central pilaster, there is a Roman sculpture
depicting a standing man in a Phrygian cap; above is a small head, also
of the Roman era, carved in marble; another Roman sculpture depicting a
winged genius is visible above the first frame of the south façade's
central pilaster.
The bell tower has two orders of three-pillar
windows superimposed on each other on each side. The central opening of
the three-leaf window is somewhat smaller than the two side ones, all of
which have a round arch of tuff hewn stone with a brick ring with
interlaced arches. All columns, capitals, pulvinos are of a simple form,
only some are decorated with leaves, but almost all have a flower in the
center of the abacus. In the lower tier of the cells, the columns have
no base, except for one, and all the capitals are made of Greek marble,
except for one column of bloodstone. Four of the eight pulvini are made
of Greek marble. Since 1498, there have been 6 bells on the belfry, the
largest of which, cast in 1423, weighs almost a ton, has a diameter of
more than a meter and emits a G-flat note. Of the old bells, only a
small octagonal one without inscriptions, known as "del figar" remained;
of the other two of the same age, which, unfortunately, were melted down
by the abbe Rezzonico in 1755, we have only the notes preserved by
Giovanni Battista Biancolini, which allow us to know that they were made
in 1149 by the founder of Gislimerio, commissioned by the priest Aldo.
The barrel ends with smooth overlays of tuff. Finally, along its
edges are four double-arched brick turrets located on the front side.
Even the large central pinecone is made entirely of brick: it appears to
have been rebuilt in the upper half, since, as shown in the Annales
Veronenses Antiqui, it was struck by lightning on March 31, 1242, which
caused its partial collapse.
Entering the bell tower through a
door that opens on the side towards the church, you find yourself in the
first dark room, covered with a cross vault, which could once serve as a
prison. Climbing up the first staircase, which, like the upper ones,
rests on flying buttresses, you get to the second floor, where, due to
the narrowing of the walls, there is a room larger than the lower one.
The walls of the tower are bag walls, i.e. made with concrete pouring
between the two claddings. If a solid brick was laid on the outer
cladding for greater subtlety, then inside it alternates with
fragmentary tuff hewn stones. As you ascend, the tuff stones decrease
and the terracotta ones increase. The lower belfry reuses old marble.
The first evidence of the presence of the monastery, which is part of
the abbey of San Zeno, dates from the 10th century, but its current
state is due to the reconstruction carried out between 1293 and 1313.
The four sides are formed by arches. , with a pointed arch on two sides
and a round arch on the other two, supported by paired columns of red
Verona marble. From the northern side stands a quadrangular aedicule, in
which the ancient well of the abbey was located. Along the perimeter of
the ambulatory walls are sarcophagi and tombstones, among which stands
out the tomb of Giuseppe della Scala, dating from 1313 and enriched with
a frescoed lunette by the painter of the school of Giotto.
On the
south side is the aforementioned tomb of the monks of the abbey, built
in the 11th century by abbot Alberico; although it is not certain that
the current one is original, it is a red marble tomb covered with a
thick slab on which a large cross is depicted in relief. Above it, an
inscription reminds of him. Next to it is a door leading to the upper
church, provided with a lunette with a fresco of the early fourteenth
century depicting the Madonna with two angels.
On the eastern
side wall is an extensive fresco by the Veronese artist Jacopo Ligozzi
depicting the Last Judgment and Allegory. On the same wall there is a
door that leads down a few steps to the so-called sacellum of San
Benedetto, above which is a late 14th-century fresco of a lunette
depicting the Madonna with two holy bishops.
Sacellum San
Benedetto
Along the south side of the monastery there is a door
through which you can enter the so-called chapel (or chapel) of San
Benedetto. It is a small square-shaped room, divided into three naves of
the same size, covered by nine transverse vaults, supported by four
pillars, mostly made of recycled materials from a variety of eras. Among
them, the Byzantine pulvinus of the 6th century and the Roman cippus,
placed in a wall pillar, deserve attention. The walls are decorated with
yellow, red and green squares from the 14th century, and there is a
fresco fragment on the north wall that is difficult to read.
Various eras have been proposed to which the construction of this
sacellum can be attributed, among the most reliable is the formulation
of the art historian Vart Arslan, who considers it a work of the 12th
century, while others, agreeing with the dating, suggest that it was a
reconstruction of a previous small building built in Roman times
(4th-5th centuries). Various suggestions have been made about the
original function of this room, among which it has been suggested that
it may have been an ancient sacristy or chapter house. The name "San
Benedetto" comes from the fact that in 1723 a tablet was found, the
engraving of which told how the monk of the abbey built the "hoc opus
ecclesie Holy Benedicit" with his own funds.
To enter the church, you climb a few steps, symbolizing the
detachment of the spirit from worldly things, after which you go down a
few more steps, calling for humility. The interior has a basilica plan
with a hall divided into three naves by two rows of massive cruciform
columns alternating with columns ten on each side surmounted by capitals
with zoomorphic motifs and Corinthian capitals often restored from
pre-existing Roman buildings. The wooden ceiling in the form of a ship's
hull with exquisite decoration was created between 1385 and 1389 during
the Gothic reconstruction of the building. It is also unanimously
considered a work of art, able to compete even with the famous ceiling
of the Church of San Fermo Maggiore. The nave is also divided by two
large transverse arches that give it a certain rhythm.
The church
has a large crypt, which is accessed by a staircase located at the end
of the central nave, which is superimposed on a raised presbytery in
relation to the hall, which in turn can be reached by a staircase, which
in this case is located at the end of two small naves. Thus, the space
is vertically divided into three levels: the crypt, the plebeian hall
and the presbytery. The presbytery is also separated from the hall by a
balustraded pontoon partition. Originally, the three naves of the church
ended in three semicircular apses, as is customary in Romanesque
architecture, however, only the southern one has been completely
preserved in its original form, since the northern one was included in
the buildings of the abbey, and the main one was rebuilt in the Gothic
style in the fourteenth century.
The walls are richly decorated
with frescoes made over more than two centuries, some damaged and
superimposed, of which the most ancient are those that adorn the crypt.
Critics usually attribute most of them to the so-called first and second
masters of San Zeno. It should be noted that all art historians agree
that these are not the only two fresco artists, but that these names
mean two different groups of painters, similar in style, age and
technique, who worked in this basilica and elsewhere in the city. To be
precise, we conditionally refer to the “first master” frescoes created
around the second quarter of the fourteenth century and attributed to
the first distributors of the Giotto school in Verona. On the contrary,
by "second master" we mean the fresco painters who painted numerous
paintings in many of the churches of Verona in the second half of the
fourteenth century, including a series of 24 votive paintings in San
Zeno alone, and who are characterized by more developed painting
compared to the first master and with strong references to the Lombard
pictorial culture.
On the other hand, there are far fewer
frescoes to which the names of famous artists could be suggested,
including Martino da Verona and Altichiero da Zevio. The paintings often
contain graphite inscriptions with German names, and sometimes short
phrases left by monks from Germany, who stayed in the abbey for a long
time, becoming its actual owners. In the right aisle is an altarpiece by
Francesco Torbido, and in the apse is the famous San Zeno altarpiece by
Andrea Mantegna.
As soon as you enter the main door, moving towards the right aisle,
you can see a large octagonal marble font. The legend, although
unfounded, says that its author is Brioloto himself, the author of a
large rose window, since there is an inscription praising him nearby.
On the wall of the counterfaçade next to the entrance hangs a
14th-century fixed cross, which for a long time shared criticism
regarding its attribution; some scholars have pointed to it as the work
of Guariento di Arpo or a member of his school, while others have noted
the influence of Lorenzo Veneziano's work. More recent scholarship
undoubtedly attributes this to a young Venetian influenced by the
Giottesque naturalism actually mediated by Guariento. However, it is a
valuable work in a fairly good state of preservation, in which the
subject is painted on a gold background; in the outer four-lobed petals
of the cross, respectively, the Madonna is depicted on the left
shoulder, St. John on the right, the Eternal Father with the Holy Spirit
in the dome of the cross, and in the lower ascetic and a kneeling
Dominican monk, who is believed to represent the contractors of the
work. The plaque reads "I.N.R.I." in Gothic letters. and on wishbones
"MORS MEA VITA TUA". Fixed crosses were typical objects of early
medieval art, since, at least until the Counter-Reformation, it was the
custom for the bishop and the faithful to go to the various churches
known as "stationary" during Lenten processions to venerate the
surviving cross. .
At the beginning of the wall around the
perimeter there is a fragment of a fresco that can be attributed to the
hand of the artist Martino da Verona, active in the late 14th and early
15th century, which is believed to depict San Benedetto. Immediately
afterwards, the wall contains the aforementioned inscription, which
praises the master Brioloto, which led to the misattribution of the
baptismal font.
Continuing along the nave towards the presbytery,
you will come across a 16th-century altarpiece, the altarpiece of which
is an early work by the painter Francesco Torbido, created around 1514,
on which he depicted the Madonna with Saints Anne, Zeno, Giacomo,
Sebastiano, Cristoforo; in the corresponding lunette of the same author,
"Resurrection", in which the connection between the artist and the
master Liberale da Verona is clearly noted.
Passing by the altar,
you can see the remains of frescoes, often superimposed on each other,
which must once have covered all the walls and were painted between the
13th and 15th centuries by unknown artists of the school of Giotto.
Among them, we can mention San Sigismondo with an ascetic, Two scenes
from the life of San Nicola and the Madonna and Child enthroned,
attributed to the so-called second master of San Zeno, while the first
master of San Zeno, working at the end of the 13th century, there is
Saint Anna on the throne with the Mother of God. The series ends with a
large 12th-century statue of Saint Christopher.
Subsequently,
still on the wall, there is an altar, the origin of which is unclear,
since some believe that the columns that make it up could be part of a
porch built at the beginning of the thirteenth century, possibly
belonging to a door that the abbe Riprando commissioned. it is restored
in 1212, even if Da Liska rules out this hypothesis. Two bundles of four
ophite columns connected by twisted snakes were made of red Verona
marble and rest on the right on the Lion of San Marco and on the left on
the Bull of San Luca. The art historian Loredana Olivato Puppi points
out how the style of these sculptures relates to "similar works that
Maestro Nicolò and his school created in San Zeno itself and in the
cathedral." The columns support a triangular tympanum, probably from the
18th century, within which San Zeno is painted. There are several
frescoes on the altar wall, mostly attributed to the second master of
San Zeno, including the Enthroned Madonna and Child, the Crucifixion,
the Entombment and the Presentation in the Temple. Older ones, possibly
dating back to the thirteenth century, are Santa Caterina and Santa
Lucia.
In the corner between the counterfaçade and the left perimeter wall
of the church, where the carroccio di Verona once stood, there is now a
large red porphyry bowl 2.27 meters in diameter and of modest depth, in
which one can still see the remains of the base of the statue that
should have been in the middle. Derived from the ancient city baths of
the 2nd century and crippling its central base, on which the statue was
located, it was once located outside the basilica, in the south porch.
Legend has it that he was transported by a defeated devil on the orders
of San Zeno from Syria to Verona, and that the damage that can be seen
today are the marks imprinted by his nails. In 1703 the abbot Alvise
Priuli, due to some concerns about the vandal-prone chalice, built a
small building around it, but in 1819, after the demolition of the
buildings on the south side of the church, it was moved to where it
still is. .
Continuing in the direction of the altar, you will
come across a long stretch of bare wall: in fact, until 1929, when it
was demolished and sold to the parish church of Luzern, what was the
high altar of the nearby church of San Procolo; in the baroque style,
this altar was composed of green, yellow, white and colored lapis lazuli
marble, as well as a green marble slab on which in the past the relics
of San Procolo were placed; it was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. Continued is the new altarpiece to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
just behind it, on a pilaster, a fourteenth-century fresco depicting the
Madonna and Child. Right after that, the remnants of the Last Supper are
on the wall. As soon as you reach the door leading to the cloister of
the neighboring monastery, there will be fragments of frescoes depicting
various saints around it, and immediately after that you can distinguish
the Last Judgment of the 13th century, the Baptism Scene (according to
some sources, the Baptism of Constantine), attributed to the second
master and , below them, the Madonna on the throne, St. John the
Theologian, St. Bartholomew, St. Magdalene and the Holy Evangelist. On
the next pilaster we find St. Elizabeth depicted on the side, two
Madonnas with Child on their faces, and St. Dionysius of the 14th
century on the other side.
The next altarpiece, dedicated to the
Madonna and dating from the 18th century, contains in a niche a statue
of the Virgin of soft stone, who sits and holds her dead son on her lap.
An interesting sculpture, which can be dated to around the middle of the
15th century, shows the German manner. She was highly venerated in the
church of San Procolo, where in 1621, together with an altar, a chapel
was erected for her, as is known from the inscription engraved on the
predella. The altar has an elevation consisting of four black marble
columns, between which two small gilded statues of saints are inserted
into niches.
Behind the altar there are frescoes, including St.
Christopher, which can be dated to the middle of the 14th century, and
next to the stairs leading to the presbytery, the martyrdom of St.
Stephen and the Last Judgment with Christ between Mary and St. John.
evangelist, angel and saint Zeno.
The plebeian part of the church is separated from the presbytery by a
pier-partition, which, with a modern red marble balustrade and ancient
statues, dates back to 1870, when the central staircase was demolished
and the side stairs restored. . The old pier consisted of a wall that
rose much higher than the current one, as can be seen from the frescoes
placed above the arches of the crypt, which should have continued
upward. This architectural element is reminiscent of the iconostasis of
the Byzantine tradition.
By carefully observing the statues now
placed on it, which tradition wanted to attribute to Brioloto, you can
still see traces of the original polychrome coloring; the arrangement of
objects on the left is as follows: the apostles Bartholomew, Matthias,
James the Younger, the evangelists Matthew and John, Peter, Christ,
James the Elder, Thomas and Simon, on the right Andrew, Philip and
Thaddeus. Most historians believe that their realization is due to the
hand of the stonemason himself, while others, such as Geza de
Francovich, suggest that they are the product of two different
sculptors, attributing the figures of Christ, Giacomo Maggiore, Matteo
the Evangelista, Peter, James the Younger and Thomas. Everyone, however,
notices how the figurative characteristics of the characters, i.e.
elongated bodies, almost compressed limbs, hair with numerous strands,
exquisite folds of clothing, suggest the influence of early German
Gothic; this can be explained by the close ties with the Germanic world
that Verona maintained during the time of Ezzelino III da Romano, an
ally of Emperor Frederick II of Swabia and head of the Verona march in
the 13th century.
The only inscription that Simeoni considers
original is on the plinth of Christ, which says in tiny 13th-century
Romanesque letters: "Vide tomas noli esse incredulus set fidelis", a
phrase that may be related to the struggle against the Cathar heresy
that was raging at the time. on the banks of the Adige.
The presbytery rises above the floor of the basilica, and you can get
into it by two stairs located in the side naves and crossing the already
described partition-pier. On the walls are several superimposed frescoes
from different eras. They have various inscriptions that tell some of
the facts of the history of Verona, such as the flood of the Adige on
October 3, 1239, which led to the demolition of three bridges, the sack
of the city by Gian Galeazzo Visconti on June 29, 1390, the earthquake
of 1695. The presbytery consists of a central room where the main altar
is located, on the sides of which there are extensions of the side
aisles with walls decorated with fragments of frescoes and ending in two
small side apses, and behind there is a large main apse with a choir.
On the left wall, above the entrance to the sacristy, we find a
large painting attributed to Altichiero or someone from his school, the
Crucifixion, and in the small apse on the left, a red and colored marble
statue depicting a patron saint called "The Laughing San Zeno", executed
Anonymous of the twelfth century, which is one of the most important
icons of Veronese.To the right of the sacristy door is a votive panel
depicting San Zeno representing the bidders to the Virgin, XIV century.
On the wall on the right side of the presbyter there are several
frescoes dating back to the 14th century, among them we recognize the
Baptism of Jesus, the Resurrection of Lazarus, Saint George and the
Dragon, Saints Benigno and Caro carrying the body of San Zenon. The wall
that ends in the right apse is perhaps one of the oldest parts of the
basilica, as it is believed to belong to a 10th-century building and is
the only original apse completely preserved. Inside, in the 19th
century, the so-called altar of the Holy Communion was placed. In the
inner part of the apse, the remains of a fresco from the 14th century
have been preserved.
The main altar is the sarcophagus of Saints
San Lupicino, San Lucillo and San Crescenziano, all three bishops of
Verona, previously kept in the crypt. The presence of the relics of the
saints is evidenced by a reconnaissance letter of 1808, carved on the
mast. These bodies are not among those found in 1492, so their
translation from primitive and distinct burials belongs to an earlier
year. The sarcophagus is richly decorated with a bas-relief: on the
front side of the sarcophagus, in the middle, a crucifix between John
and Mary and two angels is carved; on the sides, two on each side, 4
evangelists with their symbols intending to write; on the back face in
the center is Christ with two male figures; on the right are the gates
of hell, from which Christ frees some souls; on the left are two figures
of a man and a woman. The headboard seems to depict a hunting scene: the
first figure has a horn on the left, and on the right she is holding a
dog, and the other seems to be trying to prevent the lion from biting
the lamb. Above are other numbers. There is no indication as to the
placement of the sarcophagus in time, but according to Alessandro da
Lisca it could have been the early 10th century.
The most
important work in the presbytery is the altarpiece by Andrea Mantegna,
considered a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance painting. The plot of
the polyptych is the Madonna and Child with saints in the upper triptych
and scenes from the life of Jesus in the predella. The polyptych was
taken away by the French of Napoleon in 1797, and the upper part was
restored a few years later, while the predella remained in France; what
can be seen today on the site is a copy of the work of Paolino Cagliari,
a descendant of Paolo Veronese.
The current Gothic-flavored apse is polygonal in shape and was built
between 1386 and 1389; it is accessed through a large triumphal arch
frescoed with the Annunciation, a work by Maestro Martino da Verona,
commissioned by the Abbe Capelli and completed between 1391 and 1399 and
completed by some of his students during the time of the Abbe Pietro
Emily. On the left wall, near the pilaster, there is a dial with a
clock, which can be attributed to the fifteenth century; the exterior
corresponded to this interior, almost completely disappeared. The square
wall is flanked by simple horizontal decorative bands, some with red,
yellow, and black swirls; the unconverted parts must have been made at
the end of the 13th century.
Also Martino da Verona is an
extensive frescoed Crucifix for the back of the apse superimposed on San
Zenone seated on a rich throne, the latter commissioned by Marco Emily
(1421-1430) a follower of Martino. The apsidal pool is entirely adorned
with a blue sky with eight-pointed stars, and the arches are decorated
with the coats of arms of Abbe Emilio. Cross vaults are made by masters
Giovanni and Niccolò da Ferrara. Under the sink, in Gothic niches,
Saints Peter, Paul and Benedict.
Work on the construction of the crypt must have begun around the
beginning of the tenth century, and then continued for about a century
until the completion of the first Romanesque church, that is, until the
beginning of the millennia. A little later, an addition was made to the
northern entrance. Destroyed during the earthquake of 1117, it was
rebuilt during the work carried out on the entire building between that
year and 1138, and underwent further restoration around the end of the
12th century. Finally, in the first decades of the thirteenth century,
it was aesthetically and statically completed by the opening of the
north entrance.
The sequence of these interventions, the various
adaptations required and the techniques used, justify some of the
irregularities found in the vaults and columns. The internal environment
is divided into twelve naves, consisting of intersecting galleries: nine
from west to east, six from north to south, separated by 49 columns, on
which arches rest, forming 54 cross vaults that make up the ceiling.
Each column has a carved capital, each different from the other.
All capitals date from the 10th century, with the exception of three,
which reuse elements of a previous building from the Roman era. Among
the various subjects presented in them, we can recognize the figures of
flowers and animals, fabulous monsters, some human heads, leaves, rings
and hunting scenes. Many of them clearly show the influence of Byzantine
art. In the apse of the crypt is the body of San Zeno, kept in an open
sarcophagus, consecrated in 1939, with the face covered by a silver mask
and dressed in papal robes, while the previous cenotaph rests on the
wall. Once the sarcophagus of Saints Lucilla, Lupicino and Crescenziano
was also located in the crypt, and now it is in the upper presbytery,
where it serves as the main altar.
Both the walls and the columns
of the crypt must have originally been richly decorated with frescoes
from different periods, however only a few of them are visible today,
often torn or defaced over time, and sometimes superimposed on each
other. Among them we can mention: on the western wall there is a
fragment of a saint and, to the right of it, an image of the Flight into
Egypt; Madonna della Misericordia, of which only the figure remains from
the bust up; a fragment of the Crucifixion on a protruding wall;
episcopal saint, presumably the work of a mid-14th century master;
Madonna and Child and the Crucifixion with the Virgin on the same
column; Saint John and Saint Bishop, who can be attributed to the second
half of the fourteenth century; another Madonna and Child from the late
thirteenth century is placed on the second column from the left, above
the semi-column.
Adamino da San Giorgio, a local sculptor who
also created marble friezes on the facade of the basilica, in 1225
sculpted decorations on the entrance arches on non-religious subjects:
fantastic and monstrous animals. Each arch has a double tip; they are
decorated with elegant floral swirls and fruits. Instead, the outer
strip contains images of animals and hunting scenes with dogs or beasts
chasing or facing each other, men beating wild beasts, monsters, a stork
killing a snake, roosters carrying a fox, and other figures. The middle
bands converge on a small capital, and the arches rest on a simple
central white capital supported by a red marble shaft pierced by a
combination of four small columns. On the front side of the capital, we
can read an inscription in Gothic script certifying Adamino's
affiliation: "ADAMINUS DE SANCTO GEORGIO ME FECIT". Finally, the
entrance to the crypt is closed by iron gates, which are considered very
elegant.