Basilica San Clemente Presentation

Basilica San Clemente

For my art history class, we each have a week where we present to the class on-site. I decided to choose a presentation that was earlier in the semester, so I went with Week 2 at San Clemente: "The Legend of St. Alexis and Other Medieval Frescoes," which happened to fall on last Thursday's site visit. It's actually really funny because of the crowd beyond the class that starts to gather when you're presenting. Whether you look like you're a tour guide or just a student, as long as you sound like you know what you're talking about, people are going to listen!

Luckily, we'd been to San Clemente already with our New Testament theology class, so me and Anna kinda knew which direction we needed to head in. Although we were five minutes late, we were actually the first ones to arrive. One thing that is drastically different here than in the States is the tardiness of the professors. I swear, I have never been to a class where an Italian professor has beat me there. Works for me. Me and Anna waited outside in the garden area under the shade because it was a little rainy (typical). The outside of Basilica San Clemente is actually really pretty, and last time I was there I bought some postcards of it in the sunshine. Also, the 12th century Byzantine mosaics on the inside of the church are absolutely stunning. They might be my favorite under those at San Marco in Venice.

Mosaics in the main basilica

There are three levels of the church that have been excavated. On the bottom is the 2nd century level, where it is believed that the Mythraic cult worshipped. Not much is known about these cults because they were extremely secretive, but they did take part in sacrifices of bulls. Almost no first-hand accounts exist of the cult of Mythras, but their most popular rituals seem to be centered around feasting. Before this Myrthaic temple, some scholars believe the building housed the Roman mint, where money was made during the reign of the Roman Empire. However, there is not enough conclusive proof to fully support this. Walking around this level is kind of creepy, especially because no one is actually sure what exactly went on down there. I literally felt like I was in one of those "Haunted Places" Discovery Channel shows. Actually, I don't see why this wouldn't be on it.

Legend of St. Alexis

My presentation took place on the second level of the basilica, which was the initial level of the 392 AD church described by St. Jerome as being dedicated to St. Clemente, and where the former pope is now buried. Professor Massini brought me to where my first fresco was, which was The Legend of St. Alexis. The legend is kind of weird, considering some of it may not even be true. Basically, Alexis was the son of a wealthy, Christian, philanthropic family in Rome, but on the eve of his arranged marriage to a beautiful woman, he went to her and told her that this life was not meant for him; he was meant to be with God. So he ran away to Edessa, which is somewhere around modern Syria, and spent the next few decades living in poverty and helping the sick and suffering, even while he starved. Some accounts describe the Virgin Mary coming to the people in the area and claiming that he was the "Son of Man," however, he had no interest in the fame and instead ran away again. He found himself back in the Roman Empire at his family's palace, and his family thought that he was a beggar and he did not correct them. Because they were extremely kind to the poor, they thought they were doing him a favor by offering him a job as a servant, and for the next 17 years he lived, allegedly, under a staircase in the palace. Eventually, he succumbed to malnourishment in the beginning of the 5th century, and there are two different accounts on how his family discovered who he was. Either he had documentation on his body that identified him, or he told a servant and the servant then told his parents after his death. Either way, he was venerated as a saint. However, there are a few issues with this story. Many of the accounts can be confused with that of the story of St. John Calybata, but the Church continues to venerate him as a saint as far back as records dating to the 10th century, when it was believed his veneration was moved from the Mesopotamian region to Rome. However, although his feast day is still celebrated, it was officially taken off the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1969. There is a church on the Aventine Hill dedicated to him, and parts of the staircase he lived under in his parents' home are there.

Legend of Sisinnius

My other fresco was actually quite comical, and was kind of laid out like a comic strip on the wall. It depicts the Legend of Sisinnius. Sisinnius was a wealthy Roman official who's wife, Theodora, became a secret Christian. She attended masses and prayer gatherings held by Pope Clemente in secret locations such as private villas. When her husband found out, he stormed into one of the gatherings and furiously ordered the pope arrested. However, he was suddenly struck blind and had to be helped out by his wife. Pope Clemente took pity on him, so he went to his home and cured him. Sisinnius (apparently he didn't learn the first time) orders the pope arrested again. This time, as the second part of the fresco depicts, his guards start to hallucinate, and instead attempt to pull out a giant pillar... didn't work too well. One of the most interesting parts of the fresco is that it holds one of the very first examples of modern Italian writing in the bottom left hand corner, where the soldiers are trying to move the pillar. It exclaims, "Son of a whore!" Yes, we were in a church, so I refrained from saying it. But interesting that one of the very first Italian phrases is that...

Empress Theodora/Virgin Mary fresco

My last fresco, which she didn't have time to let me do (annoying) was that of the Empress Theodora (so many Theodora's!). This one was actually older than the other ones, which had been done around the 10th century. This was had been done around the 5th century, and then restored to look like the Virgin Mary, in which both the Son, a chair, and arm were added in the 10th century. Interestingly, there should have been an identical fresco across from this one depicting the empress's husband, Emperor Justinian, but it has never been found.

A theory of why this church was eventually filled in is perhaps due to the close association that it had to the antipope, Clement III, but regardless the now modern level of the basilica sits on top due to Cardinal Anastasius's efforts around the 12th century. Anna did her presentation on the life of St. Catherine up here, which was actually really interesting.

Since 1667 when England outlawed Catholicism, Irish Dominicans have run Basilica San Clemente. The 1950s excavations of the lower levels are attributable to their collaborations with Italian archaeological students.

Well, I hope that was educational and no one's asleep at the keyboard...

Inside of the first level, 12th century basilica