The Basilica of Saint John Lateran to 1600 P., L., Haynes, I. P., Liverani, P

"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"-- Provided by publisher Cover Contents Figures 1. The Lateran Basilica to 1600 2. The evolution of the Lateran: from the fomus to the episcopal complex 3. At the foot of the Lateran Hill, from Via Sannio to Viale Ipponio: Archaeological investigations prior to the construction of Metro line C 4. Ground-penetrating radar survey in the Saint John Lateran Basilica complex 5. The first residential phases of the Lateran area and a hypothesis to explain the so-called trapezoidal building 6. The Castra Nova and the Severan transformation of Rome 7. Andrea Busiri Vici and the excavations of 1876: A reassessment of the archaeological evidence 8. Visualising the Constantinian basilica 9. Constantine’s spolia: A set of columns for San Giovanni in Laterano and the Arch of Constantine in Rome 10. The Constantinian basilica in the early medieval Liber Pontificialis 11. The Lateran baptistery in the fourth and fifth centuries: New certainties and unresolved questions 12. The Nymphaeum of Pope Hilarius 13. Examples of medieval construction techniques in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano 14. The medieval portico of Saint John Lateran 15. Mater et caput omnium ecclesiarum: Visual strategies in the rivalry between San Giovanni in Laterano and San Pietro in Vaticano 16. The remodelling of San Giovanni in Laterano by Pope Nicholas IV: Transept, apse and façade 17. Furtum sacrilegum: The ʻHoly Heads’ of Peter and Paul and their reliquaries in the Lateran 18. Reconsidering the traces of Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello in the Lateran Basilica 19. The rite of the reconciliation of penitents at the Lateran Basilica 20. The new Passion relics at the Lateran, fifteenth to sixteenth centuries: A translocated sacred topography 21. The east façade of the complex of Saint John Lateran in the modern era 22. The Book of Acts in the Constantinian basilica: Cardinal Cesare Baronio and the Navata Clementina in San Giovanni in Laterano Bibliography Index The first inter-disciplinary study to examine the origins, construction and development of the world's first cathedral, founded by the Emperor Constantine. Brings together the work of leading specialists on the archaeology, architectural history, art, geophysics, history and liturgy of the building and its setting.