- (Reuters) -- After 12 centuries under rubble and 24 years
of restoration, Rome has opened the doors to Santa Maria Antiqua, the oldest
church in the Roman Forum's ancient ruins and its rare collection of early
medieval art.
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- An earthquake buried the church and its numerous Byzantine
and early Christian frescoes in 847 and it remained untouched until excavation
and reconstruction began in 1900.
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- Much of the structure had survived and restorers have
been hard at work on the interior since 1980 with the site to reopen to
the public on April 10 until the end of May.
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- "The Santa Maria Antiqua is stunning testimony to
the richness of a period of which there remain few other details,"
said art historian Maria Andaloro.
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- "The opening will give the double opportunity to
the public to see not only the church but also the restoration at work,"
she said.
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- While many other churches in Rome have been knocked down,
destroyed or rebuilt over the centuries, Santa Maria Antiqua's 12 centuries
out of action meant it provided a perfect snapshot of early medieval artwork.
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- Today, the church, hidden in the shade of the central
Palatine hill, has a new roof and structural supports but houses some 250
square metres of frescoes that date from its foundation in the mid-sixth
century until before the earthquake.
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- Popes including Martin I, John VII, and Zaccarias ordered
numerous redecorations of its interior.
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- "It is an essential reference point to that period,
as each pope had the images renewed with his own iconographic style,"
she said.
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- Up to six layers of artwork coat parts of the crumbling
walls with an austere image of an enthroned Virgin adored by angels the
only painting that dates from the church's foundation.
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- Opponents to the veneration of religious icons destroyed
much religious art during the Iconoclasm movement of the eigth and ninth
centuries.
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- But while Santa Maria Antiqua escaped that, damp has
damaged around 60 per cent of the paintings and restorers expect to be
hard at it until the end of 2007 on the $US1.60 million clean-up job.
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- © 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1084647.htm
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