The reuse of ancient tuff blocks in early medieval construction in Rome
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12374119 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Margaret M Andrews, Margaret Andrews (Harvard University Press, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 477-518 |
| Publication date | 2023-11-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Roman Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1047-7594 • E-ISSN: 2331-5709 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1047759423000375 |
| OpenAlex | W4388293260 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 52 |
This paper analyzes the reuse of ancient tuff blocks in early medieval architecture in Rome, in both papal and private structures. The blocks are a well-known phenomenon, but they have not yet received any focused study. Short discussions in earlier scholarship have typically described them in utilitarian terms. I first identify a pattern of targeted reuse in papal building projects. I then argue that they would also have had symbolic value for an independent papacy wanting to display power. For later private builders, I propose that the blocks became prestige materials displayed on the houses of an ever-tightening aristocracy eager to be seen within some of the city's most important monumental spaces. I consider how the city's ancient monuments and their pieces were viewed in the early medieval period and how the blocks’ ancient contexts contributed to the symbolic value that I identify in them
Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Aristocracy (class · Art · Linguistics · Middle Ages · Period (music · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Prestige · Reuse · Scholarship · The Symbolic · Value (mathematics · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Computer Science · Engineering · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Architecture
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |