Murals of the church of St. Mary and St. Clement in Schwarzreindorf

The article is devoted to the study of the fresco ensemble of the Church of St. Mary and St. Clement in Schwarzrheindorf. The object of this study is the Romanesque church in Schwarzrheindorf, built in the mid-12th century by Arnold von Wied, chancellor of king Conrad III and archbishop of Cologne. It has preserved a unique ensemble of Romanesque frescoes, which is the subject of this work. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the influence of a number of medieval monuments on the concept of the iconographic program and monumental decoration of the double church of Schwarzreindorf, especially its upper chapel. In this work, using formal-stylistic and iconographic analysis, as well as a historical-biographical method, a close connection was demonstrated between the paintings of the upper church of Schwarzrheindorf and the monumental decoration of the churches of Ravenna and the church of St. Andrew and St. Mary of the Premonstratensian Abbey in Knechtsteden. This allowed us to put forward a hypothesis about the influence on this project of Arnold von Wied's childhood friend, Anselm of Havelberg, who became Archbishop of Ravenna in 1155, as well as the curator of the construction of the Knechtsteden Abbey Church, Dean of Cologne Cathedral Albert of Aachen. Comparing the image of the angel in the lower church program with the image of the "operacio" from the abbey of Stablot made it possible to clearly demonstrate the nature of the influence of another close friend of Arnold von Wied ‒ Wibald von Stablo, abbot of the abbeys of Stablo and Corvey ‒ on the creation of the fresco ensemble of the lower church. Demonstrating these connections and stylistic parallels allowed the author to formulate a number of conclusions and arguments that shed light on both the possible influences and models that inspired the pictorial ensemble of this church, as well as on the creation and dating of the decorative program of the upper and lower churches of Schwarzrheindorf

Archbishop · Fresco · Painting · Ravenna · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · Historical, Literary, and Cultural Studies · Medieval European History and Architecture