Spaces for friars and nuns
|Mendicant communities in a regional context: central Italy
Franciscan choir location as a model in Umbrian context
The case of S. Pietro in Perugia
Résumé
The chapter presents a reconstruction of the successive spatial layouts in the Benedictine church of S. Pietro in Perugia, between the fourteenth and the seventeenth century. The reasons for the individual transformations varied greatly and ranged from liturgical and representational motivations to changing aesthetic principles. The original spatial disposition of S. Pietro was changed greatly in the 1330s, when a retro-choir disposition was introduced: in doing so, the Benedictine monks of S. Pietro copied a local decidedly Franciscan spatial disposition. In 1436, this relatively open disposition was removed by the reform congregation of S. Giustina: the altar was transferred to the east end of the apse, and the choir district was closed off by both lateral and frontal choir screens. New wooden stalls were commissioned in the 1530’s without changing the pre-existing spatial layout; new celebrant benches were added in 1555, flanking the high altar in the centre of the apse. Around 1591-1609, the retro-choir disposition was re-introduced to S. Pietro. The high altar was newly erected in the middle of the elevated sanctuary area, and the frontal choir screen was transferred to the inner western wall of the church. The choir benches mainly remained in their previous position, but the celebrant benches and the choir stalls in the western area exchanged their places.
Entrées d'index
Texte intégral
- 1 The church has been erected between 965 and 972 or between 985 and 996 or shortly before (dependin (...)
1The Benedictine church of S. Pietro in Perugia, which has been erected at the end of the tenth century, houses some of the most beautiful and best preserved High Renaissance choir stalls in central Italy (fig. 1, 2)1. However, despite their excellent artistic quality and the survival of many written sources regarding their creation and later transformations, hitherto these stalls have not been analysed and contextualised formally or artistically, nor has it ever been established convincingly how they were originally positioned in the church interior, or when this first assembly had taken place.
2This chapter will for the first time present valid reconstructions of the original disposition of the present choir stalls in S. Pietro and of their later transformations. It will be demonstrated that for any such reconstruction and interpretation of earlier dispositions, it is most vital to contextualise them within the overall history of the spatial disposition of a given church interior. Furthermore, the present text will provide reconstructions of the earlier stages of the spatial dispositions of S. Pietro, with special focus on the choir stalls. It will be shown that, in the 1330s, the Benedictine monks of S. Pietro copied a local, decidedly Franciscan spatial disposition – as Donal Cooper has demonstrated in the previous chapter. This disposition was to be eliminated in 1436, as soon as the Benedictine reform congregation of S. Giustina had taken over the monastery which was hitherto directly adherent to the pope, since the relatively open arrangement was deemed to be at odds with the Rule of saint Benedict. It was this disposition that was reiterated by the present choir stalls in the early sixteenth century – but it quite differs from the disposition in which the choir stalls are arranged today.
- 2 Zucchini 2003.
- 3 Gromotka 2015, p. 86-89.
3The present chapter can rely on comprehensive previous studies. In fact, the history of research of the many sources which mainly survive in the local Archivio di S. Pietro started already in the eighteenth century at the latest2. However, especially in early times, many sources were inadequately transcribed and interpreted, with several differing versions existing next to each other. Additionally, some of the transcripts and even of the earlier secondary literature are so difficult to obtain that they have been cited only indirectly (and thus sometimes wrongly3) in more recent publications. Therefore, in the present chapter, the sources are cited and referenced in a rather detailed way, also to correct certain transcription errors and to make the different publications comparable, which often reference the very same source quite differently.
- 4 Both works were published in a series of articles, and both authors added short art historical com (...)
4Two important works for the reconstruction of the history of the choir stalls of S. Pietro were composed in the nineteenth century. The Perugian scholar Adamo Rossi and an erudite monk and later abbot of S. Pietro, P.D. Luigi Manari, collected and transcribed several written sources regarding the choir stalls of the Perugian Benedictine church. For the former, these works were part of his collection of sources regarding Perugian wooden works of art and their creators of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; the latter incorporated the documents into his collection of sources regarding the entire artistic history of the church of S. Pietro4. Especially Manari is, however, very unreliable with regards to the exactness of his transcripts, and his work, having been appeared as a series of articles in a local journal, is nearly impossible to consult outside the Archivio di S. Pietro.
- 5 Vol. I of Bini’s Memorie storiche del Monastero di S. Pietro di Perugia dell’Ordine di S. Benedett (...)
- 6 Garattoni 1966.
- 7 Siciliani 2000.
- 8 Lolli 2019; for the choir stalls and celebrant benches, cfr. p. 85-87, 100-113, 115, 118, 128-133, (...)
- 9 Gordon 2002; Cooper 2000; Cooper 2001 and Cooper’s contribution in this volume.
5The earliest theories on the original composition of the High Renaissance choir stalls were set up around 1848 by the previous abbot of S. Pietro, P.D. Mauro Bini. Until today, the most pertinent volume of his Memorie storiche remains unpublished, but, as the present paper will show, it proved to be quite influential for later researchers5. In 1966, P.D. Giovanni Garattoni, a later superiore of the monastery, published a short monograph on the choir stalls in which he delivered an art historic examination, a detailed description, and another collection of source transcripts6. This book was later expanded and in this form re-issued by the current prior of S. Pietro, P. Martino Siciliani7. Recently, much of the source material regarding S. Pietro has been transcribed by Leonardo Lolli, greatly expanding our knowledge about the history of this church8. The key to the interpretation of the medieval choir disposition of S. Pietro has been delivered by Dillian Gordon and Donal Cooper with their studies on Franciscan medieval spatial dispositions in Umbria, in which they reconstructed a retro-choir disposition with a double-sided altarpiece in Umbrian Franciscan and, partly, also Benedictine churches9.
The sources
- 10 Facere, constituere et componere, perficere et finire corum ligneum in dicta ecclesia p. Petri. AS (...)
- 11 On August 18th or 19th, Bernardino dismisses his assistants due to the plague, ASPi, Liber economi (...)
6Many written sources regarding the present choir stalls of S. Pietro have survived. According to these, on April 9th, 1526, the Benedictine monks of S. Pietro concluded a contract with the Perugian woodcarver Bernardino di Luca Antonibi, in which he obligated himself to “create, arrange and compose, fabricate and finish a wooden choir in the said church S. Pietro10”. According to the contract, Bernardino was obliged to refrain from any work other than that for the choir stalls for S. Pietro from May 1st, 1526 onwards, and to finish the stalls within two years. As Bernardino received payments in 1526, he seems to have started the work, but since these payments stop after August 1526, it is believed he died during the plague epidemic raging in Perugia at that time11.
- 12 The year 1532 is merely documented by memorial entries and not by entries in the account books, wh (...)
- 13 This contract is reproduced in: Rossi 1872, p. 190 f.; Garattoni 1966, p. 50 f.; Siciliani 2000, p (...)
- 14 The only further published contract is concluded on March 11th, 1534 between the woodcarver Nicola (...)
- 15 An inscription states: HOC OPUS FECIT STEPHANUS DE BERGAMO, Garattoni 1966, p. 17; Siciliani 2000, (...)
7According to the sources, work on the new choir stalls was only resumed in 1532 or, more probably, in 153312. On July 17th, 1534 a new contract was concluded regarding the creation of the choir stalls, this time with the Bergamasco woodcarver Stefano di Antoniolo de’ Zambelli who, according to the contract, had already been working on them since one year13. Stefano is the leading figure of a larger group of artists who are known to have worked on the choir stalls of S. Pietro14; but the choir only bears his signature, dating it in 153515. It remains unclear whether Stefano based his design partly or completely on the plan worked out by Bernardino, and whether the works already executed by Bernardino were incorporated into the new choir stalls.
- 16 Contract registered by the notary Simone Longo from 1534, Archivio di Stato di Perugia (ASPg), Arc (...)
- 17 The contract is transcribed in Lolli 2019, p. 113 f. Regarding the account books, Bini, Manari and (...)
8The commissions regarding the new choir stalls were not limited to wood carving: in 1534, the stone mason and sculptor Guido di Francesco concluded a contract for creating the “stones for the choir wall” (“pietre pro pariete chori”)16, and in 1534, ‘35 or ‘37 he received payment for the “stones around the choir” (“pietre intorno al coro”). He signed his work with the inscription OP[VS]·M[AGISTRI]·GVI[DI]·P[ERVSINI] (fig. 3)17.
Fig. 3 – Perugia, S. Pietro: Guido di Francesco’s signature on the lateral choir screen

Photo: M. Gromotka
The present-day appearance of the choir stalls and the indication for an earlier transformation
9Today, the choir stalls of S. Pietro stand in the sanctuary area (fig. 1, 2, 4, 17 and 18h). This sanctuary is separated from the nave of the basilica by a balustrade of Rosso antico stone, and to the outer arms of the crossing by wall-like lateral choir screens (fig. 2, 4). There are three entrances to the sanctuary: one in the centre of the frontal balustrade and one in the left and in the right lateral choir screen (fig. 1, 4 and 18h). On each entrance, there are two steps communicating between the slightly elevated sanctuary area, which thus comprises the crossing, the single choir bay and the polygonal apse, and the lower ground level of the rest of the church.
10The choir consists of two rows or formae (fig. 2, 5 and 8). They both follow a common bay scheme with one stall to each bay. In the front row (bassa forma), all benches are separated by volute parcloses with individually conceived monstrous wooden figures instead of knobs on top of the elbows (fig. 5, 16). They are mostly mixed creatures, lying on their stomach and seem to be bellowing at the spectator. In the second row (alta forma) the volute shaped parcloses are carved more richly with sphinxes at their base and a second volute on top of them. The dorsal consists of a richly conceived architecture of the Composite order, with channelled columns standing on a cranked pedestal, supporting the consoles for a projecting cornice which in turn is crowned by a frieze consisting of carved eagles. Between the columns and the projecting parts of the pedestal and the consoles, there are panels with symmetrical, mostly floral decorations which have been elaborately conceived in a classicising language. The panels between the parcloses of both formae consist mostly of similar ornamentations, executed, however, in intarsia technique.
- 18 This might not be a coincidence, as Gianmario Guidarelli demonstrated that the architectural shape (...)
11The alta forma of the choir stalls has on both sides thirteen bays running in alignment with the nave, of which roughly five are projecting westward into the crossing, supported on the back by the aforementioned wall-like lateral choir screens (fig. 1, 2). In the areas running in east-west direction and thus in alignment with the nave, both formae consist of five bays in the west, followed by one entrance in the dimension of one bay and another five stalls in the east. In the polygonal apse, the choir stalls are aligned in form of a polygonal choir termination, covering three sides of a regular octagon. There are six bays of the back row in front of the angular walls with four stalls of the lower row in front of them (fig. 2). The east end consists of two stalls of the alta forma flanking a wooden door with very elaborate intarsia panels and no seats in the front row (fig. 5, 6). There are two steps leading to the door which opens to a terrace with a view towards the Umbrian-Marchean Apennines behind the Valle Umbra (fig. 7). From the terrace, the city of Assisi is discernible slightly to the right of the central view, at the feet of Monte Subasio18. The friezes and architectural parts of the choir stalls are partly articulated by gilding.
12In the eastern area of the choir stalls, there is a richly carved music lectern which consists in its lower part of a cabinet, articulated by terminal figures with the actual music stand on top of it (fig. 8). West of the altar, which stands in flight of the lateral entrances to the elevated sanctuary area and thus in front of the choir benches, there are three bays of similarly carved seats which at first look like part of the choir stalls, but which are in fact the celebrant benches (fig. 2, 17). Instead of a front row, there are four steps leading up to the benches which run uninterruptedly in the width of three bays. The dossals and upper cornices are articulated in an architectural language similar to the choir stalls. When viewed in detail, they reveal, however, notable differences to the choir both in iconography as well as in artistic treatment.
- 19 “Per Fabrica della Chiesa // á mo [= maestro] Valentino Martelli Δi [sic; denari, meant here as ‘m (...)
13At first glance, there seems to be no indication that the choir stalls were positioned any differently in the 1530s as opposed to their current location. There is, however, one written source which indicates that after 1591, the choir stalls were altered considerably. In September of this year, according to one of the account books of S. Pietro, the substantial sum of 2.200 scudi was paid to the architect Valentino Martelli for the execution of the extensive works on the “Fabric of our Church”. According to the pertinent account book entry, he was to “put the choir into the sanctuary, gild the whole soffit, paint the whole church, change the organ, make the high altar, the steps in red stone, balustrades, pulpits, and other things19”.
14This entry summarises the original elements of an extensive transformation campaign begun in 1591 and, after several expansions of the original design, completed in 1609, whose results still dominate the appearance of the church interior of S. Pietro.
- 20 Mauro Bini, vol. I (Elli 1994), p. 181 and vol. II (ASPi C.M. 439 V), p. 220; Manari 1865, p. 553. (...)
15But how is the expression “put the choir into the sanctuary” (“mettere il Choro nel santuario”) to be interpreted and what does it mean for the reconstruction of the choir-stall disposition before 1591? Mauro Bini and Luigi Manari concluded from this wording that the choir had not been installed at all in S. Pietro in the 1530s; rather, that the choir stalls were stored elsewhere and were only erected between September and December of 1591, when they had been used for the first time on Christmas Eve of that same year20.
- 21 The most important of Rossi’s examples is the following: on October 25th, 1555, the woodcarver Ben (...)
- 22 Ibid., p. 192 f. Garattoni and Siciliani are obviously dependent on Rossi, but do not reflect his (...)
16However, this assumption has already been disproven by Adamo Rossi: according to this nineteenth-century scholar, the wording of the contract with the woodcarver Stefano documented a great interest in an immediate completion of the works, and it would state expressly that Stefano should not only create (“lavorare”), but also compose (“comporre”, that is: erect) the choir. Additionally, some documents of the 1530s and ‘50s relate directly to the new choir stalls as standing in S. Pietro21. Therefore, the description of the works to be executed by Valentino Martelli should be read as “transfer the choir [hitherto standing elsewhere in the church] into the sanctuary” rather than to erect it for the first time within the church22.
The disposition of the choir stalls in 1330-1436, and in 1436-1532
17As Adamo Rossi’s reasoning is absolutely convincing, it has to be accepted as a fact that the new choir stalls were actually erected in the church interior already in the 1530s, but in a different position and maybe even as part of an overall spatial arrangement which fundamentally differed from the actual state of the church interior.
18The crucial document for the reconstruction of the original position and design of the new choir in S. Pietro is a memorial entry of the Perugian citizen Antonio Veghi from the year of 1436, which is formulated a bit awkwardly. Relating to the choir stalls which were to be replaced in 1530, he reports: “On the 21st of December, on a Wednesday, the great altar of S. Pietro, which used to stand outside of the tribuna, was removed, whereas, in the tribuna, there used to stand the choir, and now the choir has been made where the altar used to stand.”
- 23 “Adì 21 de dicembre [1436], de vienardì, in S. Pietro fu levato lo altare grande che era de fuore (...)
19When moving the altar, Veghi continues, several relics had been found, which in presence of all this people, were transferred into an altar behind the choir, “in the middle of the columns of this choir, with the pictures of saint Peter and saint Paul erected on both sides23”.
- 24 The pertinent bulla dates from May 19th, 1436, and is transcribed in Leccisotti – Tabarelli 1956, (...)
- 25 For further information on the history of this congregation, cfr. the introductory chapter in Lecc (...)
20In the same year, the monastery of S. Pietro which had hitherto been directly adherent to the pope had been subjected by order of Pope Eugene IV to the Padovan Congregazione di S. Giustina with the mandate to reform the decrepit abbey24. It was thus designated to a Benedictine reform congregation founded by the Venetian patrician and former Augustinian Ludovico Barbo (1381-1443), which had specialised in reforming Italian Benedictine monasteries which had become decrepit under commendatory rule in the unstable political situation of the fourteenth century. The congregation was soon to comprise nearly all Italian Benedictine monasteries and was renamed to Congregatio Casinensis alias Sanctae Justinae in 1504, thus receiving the name under which it is still remembered today (that is: “Cassinese Congregation”)25.
- 26 As Marcia Hall demonstrated in 2006, in many churches there existed frontal choir screens in addit (...)
- 27 The reconstruction of the spatial disposition of S. Pietro from the 1330s until 1436 is a very com (...)
21When the reformers arrived in S. Pietro, they encountered a spatial disposition that was most unusual for a Benedictine church at that time: a retro-choir disposition similar to the current one, but with a double-sided altarpiece on the free-standing high altar (fig. 18b). There might have been a rood screen further down the nave, but there were no additional frontal choir screens whatsoever26. This disposition had been created in the 1330s by imitating the new spatial disposition of S. Francesco al Prato, the major Franciscan church in Perugia and main rival in S. Pietro’s courtship for the favour of the popes who were frequent guests in the monasteries of the Umbrian town (see Cooper’s chapter, fig. 16). The new retro-choir disposition of S. Francesco al Prato, in turn, was a spatially iconographical reference to S. Francesco in Assisi, where a free-standing altar and a retro-choir disposition allowed for the celebration of papal liturgy, which was exercised versus ad populum (i.e. facing the congregation). Perhaps, the reference did not remain on a symbolical level, and papal liturgy was actually exercised both in S. Francesco al Prato and in S. Pietro in Perugia. It remains a curious fact that with the transformation of the 1330s, the monks of the Benedictine monastery of S. Pietro made an indirect spatial-iconographical reference to the main church of the Franciscan Order. Part of this transformation campaign was also the erection of a new transept and a new apse after the model of S. Francesco al Prato as well as the demolition of the crypt, whose vaults used to result in a profound difference of altitude between the nave and the presbytery, thus creating the now only slightly elevated sanctuary area below the apse and the crossing described above (fig. 18a)27.
- 28 For instance, in his account on the beginnings of his reform, the Liber de initio, Barbo writes ab (...)
22The founder of the Congregazione di S. Giustina, Ludovico Barbo, deemed the establishment of a spatial disposition which would allow for the adherence to strict enclosure as one of the most important preconditions for reform. It was Barbo’s firm conviction that his main reform goal, a return to the obedience to the Regula Benedicti, could only be achieved, if the edifices of the monasteries complied with certain requirements. Within the church, the spatial disposition had to ensure the strict enclosure of the choir stalls, i.e. the place where the monks celebrated both masses and the Liturgy of the Hours. Therefore, he described a restoration of the church interior and the choir area as his very first reform measures in his account on his reform of the monastery of S. Giustina in Padova28.
- 29 In the middle of the seventeenth century, the local erudite Ottavio Lancellotti claims that, at th (...)
23Thus, in S. Pietro in Perugia, the retro-choir disposition was demolished almost immediately, as its relatively open structure did not serve to enforce the adherence to strict enclosure in the presbytery, as requested by Ludovico Barbo (fig. 18). As we learn from Veghi’s memorial entry, the high altar was transferred behind the choir stalls with the choir flanking the altar on its eastern side. Veghi’s phrasing is a little vague; taken literally, the choir stalls would have stood outside the tribuna, i.e. the slightly elevated area of the sanctuary in the newly created spatial setting, and at first it seems as if Veghi hinted at the creation of a new, additional altar behind the high altar. However, since the relics mentioned by Veghi had been found in the high altar in 1500, 1534 or in 1591 at the latest29, such an additional altar had never existed, and since the choir stalls touched the altar on their east end, it is not possible to imagine them outside of the tribuna while the altar stood inside. Therefore, it can be firmly established that the main altar was transferred to the head of the apse in 1436, and that the choir stalls stood in the sanctuary. There they will have filled out the choir area in a similar way to the actual disposition with the only difference that the diagonal walls of the apse were occupied by the celebrant benches which thus flanked the main altar in the head of the apse (fig. 18b).
- 30 On the original aspect of Perugino’s Ascension of Christ and its transformations in relation to th (...)
24The reconstruction of the high altar as standing in the apse since 1436 is confirmed by the fact that the altar still stood there, when its altarpiece, Perugino’s Ascension of Christ had been transferred in the niche to which the former central window had been reduced to make place for a new wooden tabernacle on the main altar in 1567 (fig. 9, 18e)30. And since the whole reason for the transformation of 1436 had been to ensure the enclosure of the sanctuary as the exclusive subspace for the monks of S. Pietro, being separated from the rest of the church, there can be no doubt that the choir stalls were closed off by choir screens both frontally and laterally (fig. 18b).
Fig. 9 – Perugia, S. Pietro: reconstruction of the position of Perugino’s altarpiece (1567-1642/1751)

Photo: M.G. Gromotka
25The most probable level of the western extension of the choir screens will have been the elevated area of the sanctuary in the apse and the crossing; at least it is difficult to imagine the choir stalls to have extended into a space with a considerably lower ground level as it was the case in the nave and in the arms of the transept, and there are no indications in the sources that the extension of the elevated area had been altered after the 1330s.
The disposition of 1532-1537: evidence for a frontal choir screen and its transfer in 1592
- 31 Guido di Francesco received payments “per lui a Vanne Scarpellino per opere 28 a rompere l’arco de (...)
- 32 In 1478, Giovanni Tedesco receives payments “for the cross which is to be placed at the middle of (...)
26If this disposition had been upheld when the choir stalls were renewed in 1532-1537, there must have existed both lateral and frontal choir screens (fig. 18b), that is, screens encircling the choir district on the front and on the sides. It seems that the frontal choir screen was not the only lateral barrier in the church; rather, it seems to have been doubled by a rood screen located further westward in the nave. This is suggested by the fact that, in 1534, the stone mason Guido di Francesco was to put down the “arco della Chiesa” (which has to be identified with the medieval rood screen)31, and that, in 1478, a certain Giovanni Tedesco had created a rood to be placed “nel mezzo della Chiesa” – a wording which, in contemporary sources, usually denominates the rood screen32. The existence of lateral choir screens already in the early sixteenth century can however be proven directly by the signature found on the present lateral choir screens by their creator, Guido di Francesco (fig. 3). This means that the transformation campaign of the 1530s comprised not only a renewal of the choir-screens, but also of their lateral enclosure (fig. 18c). But how does one have to reconstruct the frontal barrier to the choir stalls?
- 33 Rossi 1872, p. 193.
- 34 Guido di Francesco received payments “per la porta della chiesa intra nel coro”, ASPg, Archivio no (...)
- 35 ASPi, L.E. 20 (Mastro), p. 164; cfr. Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 3 and Manari 1866, p. 57.
- 36 Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 5. “di costui [Orazio Alfani] sono molto ammirate le pitture nel muro a S. (...)
27Without declaring it expressly, the existence of a frontal choir screen had already been assumed implicitly by Adamo Rossi when he tried to find as many sources as possible to prove the fact that the choir stalls had been erected in S. Pietro already at the time of their creation33. Three of his arguments for this assumption also hint towards the existence of a frontal choir screen. Firstly, he cited a contract stipulated between the monastery and the artist Giovanni Bernardino, called “Cossa”, who obligated himself on October 7th, 1535 to create part of a cornice made of bronze “for the door of the church into the choir”34. Secondly, according to the account books of S. Pietro, the painter Orazio Alfani received a payment in 1547 “for the pictures of the choir”, which can now be found – in a heavily restored state – flanking the wooden porch at the inner west wall of S. Pietro (fig. 10)35. Finally, there is the contemporary testimony of Cesare Crispolti (1563-1608) who reports that Alfani’s four pictures “not many years ago were transported with great diligence […] from the middle to the feet of the church in a fitting place36”.
Fig. 10 – Perugia, S. Pietro: nave towards west with the former choir screen at the inner west wall

Photo: M.G. Gromotka
- 37 Raffaele Sozi, Memorie cittadine, BCAP Ms. E. 80, p. 138, cited from Manari 1865, p. 60, fn. 1 (Ma (...)
28The phrasing “in the middle of the church” (“nel mezzo della Chiesa”) is usually employed in the sources to indicate either the rood screen of a church or the frontal choir screen. That this is also true in the case of Crispolti’s description of what took place in S. Pietro at the end of the sixteenth century can be confirmed by another memorial entry, which does not seem to have been known to Adamo Rossi: the Perugian citizen Raffaele Sozi, writing in the middle of the sixteenth century, remembered: “in the façade of the choir of the above named church [S. Pietro] around the door, there are four oil paintings of the most notable Orazio Alfani37”. Through this source, the existence of a frontal choir screen (the “façade” of the choir stalls carrying Alfani’s pictures) can be confirmed securely for the time after the transformation campaign of the 1530s.
29It also seems that this actual frontal choir screen has survived in S. Pietro, since the classicising architecture which nowadays frames the pictures by Orazio Alfani on the lower inner west wall of S. Pietro is almost identical with the decorative forms of the lateral choir screens securely ascribed to Guido di Francesco, and notably different from the parts of the architectural wall decoration that had been put in the aisles only during the transformation campaign of ca. 1591-1609 to assimilate the lower inner walls to the artistic language of Guido’s sixteenth century invention (fig. 10). This, however, would mean that – contrary to the literal sense of Crispolti’s memory – not only the pictures by Orazio Alfani, but also their framing architecture, i.e., the frontal choir screen, was transferred to the inner west wall at the end of the sixteenth century. The date “1592”, which can be found as an inscription to this miniature architecture in the cornice above the current wooden inner porch, would thus not relate to its erection but rather to its transferral during the transformation campaign supervised by Valentino Martelli from 1591 until 1609.
The actual disposition of 1532-1537 and the extent of the transformation campaign of 1591-1609 with regards to the choir stalls
30The existence of a frontal choir screen confirms that the erection of the new choir stalls did not yet bring the present-day retro-choir disposition to S. Pietro. It would have been completely unlikely in any case, since there are no indications of any works relating to the high altar which at that time still stood in the head of the apse. This, however, still leaves the question of how to interpret the account book entry of 1591, according to which Valentino Martelli was to “put the choir into the sanctuary” which correlates with the question where and how exactly the choir stalls were actually placed in 1532-1537.
- 38 “Il coro secondo il vecchio stile monastico fino a quei giorni era stato dinanzi all’altare, o per (...)
31Adamo Rossi presumed that, “conforming to the old monastic style”, the choir had stood in front of the altar, “in fact it surrounded the presbytery”. It seems that Rossi wanted to suggest here that the new choir stalls used to extend to a large degree into the nave (fig. 18d). This interpretation is confirmed by Rossi’s reconstruction of the works executed on the wooden choir by Valentino Martelli: “all Martelli had to do was cutting it off in half, exchange hand and front on the two great wings and settle it down in the tribuna38”.
32It seems, however, most improbable that the choir stalls extended well into the nave from ca. 1535 until ca. 1591 if one looks at the overall history of the spatial disposition of S. Pietro. The erection of the choir stalls in the way Rossi perceived would have meant that the new choir stalls were put up further westward than the pre-existing ones, leaving in the eastern part of the sanctuary a great area of empty space between the choir and the high altar in the apse. Furthermore, the new pulpits erected in the 1520s would have largely interrupted the choir stalls, and the cantor reading or singing from them would have had almost no contact to the audience it is likely to assume to be gathered in the nave. Additionally, there is no evidence that the ground level was changed at any point in the early sixteenth century and again around 1591. Thus, it remains unexplained how the level difference had been mediated between the eastern and the western part of the choir stalls (fig. 18d).
- 39 They are identified as “pergola” or pars pro toto as “lettorino” in the sources. Account book entr (...)
- 40 For references on Giovanni Tedesco and his rood for S. Pietro, cfr. fn. 32. As it has been establi (...)
33It therefore seems that the choir screen used to stand within the limits of the sanctuary, i.e., the area with the higher ground level, and that the frontal choir screens used to stand at the very place where the balustrades now separate the space of the sanctuary from the nave in a much less obstructing way than the frontal choir screen would have done in the sixteenth century (fig. 4, 18c). The position of the choir screen at this very place seems to be confirmed by the positioning of the two ambos that had been created by Guido di Francesco between 1518 and 152139, since rood screens or frontal choir screens are usually a place where such pulpits are positioned; one of the very few surviving example being S. Maria gloriosa dei Frari in Venice (fig. 11). The “doors to the choir” already mentioned in one source used to close off an opening in the middle of this screen; they are to be identified with the doors which were transferred in the head of the apse during the transformation campaign beginning in 1591 (fig. 7, 12). As it has been already suggested above, a wooden cross by Giovanni Tedesco used to stand above this screen; it is presently standing in one of the side altars of the left aisle (fig. 13)40.
Fig. 12 – Perugia, S. Pietro: reconstruction of the sanctuary in 1537 with choir-screen topped by the crucifix

Photo: M.G. Gromotka
Fig. 13 – Perugia, S. Pietro: the crucifix once on the choir-screen, now in the nave

Photo: M.G. Gromotka
- 41 “Deli quali seggi l’una debba porre dove hoggi sta il vecchio et l’altro all’incontro appresso l’a (...)
34There is, however, one further archival source that not only renders more precise our understanding of the spatial disposition existing in S. Pietro from ca. 1535 until ca. 1591, but also helps to specify what was meant by Martelli’s task to “put the choir into the sanctuary” in 1591. For this, it is necessary to differentiate between the actual choir stalls (fig. 2) and the celebrant benches (fig. 17, left). In fact, the celebrant benches were not part of the renovation campaign of the 1530s, but rather commissioned only on October 20th, 1555, when the woodcarver Benedetto di Giovanni contracted to create them following the artistic example of the pre-existing choir stalls. Beside some details of their appearance, the contract also defined where they were to be erected: “One is to be put where today the old one stands and the other on the opposite side next to the high altar of S. Pietro41”.
35This means that when the choir stalls were erected in the sanctuary of S. Pietro between 1532 and 1537, they covered neither the eastern wall of the apse, where in fact the high altar of S. Pietro stood at that point, nor did they cover the two angular walls. This was the place of a celebrant bench of the older furnishing, which was to be kept in place, and the opposite angular wall seems to have been left empty, maybe after the loss of one of possibly originally two celebrant benches (fig. 18c). Perhaps the monks of S. Pietro planned to commission new celebrant benches already in the 1530’s but did not have enough funds to provide for them in addition to the new choir stalls. When they did, however, in 1555, the new celebrant benches were most likely erected in the very place the previous benches had stood, that is, at the angular walls of the apse (fig. 18e).
36Thus, we can form a fairly comprehensive picture of how the choir stalls were arranged in the 1530’s in relation to their present disposition. In fact the major part is still standing now where it had been placed already at that time: the lateral parts east of the lateral entries to the sanctuary up to the angular walls seem not to have been touched by Valentino Martelli at all (fig. 18f and 18g). What he did, however, was to remove the celebrant benches standing at the angular walls of the sanctuary and to transfer them to their actual place west of the lateral entries to the sanctuary (fig. 17, 18g). That they had not in fact been designed for this place, to which they seem to fit so perfectly at first glance, can be confirmed by a closer look to their outer parts: It can be observed clearly that they used to be linked to a wider structure by ornamental friezes that have been chopped off quite crudely at some point in time (fig. 14).
37This transfer was necessary since the celebrant benches had to follow the altar when the present retro-choir disposition was created during the transformation campaign of 1591-1609, which included in fact the transfer of the high altar from its former place at the head of the apse to its present position west of the choir stalls (fig. 2, 18g). It was this transfer or, rather, new creation in a different place that was meant in the account book, where Martelli is paid to “make the high altar of the church”.
38When the celebrant benches were moved under the supervision of Valentino Martelli, they exchanged their place with the part of the choir stalls that used to cover both the inside of the western lateral choir screens as well as the back side of the frontal choir screen, which was transferred as well in 1592 (fig. 10, 18g). The work Martelli had to execute here was rather demanding and he executed it quite artfully: the stalls had to be put in a place they had not been designed for, i.e. the angular and the eastern wall of the apse, where they were to frame the former doors of the frontal choir screen leading into the sanctuary (fig. 2, 6). Observed closely, one can clearly see that especially the inner corners between the choir stalls standing at the angular walls and those standing at the east wall have been created at a later stage; they are not strictly symmetrical, and although they prove to have been executed with an attempt to work as diligently as possible, some conflicts have remained unresolved. For instance, on the inner left corner, two console figures have been brought to intersect each other partly in a way that two pre-existing bones come to cross each other (fig. 6, 15). The one coming to lie beneath the other, however, is not continued beneath the latter, which is a clear indication of their intersection being an afterthought. Additionally, in several places the volute-shaped knob figures of the lower forma intersect the upper panels of the backside in a crude way that differs a lot from the lateral areas of the choir stalls, where the ornamental fields are always conceived symmetrically and framed carefully (fig. 15).
Fig. 15 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls, knob figures of the lower forma in the inner north-eastern corner

Photo: M.G. Gromotka
39In the inner right corner, the corner conflict is solved much more convincingly (fig. 16). In this case, Valentino Martelli might have been able to transfer some pre-existing corner solution from the western part of the choir stalls to the apse, since one of the corner conflicts there might have been solved using an angle that was applicable also for the transition into the choir polygon when transferred to the apse.
Fig. 16 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls, knob figures of the lower forma in the outer south-eastern corner

Photo: M.G. Gromotka
- 42 Brown 1981; Brown 1996; Blaauw 2006; Modesti 2002; Morvan 2018; Morvan 2021.
- 43 Ackerman 1980, p. 294.
- 44 Ibid.; Leinweber 2000, p. 102-104; Winkelmes 2001, p. 308; Cooper 2001, p. 53 f.; Patetta 2002, p. (...)
- 45 The most famous of these books is Cardinal Carlo Borromeo’s Instructionum fabricae, et supellectil (...)
40Very many sources survived regarding the transformation of the church interior of S. Pietro executed between 1591 and 1609; however, none of them states a reason for this extensive measure. However, the creation of retro-choirs and the demolition of frontal choir screens seem to be a wide-spread phenomenon in Italian churches at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century with many churches being transformed or newly erected with a retro-choir already in the fifteenth century42. Hitherto, there exists, however, no comprehensive study which would give a general overview of the history of the Italian church interior from the fifteenth until the seventeenth century, and thus the extension of the phenomenon cannot be properly assessed at this point. This includes its chronological development, its relation to certain regions, church types or regular orders and to certain ideological or aesthetic concepts. Until recently, this development towards the retro-choir with free-standing high altars, which – for monastic churches – has been called “a revolution in monastic church planning and liturgical practice as radical as any in the history of monasticism43”, has been brought in close connection with the post-Tridentine Church, turning its focus to the interests of the lay people who should be able to see the main altar uninterruptedly44. However, the creation of retro-choirs has neither been ordered by the Tridentine Council itself nor by the many bishops and congregations who were executing reformist visitations of their churches and who, to this effect, published law books regulating the proper disposition of the churches within their dioceses or congregations45.
- 46 Cfr. the chapter by Joanne Allen in this volume. In his Vite, Vasari later wrote that the choir st (...)
- 47 The reason Vasari gives for the transformation of the wall surfaces in the wake of the removal of (...)
- 48 Gromotka 2021.
41Thus, it rather seems that the substantial church transformations must be brought into connection with new aesthetic concepts of a unified church interior which offered an uninterrupted view to the architecture of the edifice, unhindered by different types of view and access barriers. When Vasari transformed the two major mendicant churches of Florence, S. Maria Novella and S. Croce for the same, aesthetic reason (1565-69)46, he deemed it necessary to subject the wall design of the church, which now could be perceived in full, to a stylistically unifying transformation because it displayed more than two maniere, that is, artistic styles and thus contradicted his aesthetic principles47. The fact that in S. Pietro in Perugia, the monks also deemed it necessary to transform the inner surface of the church with the result of unifying the interior stemming from totally different epochs parallel to the introduction of the retro-choir between ca. 1591 and 1594 which made the church interior visible as a whole (fig. 1, 10, 12, 17), might be read as an indication of a similar motivational set for the removal of all view barriers as in the case of Vasari’s transformations in Florence and Arezzo48.
- 49 The expenses for the burial site are listed in ASPi, Lib. Div. 38, p. 240v f. A severely shortened (...)
- 50 The ceremony has been described in detail in: N.N. 1609; Panziera 1609; Giovio 1610 (the manuscrip (...)
- 51 I am grateful to Haude Morvan for this observation.
- 52 The creation of the altar burial site and the pompous translation of the relics have to be interpr (...)
42After several subsequent expansions of the original design for the transformation campaign begun in 1591, the completion of the works was celebrated as one of the most popular events ever to be held in Perugia at any time in history: on May 17th, 1609, the campaign was completed by translating the relics of the founder of S. Pietro, saint Pietro Abate and his alleged successor saint Stefano Abate into a burial site which had been newly created in 1608/09 at the back of the high altar of the church49. During the same ceremony, the Perugian bishop Napoleone Comitoli transferred part of the relics of two other saints, namely Bishop saint Ercolano and saint Bevignate, into the main altar of S. Ercolano and S. Lorenzo, the cathedral of Perugia. This ceremony was attended to by the whole general chapter of the Cassinese Congregation (the former Congregazione di S. Giustina), to which almost all Benedictine churches of Italy belonged and which was held at that time in Perugia, and by a huge part of the inhabitants of both Perugia and the whole of Umbria. It was this burial site that the monks of S. Pietro would look at when they celebrated their ceremonies in the choir of S. Pietro from 1609 onwards (fig. 17)50. This disposition also compensated for the partial loss of view on the celebrant, which was obstructed by the great ciborium on the main altar51. In this way, the founder saint of the church, saint Pietro Abate, came to admonish the monks of S. Pietro in person to the adherence of the Benedictine rule in its special interpretation, which Ludovico Barbo had prescribed for the Cassinese Congregation52.
Conclusion
43Thus, the spatial disposition of S. Pietro in Perugia and its choir district have been transformed severely several times over the whole period of the existence of this church (fig. 18). The reasons for the individual transformations varied greatly and ranged from liturgical and representational motivations to – as it seems – changing aesthetic principles.
44The original spatial disposition of S. Pietro, which is hitherto unknown, was changed greatly in the 1330s, when a retro-choir disposition was introduced. To achieve this, the previous eastern apse and the crypt were demolished, and a transept and a new presbytery were erected. The new high altar was free-standing and furnished with a double-sided altarpiece, and the choir area was not closed off directly by frontal choir screens. The reasons for this far-reaching transformation were mainly liturgical and representational: by adapting a spatial disposition introduced in the Franciscan church of S. Francesco al Prato which in turn had adapted the spatial disposition of S. Francesco in Assisi, the monks of S. Pietro made a spatial-iconographical reference to the papal liturgy, and thus to the pope who often resided in Perugia at that time. It is even perceivable that papal mass, which required a free-standing altar, was actually read both in S. Pietro and in S. Francesco al Prato. It remains a curious fact that, thus, a Benedictine monastery took elaborate measures to rework the appearance of their church to indirectly correspond to the model of the main church of the Order of saint Francis.
45In 1436, this relatively open disposition was removed by the reform congregation of S. Giustina to which the church had been subjected by the pope in the same year. In doing so, the reformist monks transferred the altar to the east end of the apse and closed off the choir district by both lateral and frontal choir screens. The reason for this measure was an architectural enforcement of the monastic enclosure, which the founder of the reform congregation, Ludovico Barbo, deemed to be a necessary precondition for a strict adherence to the monastic rule of saint Benedict.
46When a new choir was erected in S. Pietro between 1532 and 1537 and surrounded by new lateral and frontal wall screens, the spatial disposition introduced in 1436 was not changed at all. Rather, this measure, which introduced the still extant (but differently arranged) magnificent choir stalls to the church interior of S. Pietro in Perugia, must be interpreted as a stylistic adjournment, arguably made mainly for representational reasons. To these stalls, which were signed by Stefano di Antoniolo de’ Zambelli, two new celebrant benches were introduced in 1555 by Benedetto di Giovanni, being placed on the angular walls of the polygonal apse.
47This spatial disposition was again transformed severely between ca. 1591 and 1594. In this period and under the supervision of the architect Valentino Martelli, the retro-choir was re-introduced to the church interior of S. Pietro. To this end, the high altar was newly erected in the middle of the elevated sanctuary area, and the frontal choir screen was transferred to the inner western wall of the church. Additionally, the celebrant benches were transferred to the west end of the sanctuary area, while the choir stalls which had hitherto occupied this place and the backside of the frontal choir screens were transferred to the angular walls of the polygonal apse. Thus, they came to frame the former entrance door to the frontal choir screen which from now on led to a bellavista terrace. This transformation of the spatial disposition was accompanied by a complete reworking of the whole inner surface of S. Pietro, which, in the upper parts, was achieved only by means of painting. The reason for this transformation seems to have been predominantly aesthetical; changing taste seems now to have preferred an unobstructed view of the whole church interior and a homogenous design of the wall, vault and ceiling areas.
48The last major change to the spatial disposition of the choir district was the introduction of a burial site for two local saints at the back side of the high altar. Thus, the founder of the monastery, saint Pietro Abate, came to admonish his successors to adhere to the rule of saint Benedict.
Notes
1 The church has been erected between 965 and 972 or between 985 and 996 or shortly before (depending on the dating of the relevant sources). This is the result of the author’s dissertation (Gromotka 2018, Gromotka forthcoming). The present contribution presents the findings of this dissertation in relation to the choir stalls of S. Pietro. I would like to thank Haude Morvan for providing such ample resources for the study of the positioning of the choir, and for her most knowledgeable reading of this chapter.
2 Zucchini 2003.
3 Gromotka 2015, p. 86-89.
4 Both works were published in a series of articles, and both authors added short art historical commentaries to certain source groups: Rossi 1872; Manari 1864, p. 460; Manari 1865, p. 528-534, 539-561; Manari 1866, p. 63-68, 166-169.
5 Vol. I of Bini’s Memorie storiche del Monastero di S. Pietro di Perugia dell’Ordine di S. Benedetto Congregazione Cassinense alias di S. Giustina di Padova, which gives a chronological account of the history of S. Pietro in Perugia in the style of a Gesta abbati, has been transcribed and published in an expanded edition by Pietro Elli (Elli 1994; for the choir stalls, cfr. p. 180 f. and 217-220). Vol. II, which gives an art historical examination of the church, remains unpublished: ASPi C.M. 439 V (for the choir stalls, cfr. p. 194, 196, 218-220).
6 Garattoni 1966.
7 Siciliani 2000.
8 Lolli 2019; for the choir stalls and celebrant benches, cfr. p. 85-87, 100-113, 115, 118, 128-133, and 142 f.
9 Gordon 2002; Cooper 2000; Cooper 2001 and Cooper’s contribution in this volume.
10 Facere, constituere et componere, perficere et finire corum ligneum in dicta ecclesia p. Petri. ASPi, Liber contractuum (L.C.) 24, fol. 23r-25r, quoted from Garattoni 1966, p. 45. The contract can be found in full transcription in: ibid., p. 45-47, reprinted in: Siciliani 2000, p. 45 f., Lolli 2019, p. 85-87, and – with many but minor aberrances – in: Manari 1865, p. 528-531. The contract also contains the “tenor” (i.e. the basic content) of several models that Bernardino created, which have, however, been lost, cfr. the transcript in: Garattoni 1966, p. 46 f. For more information on Bernardino di Luca Antonibi cfr. Manari 1865, p. 531-534.
11 On August 18th or 19th, Bernardino dismisses his assistants due to the plague, ASPi, Liber economicus (L.E.), 1526, p. 264 and L.E. 1527, p. 51 cited from Manari 1865, p. 531 (cfr. also for transcripts of the payment records). Other than Manari (ibid., p. 553) and Garratoni (Garattoni 1966, p. 45) Bini does not believe that Bernardino died; according to him, the contract was rather cancelled (ASPi C.M. 439 V, p. 218 f.). To this question, cfr. also Siciliani 1994, p. 41.
12 The year 1532 is merely documented by memorial entries and not by entries in the account books, where payments for the choir stalls are resumed only in 1533. Manari quotes from the memorial documents of S. Pietro: “1532. – D. Girolamo da Monterosso (sic) […] fu dedito ad abbellir la Chiesa la quale nobilitò ed adornò facendoci il coro che al presente si vede molto bello di Architettura ed intaglio il quale costò duc. 3200”, Manari 1865, p. 552 with reference to ASPi, Mazzo 68, p. 11v; cfr. also Mauro Bini: vol. I (Elli 1994), p. 180 and vol. II (ASPi C.M. 439 V), p. 219. The account book entries relating to the payments for the second campaign for the creation of the choir stalls for S. Pietro, led by Stefano da Bergamo, are transcribed in Manari 1865, p. 541-548 (omitting the lectern) and Lolli 2019, p. 103-113.
13 This contract is reproduced in: Rossi 1872, p. 190 f.; Garattoni 1966, p. 50 f.; Siciliani 2000, p. 48 and Lolli 2019, p. 102 f. The contract reveals that the preceding works had been executed on the basis of a contract registered by the notary Giovanni de Maffiano, in which the precise form of the choir stalls had already been fixed. This contract could hitherto not be found, cfr. Rossi 1872, p. 189 f.; Garattoni 1966, p. 14 f.; Siciliani 2000, p. 29.
14 The only further published contract is concluded on March 11th, 1534 between the woodcarver Nicola Antonio di Ludovico di Cagli, who obligated himself “to carve twenty pictures in walnut” (“intagliare quadros viginti in ligno nucis”) after the model of two already existing pictures for the choir of S. Pietro, ASPi, L.C. 25, cc. 80r-81r (quoted from Garattoni’s transcript of the contract, Garattoni 1966, p. 48; cfr. also Manari 1865, p. 543 f. and Lolli 2019, p. 100 f.). Nicola Antonio seems, however, not to have finished the works, as he received only a very small payment. He probably died in 1535 (Manari 1865, p. 545, fn. 1; Rossi 1872, p. 189 f.; Garattoni 1966, p. 16 f. fn. 14, 15; Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 17, 18, all with reference to the sources). Cfr. also Mauro Bini: vol. I (Elli 1994), p. 180 and vol. II (ASPi C.M. 439 V), p. 219. Furthermore there are mentioned: Giovanni Battista da Bologna, an “Ambrogio” from France, a “Grisello” (Siepi: Crisallo), a “Tommaso”, a “Niccolò” and an “Antonio” – the latter all Florentines: Galassi 1792, p. 33; Siepi 1822, p. 588; Orsini 1784, p. 22; Mauro Bini: vol. I (Elli 1994), p. 180 and vol. II (ASPi C.M. 439 V), p. 219; De Stefano 1902, p. 29. The archival references for the last four artists can be found in: Manari 1865, p. 547 f. (identifying the period of the pertinent payments as 1534-35); Garattoni 1966, p. 16, fn. 13 and Siciliani 2000, p. 29, fn. 16. Giovanni Battista and Ambrogio are said to have created the music lectern of S. Pietro in Perugia together with a certain Lorenzo, Manari 1865, p. 549 f. (dated there in 1535-37, relating to the music stand “e altre cose”); Rossi 1872, p. 191; De Stefano 1902, p. 30; Garattoni 1966, p. 16 fn. 17 and Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 20 with transcribed passages from the account books; cfr. as well Manari 1864, p. 460 fn. 2. According to Manari, Garattoni and Siciliani, in 1535, Domenico Schiavone produced “mouldings” (“cimase”, quoted from the account books as transcribed by Manari) for the choir stalls and probably also the parcloses of the lower row (Manari 1865, p. 548 f.; Garattoni 1966, p. 16 fn. 16 and Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 19). What exactly has been created by Domenico Schiavone, is, however, very much debated, cfr. Galassi 1792, p. 35 f.; Orsini 1784, p. 22; ASPi C.M. 439 V (Mauro Bini), p. 219; Rossi 1872, p. 191; De Stefano 1902, p. 30; Garattoni 1966, p. 16, fn. 16; Siciliani 2000, p. 30, fn. 19. For other works by Domenico Schiavone cfr. also Manari 1865, p. 542.
15 An inscription states: HOC OPUS FECIT STEPHANUS DE BERGAMO, Garattoni 1966, p. 17; Siciliani 2000, p. 30. A list of the account book entries referring to Stefano da Bergamo can be found in: Garattoni 1966, p. 14 f.; Siciliani 2000, p. 29. Some scholars claim a continuation of these works until 1537 (cfr. fn. 14).
16 Contract registered by the notary Simone Longo from 1534, Archivio di Stato di Perugia (ASPg), Archivio notarile, Rogiti di (acts of) Simone Longo, ms. 775, p. 333r, according to Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 1 and Garattoni 1966, p. 18 fn. 21, and Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 24. Quotations from this contract can be found in Rossi 1872, p. 193.
17 The contract is transcribed in Lolli 2019, p. 113 f. Regarding the account books, Bini, Manari and Garattoni obviously date the same sources differently. Manari writes: “1537: Giugno: Pel Coro: a M. Guido Scarpellino f. 525 li se fanno boni per fattura delle pietre intorno al Coro, – Gior. N. 81, pag. 108 [? illegible print; in the copy in the Archive of S. Pietro, the ‘8’ is added manually], Lib. maest. an. 1535, p. 115 e 165”. Bini quotes similarly a “Lib. Ecoc°. n°. 17 pa. 115, e Giornale n°. 81, pa 168”, but dates it to 1535 (ASPi C.M. 439 V, p. 220). Garattoni cites the “Giornale id. [121], c. 108a [‘a’, in his version, means ‘verso’], Pel coro a M. Guido scarpellino fior. 525; li se fanno boni per fattura delle pietre intorno al coro’; Mastro id. [17], p. 115r, 165v”; from the context it can be understood that Garattoni dates these sources in 1534, Garattoni 1966, p. 18 fn. 21; Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 24. Manari resolves the acronym of the inscription to Opus Magistri Guidi Perusini (Manari 1865, p. 541). Cfr. also Galassi 1792, p. 37 f.; Orsini 1784, p. 23; Siepi 1822, p. 589 f. and De Stefano 1902, p. 32.
18 This might not be a coincidence, as Gianmario Guidarelli demonstrated that the architectural shape of Cassinese monasteries was sometimes designed in correspondence to the surrounding landscape, following the classical tradition of the Roman Villa (Guidarelli – Svalduz 2017).
19 “Per Fabrica della Chiesa // á mo [= maestro] Valentino Martelli Δi [sic; denari, meant here as ‘monetary units’ and thus in the region of Perugia in fact as ‘scudi’] doi miglia doicento. Sonno p[er] la Fabrica della n[ost]ra Chiesa; che s. obbliga di far’. Cioe mettere il Choro nel Santuario: indorare tutta la soffitta. Pengere tutta la Chiesa: mutar’ l.organo: far l.altare maggiore: li scalini di pietra roscia: Balaustri Pulpiti: et altre cose: Come distintamente apare in un foglio fatto et sottoscritto di sua mano propria: et al libro del pr [padre] Cell[erario] á Car[ta] 109 | 2200 [denari/scudi]”, ASPi, L.E. 126 “Giornale”, p. 154v. Compare the transcript in Manari 1866, p. 166 f.
20 Mauro Bini, vol. I (Elli 1994), p. 181 and vol. II (ASPi C.M. 439 V), p. 220; Manari 1865, p. 553. The inauguration of the choir stalls on Christmas Eve, 1591 is documented in a memorial book of S. Pietro: “Ricordo come a dì 24 dicembre 1591 s’incominciò a offitiare il choro novo et si cantò vespro solenne in musica da’ monaci”, Ricordi del 1587 al 1595 in ASPi, Libri diversi 125 p. 42v, quoted from Garattoni 1966, p. 20 fn. 20. Cfr. also Siciliani 2000, p. 31 fn. 29; Manari 1865, p. 552 and Lolli 2019, p. 154.
21 The most important of Rossi’s examples is the following: on October 25th, 1555, the woodcarver Benedetto di Giovanni da Montepulciano obliges himself contractually to create the panels for the dorsal of the two celebrant benches after the model of the dorsals of the choir stalls standing at this time in the church of S. Pietro (“a paragone di qualsivoglia quadro che hoggi sia nel coro di quella Chiesa”), ASPg, Archivio notarile, Rogiti di Giulio di Sallustio, prot. 1551-64, p. 97; cfr. Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 4. The same contract is also preserved in ASPi, Libro dei Contratti 28 (1548-1557), p. 167v, transcribed in Lolli 2019, p. 128 f. (pertinent here is p. 129). As the design of the celebrant benches is very similar to that of the choir stalls which are still present today in S. Pietro, they will already have stood there in 1555.
22 Ibid., p. 192 f. Garattoni and Siciliani are obviously dependent on Rossi, but do not reflect his arguments in detail, cfr. Garattoni 1966, p. 17-19 and Siciliani 2000, p. 30. The transcript in the present text is quoted directly from ASPi, L.E. 126 p. 154v, which is another copy of the same contract (cfr. Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 4, Garattoni 1966, p. 18 fn. 23; and Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 26. For a full transcript, cfr. Manari 1865, p. 63-65).
23 “Adì 21 de dicembre [1436], de vienardì, in S. Pietro fu levato lo altare grande che era de fuore dalla tribuna, e nella tribuna era el coro, che adesso è fatto el coro dove stava lo altare: […] Li […] ossa de S. Pietro e de S. Stefano, e li altri ossa, allora, in presenzia de tutta quella gente, fuoro messe in uno altare dirieto al coro, nel mezzo fra le colonde del ditto coro, e de là e de qua le inmagine [sic] de S. Pietro e de p. Pavolo arlevate [sic]”, quoted from the version of the memories of Antonio di Andrea di ser Angelo dei Veghi di Porta S. Angelo contained in the later compilation of earlier memorial literature called “Cronaca del Graziani” (second half of the sixteenth century), ed. Bonaini – Fabretti – Polidori 1850, p. 410 f.
24 The pertinent bulla dates from May 19th, 1436, and is transcribed in Leccisotti – Tabarelli 1956, p. 163-167. The admission had been concluded by the general chapter of the congregation already at the end of April in their general chapter, meeting in S. Benedetto Po (i.e. Polirone), Ordinationes Capitulorum Generalium, ed. Leccisotti 1939, p. 47.
25 For further information on the history of this congregation, cfr. the introductory chapter in Leccisotti 1939 and the following publications: Leccisotti 1944; Tassi 1951; Sambin 1959; Leccisotti 1969; De Nicolò Salmazo – Trolese 1980; Collet 1985. For Ludovico Barbo and the early history of the reform movement cfr. Trifone 1910; Trifone 1911; Tassi 1952; Sambin 1955; Pesce 1969; Trolese 1976; Trolese 1978; Trolese 1983; and Trolese 2001. The impact of the Italian-wide networks established by the Cassinese Congregation have been recently re-examined in Nova – Periti 2021.
26 As Marcia Hall demonstrated in 2006, in many churches there existed frontal choir screens in addition to the rood screen (Hall 2006).
27 The reconstruction of the spatial disposition of S. Pietro from the 1330s until 1436 is a very complex undertaking which is presented in my PhD dissertation (Gromotka 2018, p. 500-582 and Gromotka forthcoming). It is mainly based on Veghi’s memorial account of 1436 cited above and a thorough consideration of the spatial dispositions valid both before the 1330s and after 1436. The fact that in many Franciscan churches a retro-choir disposition was created in the fourteenth century has been demonstrated by Dillian Gordon (Gordon 1982, Gordon 1996, Gordon 2002) and Donal Cooper (see his chapter in the present volume), based on an analysis of the double-sided altarpieces which had been erected on the main altars and a thorough examination of a large amount of archival sources.
28 For instance, in his account on the beginnings of his reform, the Liber de initio, Barbo writes about the deplorable state of S. Giustina in Padova: Ecclesiæ. Spatium magni claustri ita transeuntibus erat apertum, quod, an esset de publico, an de proprietate monasterii, agnosui vix poterat. […] Mares & fœminæ Ecclesiæ visitatione completa per chori portam exibant, […] & ita confidenter omnes transibant, quod etiam mulieres in dormitorio, quod est abominabile dictu, petebant quandoque loca secreta naturæ (Pez 1721, col. 279). His first measures were to realise the edificial measures to ensure the enclosure both in the church and in the monastery as a necessary precondition to realise the Benedictine reform: Posthæc Monasterii taliter, qualiter clausura aliisque officinis pro regulari observantia præparatis, dietim expectabat avide rorem videre de cœlo, & promissam conversionem cernere aliquando: & assidue orans a Domino postulabat, aliquos sibi dari, cum quibus posset observantiæ debitum reddere, se felicem existimans, si tantum duodecim monachos habuisset (Pez 1721, col. 280). Cfr. Kilian 1997, p. 63-76.
29 In the middle of the seventeenth century, the local erudite Ottavio Lancellotti claims that, at the end of works on the high altar, it was consecrated on January 13th, 1500, with the relics being put back into the altar (Ottavio Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra per tutti i giorni dell’anno, II, [Ms.] [between 1649 and 1659], BCAP Ms. B005, p. 495r [old pagination] / p. 265r [new pagination]). However, Lancellotti’s archival reference is most generic (“a manuscript in the sacristy of S. Pietro”), and hitherto no such document has been found. The relics had also been transferred to an elevated place in the sacristy in 1534, but there seem to be no indications where the relics had been taken from, Zucchini 2003, p. 104, fn. 38 with reference to ASPi, Mazzo 72, Ms. 12 and 14. It can therefore not be verified whether they were in the high altar in 1534. The relics had been at any case in the main altar in the head of the apse, however, at least in 1591, when they were transferred provisionally into the sacristy to allow for the creation of a new altar in front of the choir stalls which was begun in the same year, Manari 1865, p. 552 who seems to relate directly or indirectly to a codex with the title “Ricordi dal 1587 al 1595” (ASPi, Lib. Div. 125). Cfr. also Garattoni 1966, p. 19 fn. 24 and Siciliani 2000, p. 30 fn. 27. Zucchini 2003, p. 104 f. cites a different source (ASPi, Mazzo 72, ms. 14).
30 On the original aspect of Perugino’s Ascension of Christ and its transformations in relation to the transformations of the spatial disposition of S. Pietro, see Gardner von Teuffel 2001, Gromotka 2015 and Gromotka 2018, p. 587-635, 690-707, 774-775, 820-947, 1107-1187. The history of Perugino’s altarpiece in relation to the spatial disposition of S. Pietro from the time of its creation between 1495 and ca. 1500 until its transfer from the main altar into a spatially closely related niche at the centre of the apse is summarised by Donal Cooper in his contribution in this volume (section Umbrian retrochoirs beyond the Franciscan Order). The later history of the altarpiece goes as follows: When the interior of S. Pietro was widely transformed between 1591 and 1609, the altarpiece was surprisingly left untouched, although the main altar was moved forward considerably (fig. 18g). Thus, however, Perugino’s altarpiece lost its close spatial relation to the altar, which might have added to the willingness to treat Perugino’s paintings like a piece of art, rather than as a part of a liturgical arrangement. Thus, in 1642, its predella was transferred to the sacristy of S. Pietro, which in turn had been transformed into a cabinet of art with the aim of making the panels better visible to these who wanted to enjoy Perugino’s art. In 1751, Perugino’s altarpiece was dismantled completely with its single panels distributed around the church and a newly erected chapel. The pictures thus became part of the picture gallery which had been created in S. Pietro between 1642 and 1644 and revised between 1751 and 1763. The major panels were requisitioned by the French army in 1797 and are now on display in the art museums of Lyon, Rouen and Nantes, and in the Musei Vaticani. Since 1870, the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Lyon tried to reassemble Perugino’s altarpiece to its original state (to be placed, of course, in the museum and not in its original place). This was only successful in part, when, in 1952, the lunette of God the Father was transferred from the church of Saint-Gervais in Paris to the Musée de Lyon, where it was placed together with the main panel in a reconstructed framework.
31 Guido di Francesco received payments “per lui a Vanne Scarpellino per opere 28 a rompere l’arco della Chiesa”, ASPi, L.E. 81 (Giornale), p. 56, cited from Manari 1865, p. 540.
32 In 1478, Giovanni Tedesco receives payments “for the cross which is to be placed at the middle of the church” (“del crocifisso ci fece per mettere nel mezzo della Chiesa”), ASPi, L.E. 3 (Mastro), f. 110, f. 125; cited from Manari 1865, p. 257 f.; similarly: Rossi 1872 I, p. 68, doc. 15 and Lolli 2019, p. 19 f. (pertinent here is p. 19). Cfr. also Siciliani 1994, p. 33 (erroneous dating to 1474) and Teza, Stopponi 2001, p. 221, fn. 276. An elaborate analysis of the crucifixion of S. Pietro in the context of the many crosses created by German masters for Italian churches is delivered by: Lisner 1960, p. 176-281, Lunghi 2000, p. 161-169 and Curzi 2014. As can be deducted from the older guide books to S. Pietro, the wooden cross was transferred to its actual place in the left aisle in the later eighteenth century (Galassi 1774, p. 59 f.; Galassi 1792, p. 54; Orsini 1784, p. 37; Siepi 1822, p. 599; De Stefano, p. 21).
33 Rossi 1872, p. 193.
34 Guido di Francesco received payments “per la porta della chiesa intra nel coro”, ASPg, Archivio notarile, Rogiti di Simone Longo, protocollo del 1535, p. 238; cited from Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 2. For a transcript of the contract cfr. Manari 1865, p. 545 f., who locates the document in ASPi, L.C. 25, p. 98v. The part of the frieze created by Cossa seems to be lost nowadays; the entablature-like top standing at present above the choir stalls seems to be mostly the work of Domenico Schiavone, who is payed in 1535 for the creation of the “cimase del coro” (for the account book entry, cfr. ibid., p. 548).
35 ASPi, L.E. 20 (Mastro), p. 164; cfr. Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 3 and Manari 1866, p. 57.
36 Rossi 1872, p. 193, fn. 5. “di costui [Orazio Alfani] sono molto ammirate le pitture nel muro a S. Pietro, fatte in quattro quadri, che, non molti anni sono, furono con gran diligenza da quei Padri trasportate dal mezzo in piedi della chiesa in luogo opportuno”, Compendio delle Memorie di Perugia. Fatto da Cesare Crispolti canonico dottore dell’una e dell’altra legge, BCAP, Ms. B 45, p. 26v-27r; cited from Teza in Teza – Stopponi 2001, p. 220 f., fn. 275 (for information about the manuscript cfr. ibid., p. 284); cfr. also Manari 1865, p. 60 f., fn. 1.
37 Raffaele Sozi, Memorie cittadine, BCAP Ms. E. 80, p. 138, cited from Manari 1865, p. 60, fn. 1 (Manari erroneously locates the pertinent passage on p. 38); cfr. Teza – Stopponi 2001, fn. 275. Manari neither dates the document nor gives Sozi’s dates of living. He seems to be identifiable as the Perugian merchant and music enthusiast, living in the sixteenth century in Perugia (co-founder of the Accademia degli Unisoni around 1560, further documentation in 1557), cfr. Blackburn 1981, p. 32, 35 and the online description of BCAP, Ms. 431, G 20 (in: https://www.diamm.ac.uk/sources/1455/#/, access date: 1st August, 2018).
38 “Il coro secondo il vecchio stile monastico fino a quei giorni era stato dinanzi all’altare, o per meglio intenderci, aveva circondato il presbiterio, e che il Martelli non ebbe altro da fare che troncarlo nel mezzo, scambiar mano e fronte alle due grandi ale, ed assestarle nella tribuna”, Rossi 1872, p. 192 f.
39 They are identified as “pergola” or pars pro toto as “lettorino” in the sources. Account book entries transcribed by Leonardo Lolli suggest a dating between 1518 and 1521 (Lolli 2019, p. 81 f.; entries from July onwards have to be dated one year above, due to differences between economical and calendar year). The old literature, however, seems to rather suggest a time span between 1514 and 1521: Mauro Bini, vol. I (Elli 1994), p. 171 and vol. II (ASPi C.M. 439 V), p. 195; Manari 1864, p. 461; Manari 1865 p. 365 f.; De Stefano 1902, p. 29; Siciliani 1994, p. 47.
40 For references on Giovanni Tedesco and his rood for S. Pietro, cfr. fn. 32. As it has been established earlier in this text, the expression “in the middle of the church” usually refers to the rood screen of a church or the frontal choir screen.
41 “Deli quali seggi l’una debba porre dove hoggi sta il vecchio et l’altro all’incontro appresso l’altare grande della Chiesa di S. Pietro”, ASPi, L.C. 28, p. 167v, quoted from Manari 1866, p. 63-65, where the contract is transcribed in detail. The contract for the partial gilding of the celebrant benches is transcribed in ibid., p. 65-67, followed by a discussion of the sources on p. 67 f. The contracts are also transcribed in Lolli 2019, p. 128 f. and 130 f., the relative account book entries follow on p. 131-133.
42 Brown 1981; Brown 1996; Blaauw 2006; Modesti 2002; Morvan 2018; Morvan 2021.
43 Ackerman 1980, p. 294.
44 Ibid.; Leinweber 2000, p. 102-104; Winkelmes 2001, p. 308; Cooper 2001, p. 53 f.; Patetta 2002, p. 155; stressing the reaction to the reformation: Isermeyer 1968, p. 47. Cfr. also: Chédozeau 1998 and the different articles in Frommel – Lecomte 2012.
45 The most famous of these books is Cardinal Carlo Borromeo’s Instructionum fabricae, et supellectilis ecclesiasticae libri II (1577). It was meant as a book for the church patrons both for preparing and for postprocessing S. Carlo’s visitations. Cfr. also: Jobst 2006. There were, however, many more bishops issuing similar legislation for their respective dioceses, cfr. Gromotka forthcoming.
46 Cfr. the chapter by Joanne Allen in this volume. In his Vite, Vasari later wrote that the choir stalls (including the barriers) of S. Maria Novella “gli toglieva tutta la sua bellezza”. According to Vasari, the resulting removal of all view barriers “fa parere quella una nuova chiesa bellissima, come è veramente” (Bettarini – Barocchi 1966, VI, p. 406). The transformation of the other two churches was motivated similarly. For the transformation of the Pieve of Arezzo, cfr. Isermeyer 1950; for the transformation of S. Croce and S. Maria Novella the many publications on these subjects by Marcia Hall (e.g. Hall 1974a; Hall 1973; Hall 1979) and Lunardi 1988; for Vasari’s transformation campaigns in general Isermeyer 1952 and Isermeyer 1977.
47 The reason Vasari gives for the transformation of the wall surfaces in the wake of the removal of all view barriers is the reduction of the now visible artistic styles of wall decoration in the whole church to two maniere [that is: artistic styles] at the most: “E perché le cose che non hanno fra loro ordine e proporzione non possono eziandio essere belle interamente, [Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany] ha ordinato che nelle navate minori si facciano, in guisa che corrispondano al mezzo degl’archi, e fra colonna e colonna, ricchi ornamenti di pietre con nuova foggia, che servino con i loro altari in mezzo per cappelle e siano tutte d’una o due maniere” (Bettarini – Barocchi 1966, VI, p. 406).
48 Gromotka 2021.
49 The expenses for the burial site are listed in ASPi, Lib. Div. 38, p. 240v f. A severely shortened transcript can be found in Manari 1866, p. 269 f. and in Lolli 2019, p. 188 f.
50 The ceremony has been described in detail in: N.N. 1609; Panziera 1609; Giovio 1610 (the manuscript written in 1609, which differs only slightly from the printed version, can be found in the ASPi, C.M. 326). The ceremony has been analysed in detail in Rihouet 2017.
51 I am grateful to Haude Morvan for this observation.
52 The creation of the altar burial site and the pompous translation of the relics have to be interpreted in the context of the post-Tridentine upswing of the veneration of the saints and in a dispute about rank amongst the local religious entities such as the reform bishop Napoleone Comitoli and the monks of S. Pietro. See Gromotka 2018, p. 758-773 and 1052-1095 and Gromotka forthcoming.
Table des illustrations
Titre | Fig. 1 – Perugia, S. Pietro: the apse with choir stalls and main altar |
---|---|
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-1.JPG |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,3M |
Titre | Fig. 2 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-2.JPG |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 3,6M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 3 – Perugia, S. Pietro: Guido di Francesco’s signature on the lateral choir screen |
Légende | Photo: M. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-3.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 1,5M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 4 – Perugia, S. Pietro |
Légende | Photo: M. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-4.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,6M |
Titre | Fig. 5 – Perugia, S. Pietro: apse and choir stalls towards north-east |
Légende | Photo: M. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-5.JPG |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,9M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 6 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls with central door in the apse |
Légende | Photo: M. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-6.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,1M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 7 – Perugia, S. Pietro: the door at the centre of the apse |
Légende | Photo: M. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-7.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,1M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 8 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls towards south-east |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-8.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,2M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 9 – Perugia, S. Pietro: reconstruction of the position of Perugino’s altarpiece (1567-1642/1751) |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-9.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 1,9M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 10 – Perugia, S. Pietro: nave towards west with the former choir screen at the inner west wall |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-10.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,3M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 11 – Venice, S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-11.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 1,6M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 12 – Perugia, S. Pietro: reconstruction of the sanctuary in 1537 with choir-screen topped by the crucifix |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-12.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,5M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 13 – Perugia, S. Pietro: the crucifix once on the choir-screen, now in the nave |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-13.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 3,8M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 14 – Perugia, S. Pietro: detail of the celebrant benches |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-14.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 4,2M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 15 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls, knob figures of the lower forma in the inner north-eastern corner |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-15.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 1,8M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 16 – Perugia, S. Pietro: choir stalls, knob figures of the lower forma in the outer south-eastern corner |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-16.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 1,8M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 17 – Perugia, S. Pietro: northern celebrant benches next to the pulpit |
Légende | Photo: M.G. Gromotka |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-17.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 2,1M |
![]() | |
Titre | Fig. 18 – Reconstruction of the successive states of S. Pietro in Perugia’s furniture |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-18.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 407k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-19.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 410k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-20.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 476k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-21.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 489k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-22.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 438k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-23.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 436k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-24.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 514k |
![]() | |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/efr/docannexe/image/26295/img-25.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 497k |
© Publications de l’École française de Rome, 2022