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10. Basilica of St.Elias
According to tradition, there was a temple dedicated to Pico Marzio on this site; the rockfaces were sacred to Falàcro, the Etruscan god of rocks. The Roman emperor Nero seems to have erected here a temple to Diana, goddess of the hunt, (perhaps Diana Nepesina, because there is an epigraph in Nepi with the inscription: “iuvenes nepesini dianenses”).
St Benedict founded five Benedictine colonies near Rome, one of which was “in Suppentonia ad S. Eliam” (520). The name “Suppentonia” given to the Monastery is perhaps due to the slopes where it was located or the name “pentola” deriving from the Greek “five” referring precisely to the number of Benedictine monasteries.
In the 8th and 9th centuries the Monastery had a period of artistic flourishment and activity as testified by the marbles and the primitive pulpit (Gregory IV’s pulpit).
Above the crypt is the early Basilica (8th or 9th century). In the 10th century the modern Basilica and the Monastery (later destroyed by the Saracens) were built by the Abbot Elia.
Guarded by the Monks up to 1258, the Basilica acted as parish church until 1648, when a new parish church was erected.
The first monks of the Monastery, St Anastasias and S. Nonnoso, were followed by: Maiolo (the future Abbot of Cluny), Elia and Bovo.
The facade, datable to the 11th century, almost without decoration, has an architrave with two heads of rams, two deer, an eagle and two lions. On the jambs (dating to the time of the Lombards) are various figures. Above the entrance doorway an inscription recalls that Pius IX commissioned the architect Virginio Vespignani to restore the monument (1850-1856). In 1258, with a Bull of Alexander IV, the Monastery, Basilica and all their property passed to the Charter of S. Spirito in Sassia in Rome. Paul III confiscated the Monastery, Basilica and even the town of Castel S. Elia and all their properties and in 1540 transferred them together with Nepi and Ronciglione to Duke Pier Luigi Farnese of Parma. The Farnese were munificent feudal lords until 1663, when they returned everything to the Holy See.
In pure Romanic style with naves and a transept and apse, the Basilica is striking because of its clear lines. The columns are monolithic blocks with different capitals taken from ancient buildings. Some of the cosmatesque floor still remains in the central nave while it is almost completely preserved in the transept. The site of the “Schola Cantorum” is quite clear. Its enclosure was formed of finely sculptured slabs, that are now in the pulpit and under the triumphal arch.
In the left nave: fragments, pilasters, panels , sarcophaguses of the Imperial Roman age.
In the right nave: a series of frescoes of the Virgin and Saints. They are the “ex-voto” for graces received and testify the existence of the Marian devotion. Among the frescoes we see that there is a walled-up door. This used to be the entrance to the Convent.
Altar (Ciborium)
The marble canopy is supported by 4 columns in purple marble, granite and white marble between which the iron bars with rings that held the curtains can be seen.
The vase for the Eucharist, perhaps in the form of a dove, hung from the highest ring. On the tops of the columns are Corinthian capitals, each one different from the other. In the architrave is a series of 5 columns on each side which hold the tolo***: There is a cross in the front part between two mosaic gammas.
In the transept the two altars of the Protesis and the Apotesis, increased in size with rough masonry and covered with marble slabs.
Frescoes - Apse
The frescoes are signed by their authors (sec. XI): Giovanni and Stefano, brothers, Roman painters, and Nicola, Giovanni’s nephew.
The figure of Christ the Redeemer dominates the basin of the apse, with Peter and Paul at his sides, and with two Saints: on the left St Elia, a warrior who, converted, became the Abbot of the Monastery. The figure on the right is not identified (perhaps it is Eliseus).
In the second part of the apse, 12 angels (symbols of the 12 Apostles) move towards the Lamb of God, coming from the two mystic cities of the Apocalypse (Jerusalem and Bethlehem).
In the lower part is a procession of virgin-martyrs, with their crowns in their hands. The central figure is guarded by two angels of incredible beauty who here, for the first time in the West, take such an important part in a painting. The central figure (destroyed) must have been Our Lady (Toesca, Storia dell’Arte Italiana, Il Medioevo I, 925).
Transept (11th and 12th centuries)
It was entirely frescoed with visions of the Apocalypse. The left side was for the most part destroyed by the fall of a rock in 1607.
On the left side are:
the opening of the book with the seven seals,
angels that hold back the winds,
the horsemen of the Apocalypse,
the dragon that pursues the woman, dressed in sun.
The frescoes that form part of the famous painting of the Middle Ages are flanked by those of St Angelo in Formis. Far from monumental Byzantine painting, they are of a solemn concept.
The frescoes are framed by rich decorations with motifs of fruit, parrots, peacocks, leaves and pomegranates.
Virgin-martyrs
The left side of the lower apse is well preserved. Saint Virgin-Martyrs move towards the centre, dressed in rich garments and carrying their crowns in their veiled hands to Our Lady. Compared with the frescoes in S. Clemente in Rome, the decoration stylization is more strict, the linear interpretation more marked. The faces are well outlined in red and coloured in red and green gouache, with red marks on the cheeks. The enveloping drape is strongly highlighted in white, showing the increasing Byzantine influence.
The 24 clairvoyants
The fresco refers to the text of the Apocalypse 5,10: “You made a kingdom and priests for our God”. 6 clairvoyants in two processions one above the other are turned towards the centre, walking and bringing on veiled hands to the priests chalices in which they offer the prayers of the faithful to the Lamb of God. Their clothes, alternating in colours, are sacred vestments in the lengths that we find in the Museum.
a) the tunic (common garment),
b) the toga (“overgarment”),
c) a chasuble that covers the right hand and holds the chalice,
d) “the orarium” or stole.
(Cfr. W. Dettmann, Die vier Kleidungsstucke der 24 Alteste, 1968).
