The Intersection of Sculpture, Scripture and Salvation at the Romanesque Cathedral in Sovana, Italy

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to shed light on the study of Romanesque art in Italy with a investigation of the cathedral in Sovana, an historically significant but understudied Romanesque church located in southern Tuscany. This dissertation presents the first effort to analyze the iconographic program of the portal and the interior historiated capitals as they relate to the political and religious context of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Sovana has close ties to one of the most interesting figures in the Middle Ages--Hildebrand, who became Pope Gregory the VII and was likely born there circa 1020. During his pontificate (r. 1073-1083), Gregory excommunicated Henry IV in a dispute commonly known as the Investiture Controversy, which stemmed from earlier reform initiatives. Also embroiled in this conflict was Matilda, Countess of Tuscany (ca. 1046-1115), who supported the papal party, even willing her extensive landholdings to the Roman Church. After Gregory's death, Matilda continued to rally papal advocates to her court providing asylum to several religious figures pursued by imperial allies. While under Matilda's protection, many of these theologians scripted letters and treatises which not only supported the primacy of the Roman Church in the reform movement, but also became some of the founding literary sources used to garner support for the Crusades. In an examination of the relationship between the textual sources of these polemic writers and the visual imagery of the cathedral, Sovana proves an excellent example of the complex interplay of art, politics and religion that existed in the twelfth century. Imagery at the cathedral resonated on a number of levels: supporting papal power; encouraging the Crusades; and ultimately conveying a message of salvation.