TheSancta Sanctorum(Italian:Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum) is aRoman Catholicchapel entered via theScala Sancta(Holy Staircase) of theLateran PalaceinRome.It was the original private chapel of the papacy before it moved toAvignon,and later to theVatican Palace.The chapel is the only building from the old Lateran Palace that was not destroyed during its reconstruction.
Name
editThe chapel acquired theSancta Sanctorumsometime in the ninth century.[1]The spelling isSancta,the neuter plural form of the Latin adjective "holy": this is a reference to the multiple relics preserved there (i.e. "the holy things" ) and to theHoly of Holiesin Jerusalem, traditionally called in Latin bothsanctum sanctorum(the singular form) orsancta sanctorum.
History
editThe founder of the chapel is unknown. It was originally dedicated toSaint Lawrence,and served as the pope's private oratory until the Renaissance. It is located at the top of theScala Sancta,( "Holy Stairs" ). The first mention of the chapel is found in theLiber Pontificalis,during the tenure ofPope Stephen III(Pope from 768 to 772). The antiquarianMarangonialong withOnofrio Panvinioquote documents that cite the acquisition in 583 by Pope Gregory of relics from Constantinople, including an arm of St. Lawrence, that were housed in the church of St. Lawrence in Lateran palace.[2]
It formed part of theLateran Palace,headquarters of the public offices of the papal court throughout the Middle Ages.Gregory IV(Pope from 827 to 844) had a private apartment built near the chapel to allow him to pray there.[1]LaterPope Alexander IIIis mentioned as presiding here over the ceremony of the washing of the feet. It later became part of the Palace and Holy Steps complex commissioned bySixtus Vin 1586.[3][4]
Artwork
edit
The chapel is relatively small and rectangular, with a nave seven meters long and an apse nearly 6 meters wide. rectangular apse measuring 2.73 by 5.85 metres.
The main altar contains a cypress wood reliquary box, placed under the altar byPope Leo III(Pope from 795 to 816).[5][6][7]It supposedly houses the bones of at least 13 saints (whereof the chapel derives the name "holy of holies" ). The reliquary box itself is taken to represent theArk of the CovenantinSolomon's Temple.
Over the course of time, other relics were added, including the cloisonné enameled cross commissioned byPaschal I(Pope from 817 to 824).[3]
Theopus sectilefloor dates from 1278. This style of intarsiated pavement was created in the 12th century bythe Cosmati familyof stonecutters and widely copied throughout Rome in the 13th century.
The chapel also houses theUronicaorAcheiropoieta LateraneseiconofChrist Pantocrator,known as theVeronica,that was supposedly begun bySaint Lukeand finished as anacheiropoieta(which translates to "images not made by human hands" ) since finished by anangel.[8][9]Otheracheiropoietainclude the image of Christ’s face that miraculously imprinted itself on thesudariumof Veronica.[10]
References
edit- ^ab"The Sancta Sanctorum", Scala Santa di Roma
- ^Istoria dell'antichissimo oratorio, o Capella di San Lorenzo nel patriarchio lateranense, comunemente appellato Sancta Sanctorum, e della celebre immagine del SS. Salvatore detta Acheropita, che ivi conservasi,by Giovanni Marangoni, Stamperia San Michele, Rome, 1747.
- ^ab"New Display of Sacred Objects from the Sancta Sanctorum", Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, September 1, 2015
- ^Leonardo Mazzucconi,Memorie storiche della Scala Santa e dell'insigne santuario di Sancta Sanctorum,Ferretti, 1840
- ^Giovanni Diacono,De Ecclesia lateranensi,ed. J. Mabillon, Museum Italicum seu collectio veterum scriptorum ex bibliothecis italicis eruti, 2 vols, Paris, 1724.
- ^Il tesoro della cappella Sancta Sanctorum,Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1941
- ^Salomoni Generoso,Memorie sacre della cappella di Sancta Sanctorum e della scala del palazzo di Pilato detta volgarmente la Scala Santa,Roma 1775
- ^Sancta sanctorum. Ediz. illustrata,Electa, 1995
- ^Paolo Mencacci,Alcune memorie sull'immagine Acheropita del SS. Salvatore di Sancta Sanctorum,Monaldi, 1863
- ^Belting, Hans (1990).Bild und Kult: eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst.München: C. H. Beck. pp. passim.ISBN9783406343674.