La Mostra The patriarchal Basilicas Saint Paul Outside the Walls
The look of St. Paul's outside the walls before the fire of 1823
More than 130 m long, over 60 m wide and featuring five naves, the Basilica of Saint Paul was the biggest Roman basilica built under Constantine. It retained this layout until its reconstruction in the nineteenth century, after it was destroyed by fire in 1823. The seventeenth century engraving by Giacomo Lauro shows the outside of the Basilica with the wide quadriporticus in front of the fore façade.
Giacomo Lauro, Ecclesia S. Pauli in via Ostiensi, in: Id., Antiquae Urbis splendor...,Roma 1612
Interior of the Basilica of St. Paul's outside the walls
Interno della Basilica di S. Paolo. Intérieur de la Basilique de S.t Paul, in: Carlo Fea, Angelo Bonelli, Descrizione di Roma antica e moderna e i suoi contorni..., vol. II, Roma 1834
St. Paul's outside the walls
Ridolfino Venuti, Accurata e succinta descrizione topografica e istorica di Roma moderna..., vol. II, Roma 1766
Rites of opening and closing of the Holy door of St. Paul's for the Jubilee of 1675
Claude Boizot, Ad astra reclusa ostendit per mella viam, in: Casimir Freschot, Series eorum quae in aperitione et obseratione portae sanctae Basilicae divi Pauli ab... Francisco cardinali Barberino... ritu sacro peracta sunt anno iubilaei M.DC.LXXV..., Roma 1676
Map of the Basilica of St. Paul's on via Ostiense in 1815 before the fire: at n. 10 the Holy Door
Number 10 means the Holy Door.
Andrea Alippi (draw.), Pietro Ruga (engr.), Pianta della Basilica di S. Paolo sulla via Ostiense, in: Nicola Maria Nicolai, Della Basilica di S. Paolo..., Roma 1815
View of the Basilica of St. Paul's on via Ostiense in 1815, before the fire
Andrea Alippi (draw.), Pietro Ruga (engr.), Prospetto della Basilica di S. Paolo sulla via Ostiense, in: Nicola Maria Nicolai, Della Basilica di S. Paolo..., Roma 1815
The fire of the Basilica of St. Paul's in the night between 15 and 16 July 1823
On the night of 15 July 1823, in consequence of an accident during the works of reinforcement of the roof, St. Paul's basilica was damaged by a violent fire which destroyed it in large part.
Edoardo Matania, L'incendio della Basilica di San Paolo, in: Francesco Bertolini, Storia del Risorgimento italiano, Milano 1889
News of the fire of the basilica of St. Paul's from Roman newspaper "Diario di Roma"
The terrible fire that broke out on the roof of St Paul’s Basilica on the night of 15 July 1823 was major news in journals and newspapers of the day. The first paper to cover the event, which was subsequently picked up by foreign papers, was the Diario di Roma, known commonly as Chracas, after the name of the family that printed it. The Chracas’ family paper first appeared in 1716 for the specific purpose of providing news on the Hungarian War (Diario d’Ungheria). It changed its name a number of times over the years (Diario ordinario, Diario di Roma), as well as its format (pocket-sized, a limited number of pages, and many pages); it also altered its stance as it passed through the hands of various family members. Well into the 1800s, it published brief and extended news coverage of major political, religious and military events in Italy and abroad, serving as an incredibly valuable source of news.
Diario di Roma, n. 56, 16 July 1823
Report on the fire in the Basilica of St. Paul's in the Diario di Roma of 26 July 1823
Ten days after the fire that broke out on the roof of the Basilica of San Paolo on the night of 15/16 July 1823, the Diario di Roma newspaper offered a detailed reconstruction of how the fire had started and the damage caused.
Relazione esatta e veridica delle circostanze che precedettero il fatale incendio della Basilica di S. Paolo fuori le mura, con alcune notizie intorno alla sua fondazione e ai danni che ora ha sofferti, in: Diario di Roma, n. 59, 26 July 1823
Stendhal witness of the devastation of St. Paul's after the fire
On 4 July 1828, on a trip to Rome Stendhal wrote a description of the Basilica and the tragic spectacle he had witnessed a few years earlier when, visiting it the day after the fire, he had the “impression... of severe beauty as sad as the music of Mozart”.
Stendhal (Henry Beyle), Passeggiate romane, vol. II, Firenze 1956
The tabernacle or ciborium of St. Paul's by Arnolfo di Cambio
The only things to be saved from the great conflagration were Arnolfo di Cambio’s 1285 ciborium, and part of the great bronze door made in Constantinople in the eleventh century, which had served as the central entrance into the Basilica.
Luigi Moreschi, Descrizione del tabernacolo che orna la confessione della Basilica di San Paolo sulla via Ostiense salvato dall’incendio dell’anno 1823 e riposto sopra la confessione medesima per decreto dellla santità di nostro signore Gregorio XVI..., Roma 1840
The tabernacle or ciborium of St. Paul's by Arnolfo di Cambio
The only things to be saved from the great conflagration were Arnolfo di Cambio’s 1285 ciborium, and part of the great bronze door made in Constantinople in the eleventh century, which had served as the central entrance into the Basilica.
Filippo Trojani, [Prospetto della confessione nella Basilica di S. Paolo], in: Prospetto, spaccato e dettagli della confessione nella Basilica di S. Paolo, Roma 1838
The bronze door
Andrea Alippi (draw.), Carlo Ruspi (draw.), Francesco Giangiacomo (inc.), Porta di bronzo disegno generale, in: Nicola Maria Nicolai, Della Basilica di S. Paolo..., Roma 1815
Bull "Ad plurimas" for the rebuilding after the fire of the Basilica of St. Paul's
Leone XII, Ad plurimas (15 January 1825), in: Enchiridion delle encicliche, vol. I, Bologna 1984
Notice of the ceremonies of reading of the Bull of indiction of the Jubilee of 1825 (Leo XII, Quod hoc ineunte saeculo, 24 May 1824), in the four patriarchal basilicas among which the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, substituted for St. Paul's
Even before this turns of events, the Basilica in Trastevere had served as a back-up to St Paul’s which, more distant from Rome’s built-up area given its location outside the walls and right by the Tiber, had been taken off the roster of compulsory pilgrim visits during the Jubilee of 1625 owing to an outbreak of plague in southern Italy; the Basilica in Trastevere also filled this function for eight days in 1700 after the Tiber burst its banks.
Diario di Roma, n. 102, 22 December 1824
Santa Maria in Trastevere
Giovanni Battista Falda (draw.), Piazza di S. M. in Trastevere ampliata da n.s. papa Alesandro [sic] VII, in: Il nuovo splendore delle fabbriche in prospettiva di Roma moderna, vol. I, Roma 1773
The Special Congregation for the rebuilding of the Basilica of St. Paul's
In order to supervise the restoration after the fire, was established by Leo XII a special Congregation for the rebuilding of St. Paul's basilica, whose secretary was abbot Angelo Uggeri. The Diario di Roma on 26 March 1825 reports the news and lists its members.
Diario di Roma, n. 24, 26 March 1825
Angelo Uggeri's stances about the rebuilding of the Basilica Ostiense
After the fire, archaeologists and architects engaged in a heated debate on how to rebuild the Basilica. Two schools of thought clashed: one was favourable to a faithful restoration of the Basilica as it had been before the fire; the other militated for a completely new design that followed a neoclassical stylistic approach.
Angelo Uggeri, Della basilica di S. Paolo sulla via Ostiense nota dell’abbate Angelo Uggeri, Roma 1823
Carlo Fea's stances about the rebuilding of the Basilica Ostiense
Carlo Fea, Aneddoti sulla Basilica Ostiense di S. Paolo riuniti nel 1823, dopo l'incendio e recitati nell'Accademia archeologica il dì 27 gennaro 1825..., Roma 1825
Stefano Piale's stances about the rebuilding of Basilica Ostiense
Stefano Piale, Esame di un qualche aneddoto sulla venerabile Basilica di S. Paolo letto nell'adunanza della Pontificia Accademia di archeologia nel dì 30 giugno 1825, Roma 1833
The dispute between Carlo Fea and a "so-called squarer" about the rebuilding of the Basilica of St. Paul's
Carlo Fea, Rivista di varie opinioni riprodotte in stampa da uno sedicente scarpellino sulle colonne da farsi nella Basilica Ostiense di S. Paolo, Roma 1826
View of the Basilica of St. Paul's after the fire, during the rebuilding works
In the foreground the medieval bell tower not yet knocked down and the façade with the mosaics by Cavallini shielded by sheets.
Antonio Nibby, Roma nell’anno MDCCCXXXVIII..., vol. III (Parte prima moderna), Roma 1839
St. Paul'soutside the walls near the Tiber
The debate on how to rebuild the Basilica of St Paul extended to whether or not to raise the level of the floor to avert flooding from the nearby Tiber, or if some other solution could be found to this problem.
Basilica e convento di S. Paolo fuori delle mura, in: Il nuovo splendore delle fabbriche in prospettiva di Roma moderna, vol. II (Il secondo libro del nuovo splendore delle chiese di Roma moderna in prospettiva), Roma 1773
Cornerstone for the building of the quadriporticus of St. Paul's
After the Basilica and altar were consecrated in 1854, reconstruction work continued at San Paolo for several decades more. Work continued on the Basilica’s interior, notably paintings for the naves, a series of mosaic medallion papal portraits, and frescoes portraying scenes from the life of St Paul. Work continued on the exterior as well, with mosaics for the new façade and construction of a quadriporticus, which began in 1890 and was completed in the 1920s.
Guglielmo Calderini, A sua eccellenza Paolo Boselli ministro della Pubblica Istruzione nella occasione del collocamento della prima pietra per la costruzione del quadriportico dinanzi la Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura di Roma 14 marzo 1890, Roma 1890
The inauguration of the quadriporticus of the Basilica of St. Paul's outside the walls
L'inaugurazione del quadriportico della Basilica di S. Paolo, in: Il messaggero, a. 50, n. 30 June 1928
Ministers Volpi and Fedele, along with abbot Schuster, inaugurate the quadriporticus built in front of the main façade of the church, 29 June 1928
Armando Bruni (fotog.), Il completamento della Basilica di San Paolo: i ministri Volpi e Fedele, accompagnati dall'abate Schuster, inaugurano il quadriportico costruito dinanzi alla facciata principale della Chiesa - 29 giugno, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LV, n. 28, 8 luglio 1928
Aerial colour view of St. Paul's outside the walls
San Paolo fuori le mura a Roma, edited by Carlo Pietrangeli, introduction by Antonio Mauro, Firenze 1988
The Byzantine door of St. Paul's restored for the Jubilee of 2000
Sergio Rinaldi Tufi, San Paolo, restaurata la porta Bizantina, in: Il Messaggero,21 December 1999