Magellan Project 2019

Regardless of any religious significance, the Vatican Museum is arguably the second greatest museum in the Western world, second only to the Louvre. Studying the Vatican museum for religious context, the Vatican museum reflects the popes' desire to show their wealth, power, and influence to the world. For example, the ceiling of one room in the museum has a depiction glorifying the then reigning pope, Pius VI, alongside Roman emperors. Another example is the hall of tapestries,  which depicts the life of Christ on the left side, and on the other side, a tapestry woven in the 17th Century depicting the life of Pope Urban VIII, designed to glorify his reign.

St. Peter's Basilica is by far the largest, and most extravagant, place of worship built during the Renaissance. I am referring to St. Peter's in the Vatican, because as I quickly learned in Rome, there are a plethora of churches called St Peter's. Initially meant to be a restoration of an early Christian church, Pope Nicholas V began it's restoration in the 15th Century. However, in the 16th Century, Pope Julius II decided to stop restoration and instead build a new church entirely. Famous Renaissance artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo worked on the building. The building is in the shape of a Latin cross to maintain the shape of the original building. After 120 years and many popes later, the new Basilica of St. Peter was consecrated in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. Highlights of this building include the papal altar, which stands above the tomb of St. Peter, consistent with the original building. The old basilica was used as the official cemetery for popes. This func...

San Pietro in Montorio is a church built during the early Renaissance near what was once believed to be where St. Peter was martyred, although the current St Peter's Basilica location is more likely to be the site. The church was built with the intention of glorifying this sacred spot. An underlying theme in Renaissance works was the desire of the popes to "outdo" both their ancient Roman predecessors and each other through the construction of religious art and architecture. San Pietro in Montorio is an early example of this, and although the church is beautiful and more elaborate than early Christian places of worship, it is not nearly as extravagant compared to later Renaissance projects, such as the current St. Peter's Basilica.

For the final phase of my project, I explored places of worship built primarily during the Renaissance. Generally speaking, the places of worship were substantially more lavish than the places I had studied thus far. So many of the places I studied had some connections to the Renaissance, but highlights included San Pietro in Montorio, St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museum, and St. Mary Major.

Although the catacombs were not originally pagan places of worship which later adopted Christian significance, I would like to include them, because they are places with Christian significance which were influenced by the ancient Romans. Contrary to popular belief, the catacombs were not early Christian places of worship used during periods of persecution. However, the catacombs still reveal significant context behind early Christianity. The first catacombs were not constructed until the 2nd Century, because that is when Christianity grew large enough to require its own cemetery. Unlike pagan burial sites, called a necropolis, or "city of the dead," the Christian word "cemetery" refers to sleep, reflecting the Christian belief in the afterlife and Christ's second coming, contrasting with pagan views on death. The catacombs are located outside the city, because Roman laws forbade people from being buried within city walls. The location of the catacombs outside th...

The Colosseum was unfortunately not particularly well-preserved after the fall of the Roman Empire, as valuable materials were stolen. However, Christians eventually took an interest in the Flavian Amphitheater. Use of the Colosseum by religious bodies began in 1309, during the Popes' period of residence at Avignon. The use of the space by Christians continued in 1490 under Pope Innocent VIII, who authorized the Passion of the Christ to be performed on Good Friday. In 1519, at the area where these performances occurred, a chapel was built dedicated to S. Maria della Pieta, which is still in use today. The idea of consecrating the Colosseum spread during the second half of the 16th Century, influenced by the Counter-Reformation. During the 17th Century, the Colosseum was believed to be a place of martyrdom, although little evidence supports that belief. Nevertheless, Clement X dedicated the monument to the Passion of the Christ and the Martyrs. Today, the Pope still stops in front o...

Although initially abandoned under the first Christian emperors, the Pantheon was later converted to a Christian place of worship by popes, and mass is still held at the Pantheon today. The Romans originally dedicated the Pantheon to all the gods to emphasize unity, and Christians maintained that same theme. Now, the Pantheon is instead designed to unite all believers of the Christian faith. The Pantheon is now dedicated to martyrs to emphasize the collective nature of the building and the Christian faith. All references to ancient gods were removed, the side altars and the main altar were added, and the original bronze was removed to construct the altar at St. Peter's. Pictured below is the altar added by Christians inside the Pantheon.

The next phase of my project focuses on pagan art and architecture which eventually adopted Christian significance. Rome has an abundance of sites to study, but some examples include the Pantheon (this time from a Christian, not pagan, perspective), column of Marcus Aurelius, Trajan's column, the Colosseum, the catacombs, and the Basilica de San Clemente.

Visiting the best preserved Roman monument, the Pantheon, was amazing experience. Meaning "of all the gods," the circular structure of the Pantheon represents the Roman Empire's religious tolerance--a temple devoted to all the gods. Gods of territories conquered by Rome were often incorporated into the Pantheon. Statues to the planetary gods were originally in the Pantheon, although all traces of pagan gods were later removed by popes. The Pantheon was also originally higher up, as visitors had to climb stairs to enter. A perfectly proportioned building, the Pantheon was originally designed to lift the spirits of the visitors and emphasize the heavens, revealing the sophisticated and religiously tolerant nature of the Roman Empire.

There was an abundance of temple ruins in the Roman Forum, but I chose to highlight the Temple of Saturn ruins for two different reasons. Firstly, the Temple of Saturn is one of the best preserved temples in the forum, although unfortunately there is so little left of the temples in the forum that even this temple is not well preserved. The second reason is that the festival of Saturn, occurring during December, heavily influenced the celebration of Christmas once Rome converted to Christianity. The temple itself is located on a high podium, closer to the sun, continuing the pattern seen in other pagan ruins. The temple once contained a statue of Saturn, connected to agriculture, which was the original source of Rome's wealth. As a result, the temple was chosen to house the State Treasury. The temple has been rebuilt several times throughout Rome's history.

I absolutely loved the Museo Dell'Ara Pacis! The Ara Pacis is a great Altar of Peace made between 13 and 9 BCE in order to commemorate the return Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Consequently, the altar is decorated with reliefs that celebrate the longevity and splendor of Rome, including a depiction of the goddess Rome herself. The altar is open to the sun, a common theme in pre-Christian religious architecture. The altar also serves to honor the Roman gods in an effort by Augustus to maintain the gods' favor. The altar also serves to mark Augustus as part god to further his reputation among the people of Rome.

There was so much pre-Christian religious art and architecture to see in Rome! Highlights included the Ara Pacis, Roman Forum ruins, ruins under the Basilica de San Clemente, and the Pantheon. I was even able to take a day trip to Pompeii to study the ruins there. Even with three weeks in Rome, there were still so many more examples of ancient religious art and architecture that I unfortunately did not have enough time to see.

The Magellan Project is essentially an independent, self-designed research project in a location of a student's choice.  Last summer, I spent three weeks studying economic development in post-Katrina New Orleans. This summer, I will be pursuing a topic that I am very interested in, but does not pertain directly to my major or minor. I will be studying religious architecture from a secular perspective; specifically, I will be studying how places of worship grew out of the context in which they were created. I will be examining how religious art and architecture reflects the political, social, and religious climate of its time, instead of focusing on specific art and architectural techniques used. I will be studying pre-Christian places of worship, pagan places of worship which later adopted Christian significance, and Renaissance places of worship. I will be paying particularly close attention to how these places of worship influenced one another. I am excited to see what I discover...

My name is Katherine (Kat) Starr, and I am a rising senior at Washington and Jefferson College. I am an economics major and a psychology minor. Other than academics, I am very involved on campus. I participate heavily in the Student Theater Company and community service opportunities. Among other activities, I am also a member of Jaybirds, and I was a LINK mentor and Matthew Brown Fellow for two years. I have always dreamed about going to Rome, so I am very excited to branch out of economics and psychology to spend three weeks studying religious architecture in the eternal city before I graduate in December!