Aracoeli

ARACOELI. - In the oldest recension of the Mirabilia urbis Romae (about the middle of the 12th century) the name of A. occurs for the first time, designating the church dedicated to the Virgin on the Capitoline.

There the well-known legend of Augustus, who erected an altar to the Son of God on the famous hill of Rome, is reproduced. The legend is already found inserted in the Universal Chronicle of John Malalas (6th century), who cites the source from which he drew, namely the Byzantine chronographer Timothy, of the end of the 5th century or the beginning of the 6th. Probably originally one, the legend later had two versions: one more widespread in the East, the other in the West. The latter rests more resolutely on the concept of Paulus Orosius (Adversus paganos histor., VI, 22), that, Christ having been born when the whole world was at peace, Augustus did not permit himself to be called lord, because the Lord of the world had been born among men. The former seems to reflect another concept no less important and more spontaneous among the Christians of that time: that, Christ having been born or being about to be born, the false oracles fell silent (Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior).

The Eastern and older version already appears in Malalas, and in Rome, during the 8th century, it also had a Latin redaction (cod. Vat. Pal. lat. 277, f. 63) where S. Maria in A. is mentioned for the first time. The Western version appears for the first time in the Mirabilia urbis Romae; we find it, however, in the artistic composition of an altar still preserved in the church, which may go back to the time of the antipope Anacletus II (1130-37). The legend sheds some light on the origins of the church, and allows us to think that already at the time of the chronographer Timothy, that is, at the end of the 5th century or the beginning of the 6th, on the Capitoline rock, the Christian sanctuary of the Virgin could have succeeded the pagan temple of Juno. Of what dimensions it was cannot be known, nor is it possible to determine its orientation. The name of S. Maria in A. was preceded by that of S. Maria in or de Capitolio. Among the numerous theories that have claimed to explain the origin of the name A., that of Ch. Huelsen, that it comes from the inscription of the altar of the Augustan legend, is the simplest and also the most probable, nor can it be accused of anachronism if one accepts the chronology we have proposed for the said altar. Very soon next to the church a monastery for its custody must have arisen.

The presence of the Benedictines in the said monastery is proved for the year 883 (Cod. Sessor. 217 [2116], f. 19), but the inscription of a hegumen, found during the excavation works for the monument to Victor Emmanuel II (Notizie degli scavi, 1892, p. 407 ff.), has suggested that a century earlier Greek monks lived there. From the Benedictine period there still remain in the church the image of the Madonna on panel (11th century) and the altar of the Augustan legend.

In 1250 the Benedictines were succeeded by the Friars Minor, to whom the general appearance of the present basilica with three naves is due. It presents all the characteristics of Franciscan architecture, which adapts itself to local tastes and shuns every preconceived style. Thus the beautiful pointed bifora windows of the sides and the oculi of the facade and the transept came to be inserted upon the traditional forms of the Roman basilica, while the interior walls offered vast pictorial fields: it will suffice to recall the frescoes of Pietro Cavallini, reproducing the Augustan legend, which adorned the apse deplorably demolished in 1564 to make room for the present choir. The bare facade, in its facing of reddish brick, only imperfectly corresponds to the interior of the basilica, since the terminal shell is higher than the gable of the roof and the two lateral slopes are much above the naves. The central nave is covered by the splendid ceiling with exuberant gold carving (1571), and the chapels of the side naves, built and restored at different times, enclose works of no common artistic value, e.g. the chapel of St. Bernardino of Siena frescoed by Pinturicchio. In a chapel adjoining the sacristy is preserved the precious image of the Holy Child so venerated in Rome and in the world. The church is reached by a flight of 124 steps, built in 1348.

Even today, as in the Middle Ages, the A. is the church of the municipality of Rome. The historic Franciscan convent, until 1886 the seat of the Minister General of the Order, has almost completely disappeared to make room for Sacconi's monument to Victor Emmanuel II. The friars Minor of the Roman province remain as guardians of the sanctuary. - See Pl. CXXVII.

Benedetto Pesci