PHYSIOLOGUS. – Title of a Christian work that provides an allegorical interpretation of the facts (or supposed facts) of the lives of animals and minerals. The interpretation is attributed to a “physiologus.” It is unlikely that Tatian is the author; it is possible that the Christian interpreter was also the compiler of the pseudo-scientific information. The chapter on the elephant (ch. 43) suggests the hypothesis that the allegorical interpreter is identical with the physiologus himself.
The work polemicizes against the Jews and recommends an ascetic spirituality that is not that of the Alexandrian school but has contacts with that of Encratism. The author knows the Acts of Paul and lives in a time of persecution. Generally, the Septuagint text is used for quotations from the Old Testament, but in ch. 26, in the citation of Ezek. 29:3, another translation is employed. Whether the author transmitted Gnostic (heretical) ideas, as might be inferred from the condemnation of the book in the so-called Decretum Gelasianum, is uncertain; one might perhaps speak only of a form of pre-Gnosis, as is characteristic of Encratism. However, some relationship with the sect of the Sethians (cf. Hippol. Refut., V, 21, 7 ff.) should be considered. It is difficult to date the Physiologus. Wellmann’s date of the 4th century seems late; the 2nd century proposed by Lauchert, and partly accepted by Perry, may be too early. The place of origin is not Egypt but more probably Palestine-Syria or Mesopotamia. The book was widely circulated. To call it a popular work may be too generic, since the author shows knowledge of rhetorical art. The large number of Greek manuscripts has allowed the identification of several different recensions. Numerous also are the translations into other languages (Latin [4th century], Oriental languages). Its influence on Christian art, through the so-called bestiaries, has been considerable.
Cf. also animale, III. A. IN CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM; BESTIARI.
Piacente. (photo B. Cat.)
Piacente. (photo B. Cat.)
PIACENZA. – City situated near the hills and on the left bank of the Po; Strabo, Tacitus, Plutarch, etc., indicate it as one of the most celebrated cities in the Po valley; a city illustrious and flourishing like any other in Italy, a colony by force of arms and of immense wealth and, in the time of Octavian Augustus, the chief administrative center of the entire Cispadane region. It is said that its first inhabitants were the Ligurians, at least on the right bank of the Po, and the Taurisci, while on the left bank were the Insubrians. The Veliates were Ligurians, as is learned from the Trajanic Alimentary Tablet, now in the Museum of Parma; later came the Gauls and perhaps the Etruscans.
Following the establishment of a Latin colony in the first year of the Second Punic War, P. became an integral part of the Roman Republic, hence as a municipium, which Cicero called a municipium singularly well-deserving. In 218 B.C. the battle between Hannibal and Sempronius was fought near the Trebbia. In the division of Italy into provinces, P. belonged to that of Aemilia. During the Middle Ages it belonged to the Lombard kingdom, then to that of Italy; it governed itself as a commune and was ruled by the Pallavicini and the Landi-Scott families until it passed under the dominion of the Visconti and the Sforza; in 1512 Julius II asserted the rights that some of his predecessors had exercised there. Paul III transferred the principality to Pier Luigi (1545–47) to prevent the Spanish from taking possession of it; in 1556 Ottavio Farnese re-established the dominion of his house, which lasted until 1731, when the Bourbons took it over. After the Napoleonic storm, with Parma in 1816 it was assigned to Marie Louise, widow of Napoleon.
That the Gospel was preached in P. by St. Apollinaris, or by St. Barnabas, or by St. Nazarius, or by St. Syrus is a supposition not supported by secure attestations; a martyr St. Antoninus is mentioned by Victricius of Rouen at the end of the 4th century and then by the Hieronymian Martyrology and was confused with the Anonymous of Piacenza (cf.) of the 6th century. The first certain bishop is Sabinus, who took part in the Council of Aquileia in 381, venerated as a saint and discussed (Lanzoni, II, pp. 814 ff.). In 456 Recimer built the basilica of S. Antoninus, which was later destroyed. After Ravenna became a metropolitan see, P. was subject to it at least from 580. One of its bishops, John Philagathus, after the expulsion of Gregory V, was created pope by John Crescentius under the name of John XVI (April 997–February 998). When Paschal II removed P. from subjection to Ravenna in 1106, it was later subjected to Bologna by Gregory XIII in 1582; but Sixtus V restored its privileges. When in 1805 Napoleon declared Genoa the capital of the 28th Military Division and subjected to it the Duchy of P., Parma and Guastalla, he obtained in 1806 from Pius VII that the dioceses be subject to the Metropolitan of Genoa; but then, with the Duchy of Parma reconstituted, the duchess Marie Louise obtained by a bull of Pius VII, on 20 March 1818, that the diocese of P. be immediately subject to the Holy See, as it remains to this day.
CHURCHES AND ABBEYS. – In the territory there were the Benedictine abbeys of Mezzano Scotti and Val di Tolla, of which nothing remains; the title of the latter has been assigned since 1937 to the bishop pro tempore. The third, that of Chiaravalle della Colomba, founded in the 13th century by the Cistercians, with admirable church and cloister, was reoccupied in 1937 by the Cistercians of Casamari.
Among the most important churches are: for antiquity, S. Vittore e Antonino, a basilica built toward the end of the 4th century, rebuilt in the 9th and reconstructed in the 11th. It was formerly the first cathedral, outside the city walls, and remained so until 859, when the new one within the walls was completed, dedicated to the martyr St. Justina. It was in the form of a Greek cross, radically modified even in the 16th century; in 1350 the master Pietro Vago had added the beautiful atrium before the door of the basilica. An ancient octagonal tiburium, 40 m high with three orders of biforas, rose in its center; beneath it, on 20 April 1183, the delegates of the Lombard cities gathered to lay the foundations of the peace concluded at Constance: in it was preserved the famous Carroccio. There are paintings by Il Molinaretto, Giulio Cesare Procaccini, and il Nuvolone; the vault of the sanctuary is painted by Camillo Gavnetti, and on the side walls large canvases by Roberto da Longe depicting episodes from the martyrdom of St. Antoninus; in the chapel of the Sacrament there is a Last Supper by Bernardo Castelli, and in another a St. Opilio by Bernardo Ferrari of Piacenza. Important is the Archive for documents relating not only to the Church but also to the history of Piacenza: noteworthy are some illuminated choir books, including two splendid ones from the 15th century, works of prete Giorgio di Muzano and prete Taddeo.
The old Cathedral collapsed in the earthquake of 1117. In 1122, Bishop Aldo da Rivergaro began construction of the present magnificent Latin-cross cathedral with three naves, 72 meters long, over 61 meters wide, with a dome 38 meters high and a spire-topped bell tower 70 meters tall. The crypt remained dedicated to St. Justina, while the upper church was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Assumed. In 1608, the painters Procaccini and L. Carracci completed the choir and Sanctuary; in 1627, Guercino da Cento finished the dome, a work begun by Mazzuchelli known as il Morazzone, with the lower portion completed by the Bolognese painters Franceschini and Quaini. The Deposition of Mary and the Empty Tomb, large canvases on the choir walls, are by Gaspare Landi. Other large paintings by Carracci and Procaccini, removed to reopen the matroneum during the general restoration promoted in 1900 by Bishop Mons. G. B. Scalabrini, were placed in the hall of the Episcopal Palace. The Cathedral possesses ancient codices, numerous parchments, diplomas, privileges, and grants from kings and emperors.
Other churches: S. Francesco, beside Piazza Cavalli, is a grand Gothic-style temple with three naves, the side ones joining behind the choir. It contains a chapel of the Immaculate Conception frescoed by Malosso, the Multiplication of the Loaves by Benedetto Marini, and the Pietà by Bernardo Castelli. S. Savino, an ancient monastery of the Girolamini, is a three-naved church with a crypt, almost at the city entrance, built in 903 and rebuilt in the 15th century; it was recently restored. S. Sisto was founded in 874 by Empress Angilberga: a Latin-cross church with two domes. Among its paintings are the Massacre of the Innocents by Procaccini, the Martyrdom of St. Martin by Leandro da Ponte, the Martyrdom of St. Fabian by Paolo Farinata, St. Barbara by Jacopo Palma the Younger, and the Martyrdom of Sts. Sixtus and Lawrence by Paolo Cavagna. The central altarpiece, a highly esteemed mosaic work, depicts landscapes, castles, villas, etc. The church also houses the magnificent mausoleum of Duchess Margherita of Austria, wife of Ottavio Farnese, erected in 1617. The monastic building, once one of Italy’s most illustrious, now occupied by the military engineering corps, produced many distinguished men. The church of the Holy Sepulchre dates to the 10th century; in 1655, a Benedictine monastery with a hospital founded in 1494 was added, followed by the Olivetans who built the present Latin-cross, three-naved temple in 1513, attributed to Alessio Tramello with graceful Bramantesque moldings. Tramello also designed a corridor and two large round-arched biforas above the portico. Paintings include works by Rubini, the Cremonese Beduschi, Luca Cattapane, the Piacentine Ghittoni, and at one altar a Crucifix by Gabriele Gatti known as il Soiaro. The monastery was suppressed in 1810, and the church restored to worship in 1903. S. Maria di Campagna, also designed by Tramello, is a Greek-cross church founded in 1522. It features a St. George by il Soiaro, the Annunciation by Stern, a St. Francis by Procaccini, and a St. Augustine and St. Catherine by Pordenone. The bronze doors with arabesque and embroidery designs of excellent craftsmanship are by the Milanese Eugenio Bellagio. On this site, Pope Urban II convened the great Council on March 19, 1095. The church of S. Agostino, begun in 1570 by the Canons Regular of the Lateran, with its attached convent, was suppressed in 1798. The granite façade features niches with colossal statues of bishops and angels at the apex of the pediment. The interior is a Latin-cross church with five naves, the central one supported by 34 paired Doric granite columns. The monastery is now a barracks; the large fresco by Gian Paolo Lomazzo in the refectory was completely destroyed by aerial bombing. There is also the former church dedicated to S. Maria di Betlem of the Humiliati (1180), later granted to the Servites until 1788, then dedicated to S. Anna, and subsequently to the Carmelites; it is now a parish church.
The city boasts magnificent buildings: the Gothic Palazzo del Comune, built in 1281; the Farnese Palace of the Governor, and many others belonging to noble families. There are three principal squares: the central one called “dei Cavalli” for its two colossal bronze statues of Alessandro and Ranuccio I Farnese, works by Francesco Mochi between 1620–24; Piazza Cittadella, dominated by the magnificent Palazzo Farnese, founded by Margherita of Austria, wife of Ottavio Farnese, in 1558; and Piazza del Duomo, where the majestic Cathedral stands.
ILLUSTRIOUS PIACENTINI. — Notable in painting are: Bartolino da P., who frescoed in the 13th century in the Baptistery of Parma; Giulio Mazzoni, painter and sculptor praised by Vasari; Pier Antonio Avanzini, Felice Boselli, Gian Paolo Pannini; Carlo Maria Viganoni (1788) and Giacinto Rivoni, pupils of Giuseppe Ghirardi at the Gazzola Institute; Gaspare Landi (1756). Sculptors include: Oberto and Pietro da P., who cast the doors in 1196 for S. Giovanni in Laterano in Rome; Angelo Casalino, engraver of coins for popes and princes, and his son Pompeo for the Farnese mint; Angelo Spinazzi, an outstanding 18th-century chaser. Engravers: Antonio Burlengo, for the grand diptych table of the Cathedral (1447); Guglielmo da Saliceto, marvel of the Medici (13th century); Giulio Cassero, famous anatomist (16th century); Domenico Ferrari, physician. In law: Gian Domenico Romagnosi, jurist; in letters: Pietro Giordani, Pietro Gioia, jurist and man of letters, and Melchiorre, philosopher and statesman.
For their political influence in their times: Cardinals Pietro Diani and Jacopo Pecoraria (Cistercian); Cardinal Vincenzo Maculani, military architect and mathematician to Urban VIII, and Cardinal Giulio Alberoni; the Franciscan orator Cornelio Musso. Most illustrious of all is Tebaldo Visconti, Pope Gregory X, venerated as blessed.
Among historians: Musso and the various Ripalta, Pier Maria Campi, Fr. Stanislao Perdetti, Provost Cristoforo Poggiali, Canon Vincenzo Boselli, lawyer Antonio Domenico Rossi, Giuseppe Dal Verme, Leopoldo Cerri, etc. — See plate LXXXIV.
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