Rosone

ROSONE. - A circular window decorated with tracery, generally situated on the facade of churches.

The use of strongly splayed circular openings, called "oculi", in the sides and the apse of churches is already noted in the Carolingian era; but only at the beginning of the 12th century were they adopted in the facades of northern Italy together with large two-light or single-light windows, so that their importance proves secondary, both in compositional terms and in those of illumination (S. Michele Maggiore, S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia, the cathedral of Chieri). In the second half of the same century the type of rose window with a radial arrangement of small columns begins to take shape, of which the first example is perhaps that of S. Maria Maggiore in Assisi, whose frame bears the date 1162, slightly earlier than those of the Cistercian churches (Fossanova, Casamari, Valvisciolo, Chiaravalle della Colomba), in which the rose window constitutes one of the characteristic elements of the facade. This type continues at the beginning of the 13th century, sometimes inserted in the lunette of the portal (lower basilica of S. Francesco in Assisi) or linked structurally and decoratively with the large window (abbey church of S. Martino al Cimino), and preserves its original form with a simple ring of small columns. In the Apulian cathedrals the dimensions increase considerably, while in the decoration the motif of interwoven small arches (Troia, Altamura) or trefoil arches (Ruvo) is introduced, and likewise the frames become richer through the addition of decorative elements (cathedral of Bari). Sometimes the rose window is contained within a large relieving arch with the archivolts exposed, so that it combines the decorative function with the structural one as well (cathedral of Bovino and of Troia); a system of undoubted French derivation.

But already in the first half of the century, especially in the churches, even the primitive form becomes more complex; the number of rings of small columns increases, often twisted, and the decorative motifs become more complicated, such as recurring circles and polylobes, while on the outside the symbols of the Evangelists are placed to form a framing (upper basilica of S. Francesco in Assisi, S. Pietro and S. Maria Maggiore of Tuscania, cathedrals of Assisi, of Foligno and of Spoleto). Likewise in churches with several portals it is frequent to surmount each of them with a rose window, usually with the central one of larger dimensions and placed higher (S. Pietro of Assisi, cathedrals of Assisi and of Foligno, already mentioned, of S. Miniato, of Volterra and of Todi); characteristic is the cathedral of Spoleto, in whose facade, at the sides of the main rose window, two smaller ones open, and three others along the slopes of the pediment. This element also spreads in northern Italy, not only in the Cistercian churches (S. Andrea of Vercelli), but also in the others, reaching large dimensions, but always with a simple ring of small columns (cathedral of Modena, cathedral and S. Antonino of Piacenza), sometimes paired in certain Veronese churches (S. Fermo Maggiore, S. Zeno). Also characteristic is the superimposition of rose windows on the same vertical line in the facade (S. Paolo of Pistoia) and their adoption also in the apses and in the transept (S. Andrea of Vercelli, cathedral of Piacenza). This diffusion and this increase in dimensions are influenced by the general tendency of Gothic architecture to increase the glazed surfaces in order to reduce the masonry of the walls to the load-bearing skeleton alone. This happens particularly in France, where the rose window then acquires the value of a dominant element in the architectural organism of the facade: cathedral of Poitiers, of Carcassonne, of Chartres, of St-Remy, of Amiens, of Orléans and Notre-Dame of Paris.

The 14th century generally continues the forms and arrangements of the preceding century, with greater elegance in the almost carved tracery and favoring the polylobed small arches characteristic of Flamboyant Gothic. Thus in S. Maria di Collemaggio at L'Aquila and in the cathedral of Cremona the three rose windows appear in the facade, with the central one richer in multiple rings in the first church, and with a simple ring in the second; in the cathedrals of Lanciano and of Bitetto the rose window is inserted in a large arch with strongly projecting frames and supported by pillars. Singular is the arrangement of the cathedral of Teramo, in which the rose window is inserted in the gable of the portal. A particular arrangement of certain Umbrian and Tuscan churches (S. Caterina of Pisa, cathedrals of Orvieto and of Carrara) is that of the rose window inscribed in a square decorated with panels and with figures of saints or symbols in full relief at the corners, an arrangement which, except for this last motif, is also found in the Collegiate church of Monza.

In the 15th century the use of the rose window becomes more sporadic in Italy, persisting especially in Abruzzo, where the Gothic tradition survives longer (S. Maria Assunta of Assergi, S. Maria della Tomba at Sulmona, S. Lucia at Magliano dei Marsi), while it is by now almost exceptional in the other regions (S. Luca of Cremona, Colleoni chapel of Bergamo); it then disappears almost totally in the second half of the century with the decisive prevalence of Renaissance forms, which replace it with a simple eye with a frame. Perhaps the latest expression is found in S. Maria dei Miracoli in Venice (1483), where the motif of the inner circle and of the two interwoven crosses denotes a calmer rhythm in comparison with the swirling Gothic decorativism.

One may recall as entirely exceptional the Palazzo comunale of Piacenza, perhaps a unique example of the adoption of the rose window in civil architecture. - See pl. LXXXIV.

Mario Zocca