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| giovedì 11 marzo 2010 | LA BASILICA | IL CONVENTO | SANT'AGOSTINO | LA COMUNITA' AGOSTINIANA |
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| giovedì 11 marzo 2010 | LA BASILICA | IL CONVENTO | SANT'AGOSTINO | LA COMUNITA' AGOSTINIANA |
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The
earliest news that we have of this Basilica dates to the year 604 AD. The
building is not the original one. It follows another that was in early-Christian
style, with simple columns and a wooden ceiling. The current Basilica, in
Romanic-Lombard form, dates to the twelfth century. It was consecrated by Pope
Innocent II in 1132. It inherited the name of “ciel d’oro” (golden sky) because
the wooden ceiling of the early-Christian church was decorated with
golden-coloured paint. It is mentioned by Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio. 
It
is in grey sandstone and brickwork, with two sloping sides and is divided into
three parts by impressive uneven buttresses that preserve traces of an arcade.
This was probably done to imitate that of the early basilica that had liturgical
functions. The arcade, somewhat to the right of the facade, is in sandstone and
is surmounted by a bas-relief that shows an angel and two people praying. The
upper part, animated in the centre by two orders of openings, is crowned by a
small unusable loggia and by a motif of entwined arches. 
It
has three naves, divided by three rows of five pilasters in sandstone with
sculptured decorations on the capitals. The difference in level with respect to
the exterior can perhaps be explained by the builders’ intention to preserve the
new construction at the same level as the previous basilica. Very little remains
of the numerous works of art that once decorated the interior. At the end of the
right nave, recently refurbished, the floor of the apse shows the remains of a
mosaic of the twelfth century In the left nave, which is still the original
construction, there are traces of frescoes from various periods. In the first
span the walls are decorated with fifteenth century frescoes of the Lombard
school. The second and third spans have interesting frescoes of the sixteenth
century. The majestic vault of the central nave was rebuilt in 1487 by the
architect Giacomo Da Candia of Pavia. 
Portal
Lingiardi Organ - 1913. 
Silver
casket containing the urn of St Augustine (8th century). 
The
presbytery is dominated by the marble Ark of St Augustine, raised on a crypt.
This is a masterpiece of Lombard sculpture of the fourteenth century. Decorated
with 95 statues and 50 bas-reliefs, the work was commissioned by Bonifacio
Bottigella, Prior of the Augustinians, then Bishop of Lodi and a native of
Pavia. It is a small encyclopaedic illustration of the faith of the theological,
cardinal and monastic virtues. Some episodes of the life of St Augustine, the
Great Doctor of the Church, are also portrayed: his conversion, his baptism
administered by St Ambrose, the miracles after his death -430 AD - and the
transfer of his relics to Pavia. Behind the Ark, in the floor, is a portion of
octagonal mosaic from the ancient Cathedral of Hippo, of which Augustine was
bishop from 395 to 430 AD. The fresco that covers the vault of the apse dates to
1900. On a background of false golden mosaic the figure of the Re deemer seated
on his throne dominates. He is flanked by St Peter Apostle and by St Augustine
with his mother St Monica. 
Detail
of the right side of the Ark: Transfer of the relics of St Augustine to Pavia
Urn of
St Augustine. 
Ark of
St Augustine (14th century). 
Supported
by 24 columns, it was rebuilt at the end of the last century on existing remains.
Here the body of Severino Boezio lies enclosed in an elegant sarcophagus of
Ravenna-Byzantine style. The soul of this great consul, senator, philosopher,
victim in the year 525 of the cruelty of the Arian king Theodoric, is
contemplated by Dante in the tenth canto of “il Paradiso”. One’s curiosity is
aroused in the crypt by the existence of a well, of remote and mysterious origin.
Simple believers, emperors and kings drank here, considering it a holy spring.
To the right of the crypt, in the pedestal that supports the great pilaster,
lies the body of Liutprando, king of the Longobards. He was rendered for ever
meritorious for the splendour that he assured this Basilica by transferring from
Sardinia, in 724, Augustine’s holy relics, redeemed for their weight in gold
from the Saracens. These relics, discovered in the crypt in 1695, now lie in a
Silver urn, at the foot of the marble Ark. 
Tomb of
king Liutprando. 
The
sacristy is an impressive structure, in Renaissance style. With a ribbed vault,
it is rich in “grotesque” decorations, attributed to the second half of the
sixteenth century. The seventeenth century canvas portraying St Augustine
conversing with St Jerome is of considerable importance. The two marble altars
are by the sculptor Giovanni Scapolla, native of Pavia. One is dedicated to St
Rita and dates to 1940. The other, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, is of 1963.
Recalled after a century of absence, since 1900 the Augustinian Fathers live
beside the Basilica which they officiate watching over and honouring the bones
of their great Founder. 
G. B.
Tassinari (1599): St Augustine and St Jerome. 
