Spolia

Spolia

Spolia (Latin, 'spoils') is a modern art-historical term used to describe the re-use of earlier building material or decorative sculpture on new monuments. The practice was common in late antiquity (for example, the Arch of Janus, the earlier imperial reliefs on the Arch of Constantine, the colonnade of Old Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome); in Byzantium (for example, the exterior sculpture on the Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos in Athens); in the medieval West (for example, the re-use of Roman tiles in St Albans Cathedral, the porphyry columns in the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, and the colonnade of the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere); and in the medieval Islamic world (for example, the columns in the hypostyle mosques of Kairouan and Cordoba). Although the modern literature on spolia is primarily concerned with these and other medieval examples, the practice is common and there is probably no period of art history in which evidence for "spoliation" could not be found.

Interpretations of spolia generally alternate between the "ideological" and the "pragmatic." Ideological readings might describe the re-use of art and architectural elements from former empires or dynasties as triumphant (that is, literally as the display of "spoils" or "booty" of the conquered) or as revivalist (proclaiming the renovation of past imperial glories). Pragmatic readings emphasize the utility of re-used materials: if there is a good supply of old marble columns available, for example, there is no need to produce new ones. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, and there is certainly no one approach that can account for all instances of spoliation, as each instance must be evaluated within its particular historical context.

ee also

*Crisis of the 3rd Century
*Roman Empire#Tetrarchy (285–324) and Constantine the Great (324-337)
*Dominate
*Palimpsest, the practice of erasing old texts from scarce old vellum to write new text.
*Diocletian's Palace, a Roman Imperial palace in Split, re-purposed by later inhabitants as a town.

Bibliography

There is a large modern literature on spolia, and the following list makes no claim to be comprehensive.

*J. Alchermes, "Spolia in Roman Cities of the Late Empire: Legislative Rationales and Architectural Reuse," "Dumbarton Oaks Papers" 48 (1994), 167-78.

*S. Bassett, "The urban image of late antique Constantinople" (Cambridge, 2004).

*L. Bosman, "The power of tradition: Spolia in the architecture of St. Peter's in the Vatican" (Hilversum, 2004).

*B. Brenk, "Spolia from Constantine to Charlemagne: Aesthetics versus Ideology," "Dumbarton Oaks Papers" 41 (1987), 103-09.

*B. Brenk, "Sugers Spolien," "Arte Medievale" 1 (1983), 101-107.

*R. Brilliant, "I piedistalli del giardino di Boboli: spolia in se, spolia in re," "Prospettiva" 31 (1982), 2-17.

*C. Bruzelius, "Columpnas marmoreas et lapides antiquarum ecclesiarum: The Use of Spolia in the Churches of Charles II of Anjou," in "Arte d'Occidente: temi e metodi. Studi in onore di Angiola Maria Romanini" (Rome, 1999), 187-95.

*F.W. Deichmann, "Die Spolien in der spätantike Architektur" (Munich, 1975).

*J. Elsner, "From the Culture of Spolia to the Cult of Relics: The Arch of Constantine and the Genesis of Late Antique Forms," "Papers of the British School at Rome" 68 (2000), 149-84.

*A. Esch, "Spolien: Zum Wiederverwendung antike Baustücke und Skulpturen in mittelalterlichen Italien," "Archiv für Kunstgeschichte" 51 (1969), 2-64.

*F.B. Flood, "The Medieval Trophy as an Art Historical Trope: Coptic and Byzantine 'Altars' in Islamic Contexts," "Muqarnas" 18 (2001).

*M. Greenhalgh, "The Survival of Roman Antiquities in the Middle Ages" (London, 1989). ( [http://rubens.anu.edu.au/new/books_and_papers/survival.publish/ Available online] , provided by author)

*M. Greenhalgh, "Spolia in fortifications: Turkey, Syria and North Africa," in "Ideologie e pratiche del reimpiego nell'alto medioevo" (Settimane di Studi del Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo 46), (Spoleto, 1999). ( [http://rubens.anu.edu.au/new/books_and_papers/spoleto.paper/spoleto.rtf Available online] , provided by author)

*M. Fabricius Hansen, "The eloquence of appropriation: prolegomena to an understanding of spolia in early Christian Rome" (Rome, 2003).

*D. Kinney, "Spolia from the Baths of Caracalla in Sta. Maria in Trastevere," "Art Bulletin" 68 (1986), 379-97.

*D. Kinney, "Rape or Restitution of the Past? Interpreting Spolia," in S.C. Scott, ed., "The Art of Interpreting" (University Park, 1995), 52-67.

*D. Kinney, "Making Mute Stones Speak: Reading Columns in S. Nicola in Carcere and S. Maria Antiqua," in C.L. Striker, ed., "Architectural Studies in Memory of Richard Krautheimer" (Mainz, 1996), 83-86.

*D. Kinney, "Spolia. Damnatio and renovatio memoriae," "Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome" 42 (1997), 117-148.

*D. Kinney, "Roman Architectural Spolia," "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society" 145 (2001), 138-161.

*D. Kinney, "Spolia," in W. Tronzo, ed., "St. Peter's in the Vatican" (Cambridge, 2005), 16-47.

*D. Kinney, "The concept of Spolia," in C. Rudolph, ed., "A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe" (Oxford, 2006), 233-52.

*L. de Lachenal, "Spolia: uso e rempiego dell'antico dal III al XIV secolo" (Milan, 1995).

*P. Liverani, "Reimpiego senza ideologia: la lettura antica degli spolia dall’arco di Costantino all’età carolingia," "Römische Mitteilungen" 111 (2004), 383-434.

*C. Mango, "Ancient Spolia in the Great Palace of Constantinople," in "Byzantine East, Latin West. Art Historical Studies in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann" (Princeton, 1995), 645-57.

*H.-R. Meier, "Vom Siegeszeichen zum Lüftungsschacht: Spolien als Erinnerungsträger in der Architektur," in: Hans-Rudolf Meier und Marion Wohlleben (eds.), "Bauten und Orte als Träger von Erinnerung: Die Erinnerungsdebatte und die Denkmalpflege" (Zürich: Institut für Denkmalpflege der ETH Zürich, 2000), 87–98. ( [http://www.arch.tu-dresden.de/ibad/Masterstudiengang/Veroeffentlichungen/download/Bauten_u_Orte_als_Erinnerungstraeger.pdf pdf] )

*R. Müller, "Spolien und Trophäen im mittelalterlichen Genua: sic hostes Ianua frangit" (Weimar, 2002).

*J. Poeschke and H. Brandenburg, eds., "Antike Spolien in der Architektur des Mittelalters und der Renaissance" (Munich, 1996).

*H. Saradi, "The Use of Spolia in Byzantine Monuments: the Archaeological and Literary Evidence," "International Journal of the Classical Tradition" 3 (1997), 395-423.

*Annette Schäfer, "Spolien: Untersuchungen zur Übertragung von Bauteilen und ihr politischer Symbolgehalt am Beispiel von St-Denis, Aachen und Magdeburg" (M.A. thesis, Bamberg, 1999).

*S. Settis, “Continuità, distanza, conoscenza: tre usi dell’antico,” in S. Settis, ed., "Memoria dell’antico nell’arte italiana" (Torino, 1985), III.373-486.

*B. Ward-Perkins, "From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages: Urban Public Building in Northern and Central Italy A.D. 300-850" (Oxford, 1984).


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  • spolia — SPOLIÁ, spoliéz, vb. I. tranz. (livr.) A lua cuiva (în mod abuziv sau prin înşelăciune) averea sau, p. ext., a lipsi pe cineva de drepturi, de libertăţi etc.; a prăda, a jefui. [pr.: li a] – Din fr. spolier. Trimis de LauraGellner, 25.07.2004.… …   Dicționar Român

  • Spolĭa — (lat., Mehrzahl von Spolium), 1) Beutestücke, bes. erbeutete Waffen u. Kleidung. S. opīma, die Beute, bes. die Rüstung, welche der Feldherr dem besiegten feindlichen Feldherrn abgenommen hatte, s.u. Beute; 2) die sonst in den Kirchen aufgehängten …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • spolia — index spoils Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • Spolia — Détail de l arc de Constantin, montrant des remplois de monuments antérieurs, depuis l époque de Trajan …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Spolia (disambiguation) — Spolia (spoils) is a Latin word that occurs in the following contexts:*Spoils of victory, especially **Spolia opima, arms captured from the enemy commander *Spolia, building rubble re used …   Wikipedia

  • Spolia opima — es un término latino que se podría traducir como ricos espolios o trofeos y que hace referencia a la armadura, armas y otros efectos que un general de la antigua Roma se quedaba como trofeo de guerra tras haber vencido al general enemigo en un… …   Wikipedia Español

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  • Spolia opima — See Spolia for Roman reuse of building rubble, and Spolia (disambiguation) for other meanings Spolia opima (or rich spoils/trophies ) refers to the armor, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general had stripped from the body of an… …   Wikipedia

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