Along the western slopes of Mount Tifata, near Capua, stands the ancient basilica of Saint Angelo in Formis. The building, austere and modest in size, gracefully overlooks a terrace dominating the valley below. The sacredness of the place can be felt even before visiting the church: it is in the harmoniously ordered nature, in the silence and in the blue sky, which seems a little closer from this height. For thousands of years, people have sought an encounter with the divine at Saint Angelo in Formis, at least since the mountainside was home to a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Diana. According to tradition, it was the Longobards who first founded a Christian church on the site many centuries later. They dedicated it to the Archangel Michael, the holy commander of the heavenly hosts and their protector.
However, history has lost memory of it and the basilica visible today is the result of an 11th-century Romanesque reconstruction. Saint Angelo in Formis is the sole surviving structure of a Benedictine monastery, once one of the most powerful and influential in southern Italy. As well as the monks’ cells, the abbey’s structures included an officina monachorum, a hospital, a guesthouse for pilgrims, a sacristy, and a chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas1. The greatest wonder, which has survived to this day in an admirable state of preservation, is found inside the church. The walls were painted with extraordinary skill by talented artists who created a unique and immortal work. The frescoes at Saint Angelo in Formis constitute the finest example of Romanesque painting in this region of southern Italy. Moreover, it is one of the most beautiful in the country.
The Benedictine monastery of Saint Angelo in Formis
The earliest records of Saint Angelo in Formis date back to the 10th century. A papal bull issued by Marinus II in 943 reveals that Pietro I, the Bishop of Capua (925–938), donated the church to the Benedictine monks of Montecassino so they could look after it2. However, it was then given to a deacon of the diocese for a short time. When this period ended, the new Bishop of Capua, Sicone, refused to return it. Therefore, Pope Marinus II ordered the immediate restitution of the church to the mother house.
About a century later, in 1065, the prelate Ildebrando donated Saint Angelo in Formis to the Norman prince of Capua, Richard I, who wished to “construere et edificare coenobium” for the salvation of his soul3. The following year, the sovereign granted the monastery he had founded many privileges and concessions. Further, in February 1072 he offered it to Abbot Desiderius of Montecassino4.
The construction of the Basilica
The basilica of Saint Angelo in Formis arose in the second half of the 11th century. However, the precise timeline of these works is unclear. If the construction is attributed to Prince Richard I, it probably took place in 1065–10665, when the monastery was founded. However, there is no archaeological evidence of any construction work during those years. The only possible clue, a capital with alveolar decoration that was reused as a holy water font, could predate Richard6.
Conversely, the dedicatory inscription on the entrance portal mentions Abbot Desiderius. A depiction of the monk, holding a model of the church, is present in the apse frescoes. The square nimbus above his head indicates that he was still alive at the time of the work. If Desiderius was indeed the initiator of the reconstruction, it took place no earlier than 1072, the year in which he received the building as a gift, and no later than 1086, when he was elected pope under the name of Victor III7.
“Conscendes celum, si te cognoveris ipsum / ut Desiderius qui Sancto Flamine plenus / complendo legem Deitati condidit edem / ut capiat fructum qui finem nesciat ullum”.
“You will ascend to heaven if you know yourself, like Desiderius who, filled with the Holy Spirit, fulfilled the law and built the temple of God, so that he might reap the fruit that knows no end”.
English translation by the author
The architecture of Saint Angelo in Formis
The construction of the basilica of Saint Angelo in Formis involved the use of local grey tuff. The salient façade has three single-light windows. On the ground floor, it is introduced by a 12th-century portico, possibly built to replace an original Romanesque one. The atrium features five elegant pointed arches, with the central arch being wider and aligned with the church’s sole entrance. Granite and cipollino marble form the four columns dividing the arches, and Corinthian capitals surmount them.
The frescoes on the lunettes of the arches date back to around 1190. They illustrate the Stories of Saints Paul and Anthony8. The two lunettes above the central portal are part of the same pictorial cycle. At the bottom is a depiction of Archangel Michael in his Byzantine iconographic form, holding the labarum and globe. In contrast, the upper lunette features a painting of the Madonna wearing a diadem, in prayer, within a clipeus supported by angelic figures.
To the right of the façade stands the massive, two-level, square bell tower dating back to the second half of the 11th century. Large square blocks, reused from Roman times, compose the tower’s base. The upper level, made of terracotta, has a mullioned window on each side. The east-facing window’s column supports a capital adorned with a stunning Solomon’s knot. This symbolises the connection between the divine and earthly realms. The bell tower’s original design likely included a third level, visible in the masonry at the top. Furthermore, it is reasonable to hypothesise that the tower was originally part of a defensive system, given its imposing size. It may have been converted into a bell tower at a later date.
The church interior and the reused materials
The church has a basilica layout without a transept. It has a nave and two aisles that end in semicircular apses. Wooden trusses support the roof. Inside, two rows of seven Corinthian columns support round arches, dividing the space. Archaeological excavations have revealed that the building’s foundations follow the layout of a pre-existing pagan temple dedicated to Diana Tifatina, the goddess of the woods9. This sanctuary was in use as early as the 6th century BC, as evidenced by fragments of architectural terracotta discovered during excavations10. The Romans, who conquered Capua in 211 BC, renovated it at various times, building an important monumental complex between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC11.
It is reasonable to assume that some materials from the temple of Diana Tifatina were reused in the Medieval church. Among them are the podium and the mosaic floor, preserved mainly in the western portion. It is less certain, but still possible, that the dividing columns located between the naves of the current church, with their respective Flavian capitals12, also belonged to the same building. It is interesting to note that even the place name refers to the classical antiquities that once stood here. Medieval sources refer to the church as S. Angelo ad arcum Dianae or in formis, meaning at the arches of the Roman aqueduct that carried water from Mount Tifata to Capua13.
The frescoes of Saint Angelo in Formis
Saint Angelo in Formis is best known for the remarkable cycle of frescoes. It covers almost every wall of its interior and originally consisted of around a hundred scenes. Painted between 1070 and 1100, they represent the culmination of early Romanesque painting in Campania. The frescoes blend local artistic traditions with new styles brought to Italy by Byzantine artists who came to Montecassino from Constantinople at the invitation of Desiderius14.
The decorative cycle at Saint Angelo in Formis features a coherent and unified programme of imagery inspired by the style of early Christian Latin basilicas, with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Several artists from the same workshop in Campania worked on it. Although influenced by Greek culture, they introduced slight stylistic variations through their own temperament. The brightly coloured figures are solemn and dignified. However, the first hints of the plasticity that would characterise mature Romanesque art are already evident. Similarly, in some scenes, the subjects tend towards greater and more engaging dynamism. These details are accentuated by a pronounced chromatic contrast.
The Maiestas Domini and the archangels of the apse
In the central apse of Saint Angelo in Formis, skilled artists created a magnificent Maiestas Domini. Against a cobalt blue sky, Christ sits on a precious throne surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists — the tetramorph. The Saviour has a stern yet compassionate gaze. He makes a blessing gesture with his right hand and holds the book of the Holy Scriptures in his left, inscribed with the words, “Ego sum alfa et o(mega), prim(us) et novissimus“. Below the apse stand the winged figures of the archangels Michael, the protector of the Church; Gabriel; and Raphael. Standing at their sides are Abbot Desiderius, who has a square halo and is holding a model of the basilica, and a later depiction of Saint Benedict, which may have replaced an original portrait of Richard I in the 14th century15.
The Last Judgment on the counter-façade
Mirroring the enthroned Christ in the apse, the counter-façade features the theme of the Last Judgement, divided into overlapping bands. The upper register shows four angels playing trumpets. Arranged at the sides, they stand between the three single-light windows opening onto the façade. At the centre of the composition is Christ the Judge, surrounded by an almond-shaped frame and flanked by the apostles and figures of praying angels. Below, those awaiting judgement are welcomed by angels announcing sentences on scrolls inscribed with the words “venite benedicti patris mei“, “ite maledicti in ignem aeternum” and the apocalyptic statement “et tempus iam amplius non erit“.
Finally, on either side of the entrance portal are the blessed and the damned. In the latter scene, we see the devil himself throwing the traitor Judas, who is naked and imprisoned in chains, into the flames of hell.
The frescoes in the aisles
Along the central nave are scenes from the New Testament, enclosed in panels delimited by twisted columns of Byzantine inspiration and arranged in three registers. They include the Healing of the Blind Man, the Resurrection of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, Christ in Gethsemane, the Kiss of Judas, the Ascent to Calvary, the Crucifixion, and the Ascension. Lower down, on the spandrels of the arches, prophets and the kings David and Solomon announce the coming of Christ, seeming to observe the faithful visiting the church. Notably, a sibyl is also present.
Only a few fragments of the episodes from the Old Testament remain. These are arranged in panels on two levels and occupy the side aisles. On the right-hand wall at the back, you can admire scenes depicting Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden and of Cain and Abel. The side wall of the left aisle features scenes depicting Noah’s Ark, Noah’s Sacrifice, the Tower of Babel, and the Sacrifice of Isaac. The lower section was probably dedicated to a hagiographic cycle which is now almost unrecognisable; only the Martyrdom of Saint Pantaleon can still be identified.
Along the side aisles, between the arches, is a depiction of Saints of the Benedictine order. The right apse houses a representation of the Madonna and Child with Angels. Instead, the left apse depicts Christ flanked by Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist.
Samuele Corrente Naso
Note
- F. de’ Maffei, Sant’Angelo in Formis, I, La data del complesso monastico e il committente nell’ambito del primo romanico campano, Commentari 27, 1976. ↩︎
- M. Inguanez, Tabularium Casinense, Regesto di S. Angelo in Formis, Montecassino, 1925. ↩︎
- Ibidem ↩︎
- Chronica monasterii Casinensis, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, SS, XXXIV, 1980 ↩︎
- Ibidem note 1. ↩︎
- F. Gandolfo, Sant’Angelo in Formis e la scultura, in L. Fanti, Amusante et poétique, Roma, 2015. ↩︎
- G. Gunhouse, The Fresco Decoration of Sant’Angelo in Formis, Ann Arbor, 1991. ↩︎
- S. Tomekoviâ, Les cycles hagiographiques de Sant’Angelo in Formis: recherches de leurs modèles, Zbornik za likovne umetnosti, n.s., 24, 1988. ↩︎
- A. de Franciscis, Templum Dianae Tifatinae, in Archivio Storico di Terra di Lavoro, I, 1956. ↩︎
- S. Gigli Quilici, Tifata, Regio Dianae sacrata: appunti sull’origine e l’estensione dello spazio sacro, in M. Bonghi Jovino, F. Chiesa, Le sembianze degli dei e il linguaggio degli uomini, Milano, 2016. ↩︎
- L. Melillo Faenza, Sant’Angelo in Formis (Caserta). Tempio di Diana Tifatina, Bollettino di archeologia 22, 1993. ↩︎
- P. Pensabene, Contributo per una ricerca sul reimpiego e il “recupero” dell’Antico nel Medioevo. Il reimpiego nell’architettura normanna, in Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte, S. III, XIII, 1990. ↩︎
- G. Bova, A proposito di S. Angelo Informis, Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 1995. ↩︎
- G. de Francovich, I problemi della pittura e della scultura preromanica, in I problemi comuni dell’Europa post-carolingia, II Settimana del CISAM, Spoleto 1954, Spoleto, 1955. ↩︎
- M. Andaloro, Montecassino: memoria di una fabbrica perduta, in R. Cassanelli, Cantieri medievali, Milano, 1995. ↩︎
