Churches Of Rome

In this gorgeously illustrated book, the renowned Latinist Pierre Grimal examines the multitude of churches in pontifical Rome, rediscovering through them not only the traces of nascent Christianity but also the spirit of the ancient Imperial city. Early Christians viewed the "church" as the assembly of the faithful, the "dome" as their home, and the "basilica" as the palace of the Lord. Such associations inspired Rome's first tolerated Christians when they began to build sacred edifices and establish their various functions. Under Constantine (AD 288-337), great basilicas, such as San Clemente and San Giovanni in Laterano, were erected to provide meeting places for the faithful. More modest churches with circular plans, among them Santo Stefano Rotondo and Santa Costanza, both dedicated to a single martyr, offered intimate sanctuaries for prayer and meditation, sheltered by tall, luminous domes symbolizing the vault of Heaven. Churches built after the Council of Trent served a different purpose, designed as they were for preaching, for bold proclamations of triumphant Catholicism everywhere in the world. Taken together, the churches of Rome reveal the evoking variations upon a basic architectural typology, while also allowing a dramatic summary of the history of Christianity, with its upheavals, schisms, and spiritual developments, all manifestations of an ongoing review and renewal of the dialogue with the Divine.