Castelseprio (archaeological park)
Castelseprio was the site of a Roman fort in antiquity, and a significant Lombard town in the early Middle Ages, before being destroyed and abandoned in 1287.
The fame of Castelseprio lies in the Early Medieval frescoes contained in the apse of the small Church of Santa Maria foris portas, which were only rediscovered in 1944.
In 2011, the church - and the castrum with the Torba Tower - became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.).
During the early Middle Ages, the Lombards occupied the Roman fort, turning it into a fortified citadel or small town.
The whole area is now an archaeological zone containing the remains of the walls and of the much larger three-aisled 5th-century Basilica of San Giovanni Evangelista.
It is thought by some scholars, including Leveto, that two different hands can be detected, but the origins of these artists are uncertain and subject to speculation.
John Beckwith is somewhat less enthusiastic than some art historians, describing the frescos as "wholly competent" and worthy of comparison with 7th century works in Rome[2] He believed the "drapery folds ... a complex series of angular ridges emphasized by highlights ... make a decidedly metallic impression, and betray the copyist, who foreshadows in a disturbing way tenth-century mannerisms".
The lowest register has a decorative frieze below which there are a few remains in the centre showing painted curtain railings and religious symbols.
Upper register of narratives: Then, on the curved wall of the apse, reading left to right: Middle Register On the curved wall, reading from right to left : Fragmentary remains of two frescoes which may have been: On the two inner faces of the apsidal arch : Chronological sequence The alternative chronological sequences of the ten narrative scenes would run as follows: In the Marian version the three missing scenes come at the start of the story, rather than the end.
However, the rough finish on the interior stonework leads many scholars to believe that the frescoes were added as part of the original building programme.
A "terminus ante quem" was provided by the discovery of graffiti scratched into the fresco plaster recording a number of clerical appointments, the earliest of which is dated (by the name of the presiding Archbishop of Milan) to 948 at the latest.
Many art historians have pointed to a relationship between the frescoes and two closely related manuscripts, namely the Joshua Roll (Vatican Library, Ms palatine gr.
The art historians Kurt Weitzmann and Meyer Schapiro agreed that the artistic quality of the frescoes is superior to that of either manuscript.
Kurt Weitzmann preferred a date shortly before 945, and postulated a connection with a marriage between a Lombard princess and a Byzantine prince, which took place in 944.
Almost every aspect of the frescoes, from the clothing to the treatment of the nimbus or halo around the infant Christ, has been analysed and compared to other works in great detail.
