Prayers and Protection: The Tower at Torba Reconsidered

Name: Prayers and Protection: The Tower at Torba Reconsidered
Brand: Vita e Pensiero
Price: 6.00 EUR
Availability: OnlineOnly

digital

Articolo

Rivista

ARTE LOMBARDA

Fascicolo

ARTE LOMBARDA - 2018 - 1-2

Titolo

Prayers and Protection: The Tower at Torba Reconsidered

Autore

Martin F. Lešák

Editore

Vita e Pensiero

Formato

Articolo |

Pdf

Pagine

Online da

11-2018

Doi

10.26350/666112_000008

Issn

0004-3443 (stampa) | 2785-1117 (digitale)

€ 6,00

Ebook in formato Pdf leggibile su questi device:

Computer
con Software:
- Adobe PDF Reader
Android
iPhone/Ipad
con App:
- Adobe PDF Reader
E-Book Reader
Ibs Tolino
Kobo

Descrizione

This article attempts to introduce a reconsideration regarding the murals at the tower at Torba. Firstly, it focus on its relatively scarce historiography, which can be explained by referring to the tower’s arduous history and its position within the context of the castrum’s rediscovery. By describing the iconography and layers of painted plaster within two decorated floors, one can discover that both chambers were originally painted in a single decorative campaign. Regarding the date of the murals, it is necessary to expand beyond the generic visual affinity between the illumination of a musician from the codex of Institutiones of Cassiodorus (Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine, 660), and the murals. This interconnection is used to further the murals’ dating around the year 800. Finally, the choice to reuse the military structure in a new sacral context was deeply linked with the belief in the intercessory power of saints and their ability to protect the tower against corporeal as well as spiritual danger. This broadens our understanding of the wall paintings’ raison d’être and their function.