Maria Assunta

Name of structure: Maria Assunta
Extended name of structure:
Type of structure: Church
Country or main area: Italy
Region within country or main area: Veneto
City or area within region: Torcello
Date of structure: 639, 11C, 12C
Century of structure 1: 7 AD
Century of structure 2: 12 AD
Specific place of mosaic: Apse; triumphal arch; chapel of St. Sacramento; west wall.
Fragments in museums:
Memorial Art Gallery at Rochester University: head of angel (19C fake).
New York (private collection. Formerly in Talygarn in Wales): head of Apostle in (genuine).
Museo Provinciale, Torcello: group of the Righteous; head of angel.
Louvre, Paris: head of angel.
Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres: head of angel (probably from Maria Assunta).
Brief descriptive contents of mosaic:

Apse: Virgin and Child, Apostles, inscription.
Triumphal Arch: scene of the Annunciation, inscription.
Chapel: apse vault: lamb, angels, globes, fauna, flora; apse: Christ enthroned, archangels; saints.
West wall: scene of the Last Judgement in 6 registers of scenes: 1. Crucifixion; 2. Anastaseis; 3. Second coming (Christ in Majesty); 4. Beasts and fishes give up their human prey; 5. Michael weighs the souls; 6. Virgin comforts the children, Peter guards the Gates of Paradise and tortures of the damned. Lunette above door: Virgin.
Date of mosaic: 11th C
Century of mosaic 1: 11 AD
Century of mosaic 2: 11 AD
Silver tessera at site: Yes
Gold tessera at site: Yes
Colour tessera at site: Yes
Were other materials found at site (i.e., glass cakes)? No.
Has analysis been done? Yes
Samples taken from where? West Wall: c. 800 glass and stone tesserae removed in 1979-1980 (most are kept at Soprintendenza ai Beni Ambientali e Architettonici in Venice, some in Torcello's Museo Provenziale). South chapel: Samples removed during restoration late 20C (coloured and gold foil) (see Finelli et al, 2007)
Excavation and restoration campaigns:

1753-59: Team led by G. F. Bonazza & P. Monaco
1852-56: team led by G. Moro
1872-73: team led by A. Salviati & co.
1896-97, 1919-23, 1975,
1977-84: team led by G. Cucco & G. Calcagno
Bibliography of mainly technical resources:

Andreescu-Treadgold, I. & Henderson, J, 'How does the glass of the wall mosaics at Torcello contribute to the study of trade in the 11th century?' in Byzantine Trade, 4th-12th Centuries: the Archaeology of Local, Regional and International Exchange, ed by M. Mundell-Mango (Oxford: Ashgate, 2009), 393-417.


Finelli, F., Verità, M., & Zecchin, S., 'Stato di conservazione e cause di alterazione delle tessere vitree del mosaico della Cappella del SS. Sacramento nella Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta a Torcello', in Atti del XII Colloquio dell'Associazione Italiana per lo Studio e la Conservazione del Mosaico (Padova, 14-17 febbraio 2006) (Tivoli: Edizioni Scripta Manent, 2007), 45-54.


Andreescu-Treadgold, I. & Henderson, J. with Roe, M., 'Glass from the mosaics on the west wall of Torcello's basilica', Arte medievale 5/2 (2006), 87-141.


Andreescu-Treadgold, I., 'Il Corpus dei mosaici parietali nella zona nord adriatica e la campionatura delle tessere vitree della parete ovest a S. Maria Assunta di Torcello (Vol 2): gli altri registri', in Atti del 10. colloquio dell'Associazione Italiana per lo studio e la conservazione del mosaico (AISCOM) (Lecce, 18-21 Febbrario 2004) (Ravenna: Edizioni del Girasole, 2005), 617-36.


Atti del 9. colloquio dell'Associazione italiana per lo studio e la conservazione del mosaico (AISCOM) 2003 (Aosta, 20–22 febbraio 2003), ed by C. Angelelli (Ravenna: Edizioni del Girasole, 2004):
-Andreescu-Treadgold, I., 'Il Corpus dei mosaici parietali nella zona nord adriatica e la campionatura delle tessere vitree del 3. registro della parete ovest a S. Maria Assunta di Torcello', 175-90.
-Henderson, J., 'The chemical analysis of glass tesserae from the third register of the West Wall of the Church at Torcello', 665-75.


Brill, R., Chemical Analysis of Early Glasses, 2 vols, (New York: Corning Museum of Glass, 1999), IX J, nos 2850-2860.


Andreescu-Treadgold, I., 'The real and the fake: two mosaic heads from Venice in American collections', Studi Veneziani 36 (1998), 279-300.


Andreescu, I., 'Torcello IV. Cappella sud, mosaici: cronologia relativa, cronologia assoluta e analisi delle paste vitree' in 3. colloquio internazionale sul mosaico antico (Ravenna, 6 - 10 settembre 1980) (Ravenna: Edizioni del Girasole, 1984), 535-51.


Andreescu Treadgold, I. 'Problems of the wall mosaics in Torcello and their documentation', in Mosaics n. 3: Conservation in situ (Aquileia 1983) (Roma: ICCROM, 1985), 257-77.


Hreglich, S. & Verità, M., ‘Studio alla microsonda a raggi X di alcune tessere di mosaico vetroso della Basilica di Torcello’, in III° Colloquio Internazionale sul Mosaico Antico (Ravenna, 6-10 setttembre 1980),ed by R. F. Campanati (Ravenna: Edizioni del Girasole, 1983), 553-54.


Andreescu, I., 'Torcello, III: La Chronologie delative des mosaïques pariétales', DOP 30 (1976), 245-341.


Andreescu, I., 'Torcello, I: le Christ inconnu; II Anastasis et jugement dernier: Têtes vraies, têtes fausses', DOP 26 (1972), 183-223.


 
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