Dominicans and Franciscans in Medieval Rome: History, Architecture, and Art by Joan Barclay Lloyd (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Dominicans and Franciscans in Medieval Rome: History, Architecture, and Art by Joan Barclay Lloyd
• Judith Collard

Barclay Lloyd, Joan, Dominicans and Franciscans in Medieval Rome: History, Architecture, and Art (Medieval Monastic Studies, 6), Turnhout, Brepols, 2022; cloth; pp. 460; 159 b/w illustrations, 10 colour plates; R.R.P. €110.00; ISBN: 9782503578835.

This is a richly illustrated, substantial volume that records and maps various medieval ecclesiastical structures found in Rome. In this book, Dr Joan Barclay Lloyd examines the seven buildings associated with the two preaching orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, in the medieval period. Her last chapter is on Catherine of Siena, who is buried at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, one of the churches covered in this survey.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part discusses four early Dominican and Franciscan foundations in Rome—the Dominican nunnery at San Sisto (now San Sisto Vecchio), founded c. 1218–21; the Dominican priory at Santa Sabina, founded c. 1220–22; the Franciscan church and friary of San Francesco a Ripa, founded in 1229; and the Franciscan nunnery of Santi Cosma e Damiano (San Cosimato), founded in 1234. The second covers the next wave of foundations. These are the Friars Minor at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, founded between 1248 and 1252; the Friars Preachers at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, founded between 1266 and 1276; and the Franciscan nunnery at San Silvestro in Capite, founded in 1285. The final chapter focuses on medieval Dominican penitents from about 1286, particularly Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), who was canonised in 1461 and listed as a Doctor of the Church. Catherine was a lay member of the Dominican Order; a ‘mantellata’, as Dominican penitents were referred to in Siena. She travelled frequently for her public ministry and was one [End Page 212] of the great mystics of the late Middle Ages. She came to Rome in November 1378 and died there in April 1380.

Each set of buildings is dealt with systematically in individual chapters. Barclay Lloyd takes care to locate each in the topography of Rome, and the history of each site is given, often tracing their origins to earlier ecclesiastical foundations. For example, Santa Sabina is identified as being founded in the early Christian period. The building’s adaptations by the Dominicans and the Franciscans are recorded, as is their usage. Indeed, alterations to these buildings that continued into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are also recorded. As part of Barclay Lloyd’s project is to analyse and reconstruct the medieval elements, this tracking of their later evolution provides her with much useful data, as the medieval elements were often obscured by such changes.

Plans and maps are an important part of this study, and used extensively throughout, providing fascinating insights. Both historical and recent examples are used in the book, including those survey drawings produced by the author with the aid of architect Jeremy M. Blake. Archaeological examination and the careful study of masonry and other remains extend this further. For example, when examining the fabric of Santa Maria in Arcoeli, Barclay Lloyd can demonstrate that the evidence provided by Marten van Heemskerk’s sixteenth-century drawing that the church originally had pointed clerestory windows is correct. There is, however, no evidence for the eight windows he drew, rather than the existing six. Fragmentary remains of the clerestory windows with their Gothic tracery can still be seen on the exterior. The architectural plans, showing not only ground plans but also elevations of both the churches and friaries, reveal just how complicated these plots were. At Santa Sabina, for example, remains of a Roman road and other ancient building works were found under the convent buildings, while a third-century mosaic was found below the first two bays in the nave.

While buildings are the focus of this study, Barclay Lloyd also gives examples of the medieval works of art contained within them that are still accessible or that are recorded in written sources. Ten plates reproduce several icons, mosaics, and frescoes originally found in these churches, including Margaritone of Arezzo’s fine painting of Saint Francis of Assisi and a Byzantine icon of the Mandylion from the...