Antonio Barluzzi: Gaudí Of The Holy Land

Antonio Barluzzi: Gaudí Of The Holy Land
Antonio Barluzzi: Gaudí Of The Holy Land

Video: Antonio Barluzzi: Gaudí Of The Holy Land

Video: Antonio Barluzzi: Gaudí Of The Holy Land
Video: Наследие человечества. Антонио Гауди 2024, March
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With the story of HSE lecturer Lev Maciel Sanchez about the architect Antonio Barluzzi, who in the first half of the 20th century built churches on the sites of evangelical events, we continue the joint project of Archi.ru and directions "History of Art" of the Faculty of History of the Higher School of Economics ". ***

Antoni Gaudi's work is usually considered unique against the backdrop of contemporary architecture. And almost no one remembers the master who is close to him both in spirit and in creative approaches, his namesake Antonio Barluzzi.

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Antonio Barluzzi

Photo: Bonio, Wikimedia commons

He was a generation younger than Gaudi and was influenced by his work, he was also a zealous Catholic (he was even going to take the priesthood with the Franciscan order) and combined religious symbolism, historical memory and hand-made materials in his buildings. As an Italian, he created all his famous works in the Holy Land. His work fell on the first half of the twentieth century, a period of change, when in 1917 Palestine passed from the Ottoman Empire to the British, and in 1948 the State of Israel was formed. The era of British rule is the heyday of local modernism, the most striking monument of which is Tel Aviv. Barluzzi, on the other hand, was not the builder of the new, but the continuer - and renewer - of tradition. Prior to World War I, Jerusalem was a kind of architectural battlefield for the great powers, primarily Germany, France and Russia, each of which actively sought to prove their superiority with large-scale church projects. After the death of empires in the world war, church architecture ceased to be a political instrument, and here the work of Antonio Barluzia came in handy, for whom the Christian sense of the temple is more relevant than historical reminiscences and political representation. Of course, for this purpose there is no better land in the world than the Holy One. Barluzzi wrote that since each temple stands here on the site of a specific event in the life of Christ, then the architectural image should embody the religious experience caused by this event. He became one of the few in the history of architecture who set himself such a task and knew how to solve it.

Antonio Barluzzi (1884-1960) was born in Rome, his mother came from the famous dynasty of architects Buziri-Vici. In 1912, he first came to Jerusalem, where he helped his brother Giulio in the work on the complex of the Italian hospital in Jerusalem. In 1914 he had to leave for Rome, but in 1917 he returned, entering Jerusalem along with the Allied troops. Soon the head of the local Franciscans, Ferdinando Diotallevi, commissioned him to work on two projects at once - the temples in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem and on Mount Tabor - which became the most important in his work.

The Temple of the Suffering of Christ in Gethsemane (1919-1924) became the most famous building of Barluzzi. It is better known as the Church of All Nations, because it was built with funds from Catholics from a number of countries in Europe and America. In memory of Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his arrest, it is darkened with stained glass and decorated with images of olive trees. On the pediment is a large mosaic "Christ as a mediator between God and man" (Giulio Bargellini), explaining the meaning of the sacrifice of Christ. The main altar with a stone is highlighted with a light accent, on which, according to legend, Christ prayed that night.

The church is built on the foundations of an early Christian basilica and follows its plan; the floor includes fragments of ancient mosaics, and the vaults are decorated with new mosaics, but made in the early Christian spirit. The space of the temple looks vast and solid thanks to the numerous domed vaults - ancient basilicas never overlapped - and thin columns of reddish polished stone. From the outside, the temple seems to me less fortunate. It has a deep portico, is squat, stretched in length and devoid of any vertical accents. The decor is expressively enlarged: groups of Corinthian columns in the portico and statues of evangelists with open gospels, tongs on the side facades, acroteria. The temple is faced with light natural stone, which effectively distinguishes it against the background of the dark greenery of the slope of the Mount of Olives.

Портик церкви Всех наций. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Портик церкви Всех наций. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Портик церкви Всех наций. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Портик церкви Всех наций. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Церковь Всех наций. Вид сбоку. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Церковь Всех наций. Вид сбоку. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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The most successful building of Barluzzi is the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (1921-1924). Like most of the architect's buildings, it was erected on the ruins of an ancient building, in this case - a church from the era of the Crusaders; her throne and the foundations of the apse are preserved in the crypt of the church. Actually, this throne is located exactly in the place where Christ stood at the moment of the Transfiguration, when he revealed his divine essence to his disciples. Above, in the main apse, is the Transfiguration mosaic, on which the sun's rays fall on August 6, reflected from a mirror specially placed on the floor. The prophets Elijah and Moses, who stood on either side of it, are dedicated to special chapels in the towers of the church.

Фасад базилики на Фаворе. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Фасад базилики на Фаворе. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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In this case, for his temple, Barluzzi came up with a specific and very original historical image - the Syrian basilica of the late 5th century in Tourmanin, whose appearance was widely known thanks to the reconstruction of the French archaeologist Viscount de Vogue. It had a two-towered facade, extremely rare for early Christian architecture, with a deep arched loggia between the towers. Quite accurately repeating the shape of the towers, Barluzzi inscribed the arch in a decorative gable. Like Vogue, Barluzzi has authentic forms of Syrian architecture - a solid array of masonry walls, from which all the shapes are cut out, very wide arches of the interior, a continuous frieze flowing around all windows on three sides - are combined with some rather invented details, for example, completions towers in the spirit of European neo-Greek style. The interior is also effectively solved, where the place of the Transfiguration is highlighted by a large open crypt, which is rarely found only in Romanesque architecture.

Базилика на Фаворе, деталь. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, деталь. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Базилика на Фаворе, деталь. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, деталь. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Базилика на Фаворе, деталь. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, деталь. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Базилика на Фаворе, интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Базилика на Фаворе, интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Базилика на Фаворе, открытая крипта. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, открытая крипта. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Базилика на Фаворе, интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Базилика на Фаворе, интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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The last major building of Barluzzi was the temple in the suburb of Jerusalem, Ain-Kareme, which was again ordered by the Franciscans. The work was carried out in 1938-1955 with a break for the forced departure of Barlutia during the Second World War. The temple on the picturesque wooded slope of the mountain is dedicated to the Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth - an evangelical event when Mary went to her also pregnant cousin Elizabeth. “When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice, and said: blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And where did it come from for me that the Mother of my Lord came to me? " In response, Mary uttered the doxology "My soul magnifies the Lord …", known in Western Christian tradition from the first Latin word as Magnificat. Ceramic tablets with this prayer in more than 40 languages are placed in the temple. In the grotto of the lower church, already built by the time Barluzzi took to work, there is a well with a source, according to legend, clogged at the time of the meeting.

Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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The architectural appearance of the temple is modest. It bears a distant resemblance to the medieval basilicas of Rome and, perhaps, huge brick Gothic temples, but in general it lacks vivid reminiscences. Like many church buildings in Jerusalem, it is faced with light stone and equipped with a high pointed bell tower. In its bright hall interior, the mood of joyful lightness and even childish naivety is emphasized, there are many early Christian associations in the decoration.

Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Таблички с молитвой. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Таблички с молитвой. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Интерьер нижней церкви в Айн-Кареме (не связан с А. Барлуцци). Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Интерьер нижней церкви в Айн-Кареме (не связан с А. Барлуцци). Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Интерьер верхней церкви в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Интерьер верхней церкви в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Интерьер верхней церкви в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Интерьер верхней церкви в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Интерьер верхней церкви в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Интерьер верхней церкви в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Церковь в Айн-Кареме. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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In the last years of work on the church in Ain Karem, Barluzzi created two more small buildings.

The first was the temple of angels in the so-called field of the Shepherds in Beit Sahur near Bethlehem (1953-1954). According to the Gospel story, the angels were the first to inform the shepherds of the nearby flocks about the Nativity of Christ, and they came to worship the Child. A small temple from the outside is likened to a Bedouin tent, its dome is transparent and supported by posts thin as ropes. The images in the niches are dedicated to the main plots of the event: the appearance of angels, the worship of the Child and the return of the shepherds to their sheep.

Храм ангелов на поле Пастушков в Бейт-Сахуре. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Храм ангелов на поле Пастушков в Бейт-Сахуре. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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Храм ангелов на поле Пастушков в Бейт-Сахуре. Интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
Храм ангелов на поле Пастушков в Бейт-Сахуре. Интерьер. Фотография Л. К. Масиеля Санчеса
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The second - the famous Church of Dominus Flevit (that is, "The Lord wept") in Jerusalem (1954-1955) - became the last notable Catholic building in the city. It is placed at the place where, according to legend, Jesus stopped when entering Jerusalem. Looking around the city, he wept and predicted imminent ruin for him. Barluzzi likened the entire temple to a tear, covering it with a high, streamlined dome. At the corners of the roof, he placed vessels resembling those in which ancient mourners collected tears. The altar of the temple is facing not to the east, but to the west, since there is a beautiful view of Jerusalem from there - the method of connecting the inner space with the outer one, applied by Barluzzi also in the crypt of the church on Mount Tabor.

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Ever since leaving for Italy during the war, Barluzzi has worked on megaprojects. He proposed to rebuild the main shrine of the Christian world, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, demolishing part of the buildings of the old city and equipping the huge temple with spiral domes and bell towers, reminiscent of either minarets or the towers of Gaudí's Sagrada Familia. He spent almost 15 years on projects for a new Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which was supposed to resemble the Parisian Sacre Coeur. But as a result, in 1958, preference was given to another, fundamentally more modern project, which was built (1960-1969, Giovanni Muzio). The air was already permeated with the spirit of renewal (there were 4 years left before the Second Vatican Cathedral), and no one needed eclectic architecture loaded with historical allusions. This was a shock for Barluzzi, he left for Rome, where he soon died.

Antonia Barluzzi is probably not a great, but a deep and talented master. His touching religiosity and attention to detail allowed him to be more successful than others in translating the ideals of Franciscan monasticism into modern language. His original work was the last striking phenomenon in the Christian architecture of the Holy Land.

project Archi.ru and the direction "History of Arts" Faculty of History of the Higher School of Economics

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