From Gargan to Europe, the history of the three mountains dedicated to Saint Michael
Exhibition presented at Saint-Pierre church in Caen during the summer of 2023
catalogue of panels from the exhibition produced with the universities of Bari, Caen and Turin
MONTE GARGANO (Pouille)
In the 5th century, the cult of the Archangel took root in a grotto on Monte Gargano where, according to tradition, he appeared three times to Lorenzo, the bishop of Siponto, thus making the place sacred and attracting pilgrims from all over Italy and Europe. In the 7th century, the grotto-sanctuary attracted the attention of the Lombards of Benevento, who took control of the Gargano, placing the Sipontin diocese under their own jurisdiction and making Michael and the Gargano sanctuary their national saint. Inside, they undertook a restructuring of the site, as evidenced by around two hundred inscriptions from the 7th to 9th centuries, engraved or written on the oldest parts of the monumental complex; among these are at least five in runic characters, while others attest to the presence of Lombard, Frankish, English and Saxon pilgrims.
In the Middle Ages, the grotto represented a veritable model of Michaele's sanctuary: places of worship were built in Italy and Europe in imitation of the Gargano sanctuary, on mountain tops or on high ground, as replicas of the latter.
The Byzantines, Normans and above all the Angevins took an interest in the life of the shrine; in the 13th century, the latter gave the shrine a new configuration that is largely preserved today. A place of worship and a centre of deep spirituality, the shrine is now entrusted to the care of the fathers of the Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel.
Recently, the municipalities of Monte Sant'Angelo, Cividale del Friuli, Brescia, Castelseprio, Spoleto, Campello and Benevento, among others, and cultural institutions have obtained the inclusion of the Lombardy-Italy area on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Prof. Giorgio OTRANTO (Università degli Studi di Bari)
Grotto and high altar
Monte Sant'Angelo, Sanctuary of Saint Michael
Between the end of the 16th century and the middle of the following century, Domenico Ginnasio (1586-1607) had the floor of the grotto excavated to create a more spacious sanctuary, more suited to the solemnity of pontifical masses. During the first decades of the 17th century, the space reserved for the "rock of the sacred grotto that serves as an altar, and on which were found the traces of his footsteps, like those of a child imprinted in the snow" (Inventory of 1678) - a rock that ancient texts described as "surrounded by a small grille" (Serafmo Razzi, 1576) - was enlarged, surrounded by marble and hidden from view "by copper plates that His Eminence Cardinal Ginnasio, Archbishop of Siponto, had nailed down to prevent people from looking" (Inventory of 1678). Cardinal Ginnasio's authorisation was required for the right to look at the Altar of the Footprints through a quadrangular opening in the copper enclosure, closed by two small doors: "one made of silver plate with a Saint Michael in relief, so that the Apparition can be seen with the key, and another of wood, similarly with iron keys". The marble statue of the archangel Saint Michael, created at the beginning of the 16th century for the Altar of the Footprints, replaced older gold and silver statues commissioned by members of the royal houses of Anjou and Aragon. The looting by the French in 1799 caused incalculable damage to the basilica. Although the treasury did not regain its splendour, every effort was made to restore the furnishings of the past to the sanctuary. In 1852, it was decided to erect a new shrine on the altar of Saint Michael, and the precious metal ex-votos were sold to finance the new shrine. On completion of the work, which was carried out according to plan, the cost amounted to 25,000 ducats. The silver and crystal components of the new shrine were transported to Monte Sant'Angelo and mounted on the altar on 1 May 1854.
Saint Michael overcoming the devil, Neapolitan sculptor, early 16th century,
Monte Sant'Angelo, Sanctuary of San Michelel
Statue of the Archangel, the object of pilgrims' devotion since the 16th century and reproduced in the pilgrim souvenirs sold on Monte Gargano since that date.
The Lombard crypt, the tortuous staircase and the straight staircase (detail), 7th-8th centuries,
Monte Sant'Angelo, Sanctuary of Saint Michael
From the mid-seventh to the eighth century, the Dukes of Benevento undertook and financed major works to restructure and extend the sanctuary of Saint Michael, the memory of which is preserved in monumental and epigraphic remains. The first operation dates back to the time of Romuald I (662-687), who had a new Step built; this first led to the "Altar of the Footprints" and then diverted towards the path that joined the basylica grandis to the south. Later, the rock wall that divided the cave in two was demolished, creating a single, vast space that could be accessed via a new monumental staircase; higher than the one built by Romuald I, "it started from the old southern entrance and was flanked by two orders of arcades that gave a view of the entire cave. At the same time, thanks to two additional bays, the monumental staircase was connected to the central body of a building that had five of them, while an eighth bay on the opposite side to the staircase became the entrance to the building, giving it the appearance of a long gallery some forty metres long; it corresponds to the current Lapidary Museum.
Runic inscriptions by Anglo-Saxon pilgrims, 8th century
Monte Sant'Angelo, Sanctuary of San Michele, entrance to the Lombard Gallerye
The incessant influx of pilgrims to the grotto soon took on a European dimension. Pilgrims from France, Germany, Spain and the British Isles, on their way to Rome or the Holy Land, would stop off at Monte Gargano to venerate the Archangel, as epigraphic evidence clearly shows that the Pugliese promontory was also a stop-off point for Anglo-Saxon pilgrims.
Many visitors have left their mark on this sacred site: marks with no apparent meaning, simple crosses or names for the more cultured. Four of these inscriptions are not in Latin or Greek characters. They are runes, characters used in England from the 6th to the 9th centuries. Strictly speaking, they do not form an alphabet, at least not originally. Designed to transcribe all kinds of texts, they are not simply the Nordic equivalents of Latin or Greek letters. These signs, which consisted solely of straight, angular strokes without the slightest rounding, were suitable for engraving on stone, metal and wood, and above all had a magical and sacred meaning. Learning and using this script was originally reserved exclusively for the priestly caste. The Anglo-Saxon Catholic Church, faithful to tradition, incorporated runic writing into its cultural heritage, as demonstrated by the traces of runic characters left by Hereberehct, Leofwini, Wigfus and Herraed when they visited the Archangel's shrine.
Shields, helmets, coats of arms, human figures, hand and foot prints. Marks engraved by pilgrims on the structure of the sanctuary, 1636-1997
Monte Sant'Angelo, sanctuary of Saint Michael.
"We made our way with difficulty through the crowd of pilgrims, who stopped at every step, either to say a prayer or to carve the shape of their foot or hand on the ground or walls. I couldn't work out what this custom meant: they said they did it "out of devotion" and a young peasant offered to trace the shape of my foot, adding however that "it wouldn't have done as much good for the salvation of Madame's soul as tracing it yourself" [...]. The immense crowd kneeling above whose heads a wave of pine boughs was waving; the priests celebrating in pompous vestments, the seminarians in white surplices, and the clouds of incense rising in this semi-darkness, all looked like a dream" (J. Ross, 1888).
Reconstruction of the itinerary of the monk Bernard (867)
The Archangel, Bernard and his companions kneel before the Archangel,
Fresco, 13th century, Olevano sul Tusciano (Campania), Grotto of Saint Michael
The testimony of the monk Bernard, who stopped off at the sanctuary on his way to the Holy Land in the middle of the ninth century, is remarkable in this respect: "So it was that, leaving Rome, we reached Monte Gargano, where, under a huge rock in one piece, above which grow acorn-laden oaks, stands the church of Saint Michael which, according to tradition, as everyone knows, was consecrated by the Archangel himself. The atrium, which seats fifty people, faces north. Inside, to the east, there is a representation of the angel; to the south, there is an altar on which the Eucharistic sacrifice is celebrated and on which no other gifts may be placed. In front of the altar, however, there is a hanging vase in which votive gifts are placed, and there are other altars nearby. The abbot of this church was called Benignatus and was the superior of a large community" (Itinerarium Bernardi monachi).
Bronze doors, 1076
Monte Sant'Angelo, Sanctuary of Saint Michael
The marble portal, with its triple-splayed splay framing the bronze door leaves, opens onto an internal vestibule or atrium and today provides access to the nave, which dates back to the Angevin period. The original location of the doorway is unknown, as it was obviously modified to fit the 13th-century building. However, a number of clues, including the absence of any Angevin elements in the atrium, suggest that the atrium and entrance were part of the architectural layout of the early Norman period; the date on which the bronze doors were made (1076) and donated to the sanctuary supports this hypothesis. As an inscription attests, the two door leaves were made in Constantinople in 1076 by a nobleman from Amalfi and donated to the sanctuary. This portal belongs to a group of similar works found mainly in Lazio and Campania. The decoration in silver niello is also typical of Constantinople workshops. The panels illustrate the legend of the foundation of the sanctuary, with the three appearances of the archangel to the bishop of Siponto.
Ex-voto
Monte Sant'Angelo, Sanctuary of San Michele, Museo devozionale
The ex-votos on display at the Museo devozionale are the most immediate and explicit expression of divine intervention, with the figure of the venerated saint, the identity of the donor and the event deemed miraculous. While renowned artists were commissioned, more modest artists had the option of using backgrounds already prepared by the painter - with dark skies, stormy seas and an anonymous boat or a cart accident and a person lying in bed - to which the scene of the apparition of the saint or the Virgin was added, depending on the author of the miracle and the identity of the donor.
SACRA DI SAN MICHELE (Piedmont)
The Abbey of Saint-Michel de La Cluse was founded between 983 and 987 in the Val di Susa by a nobleman from Auvergne, Hugues de Montboissier, on Mount Pirchiriano (962 m) overlooking the Via Francigena near the old Clusae Langobardorum. There may already have been a small church built by Saint John the Confessor, a hermit who had previously lived on Mount Caprasio opposite.
The first abbot, Atvertus, was already superior of the Cluniac abbey of Lézat (Ariège). For a long time, Benedictine monks were recruited from France. From the 11th century onwards, the monks who chronicled the abbey claimed immunity from both the marquises and the bishops of Turin. Abbot Benedict II (1066-1091) was one of the best representatives of the Gregorian reform in Piedmont. In 1114, Paschal II exempted the abbey from episcopal authority.
In addition to a spiritual union with Cluny, Mont-Saint-Michel and Vézelay, the 12th century saw the creation of a very important temporal estate consisting of lands, churches and tithes spread across various European provinces.
From the 12th to the 13th century, the abbots of Saint Michael's controlled other monasteries; they became notables at the court of the princes of Savoy, enlarging and embellishing the buildings with the best architects, sculptors (Nicolao) and painters (Defendente Ferrari).
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the abbey had less international influence and was closer to the principality of Savoy. Unruly monks accumulated debts, and in 1375 Abbot Pierre de Fongeret and his monks were excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX. In 1381, the system of commendation was instituted in favour of Amédée IV of Savoy. Today, the abbey, known as "Sacra", is inhabited by a community of Rosminian fathers.
Prof. Giuseppe SERGI (Università di Torino)
Sacra di San Michele
General view
In the foreground on the left is the guest house, overlooked by the ancient monastery and the three-storey abbey church.
Chevet and entrance to the abbey
Sacra di San Michele
The entrance to the abbey is undoubtedly the most spectacular part, because of the challenge of having undertaken such an imposing construction on top of a mountain, reminiscent of the challenge taken up at Mont Tombe, in the middle of the waves. Visitors are struck by the monumental aspect of the building: the base supports the church built on top of the rock. The superimposition of levels, the quality of the construction (bonding) and the presence at the top of the apse of a Romanesque gallery of arcades (viretti in Italian) gracefully crown the whole of the construction, which appears extremely massive. The apse cornice overhangs the entrance threshold by 41 m.
Staircase of the dead
Sacra di San Michele
This monumental Romanesque construction leads to the sanctuary, from the entrance to the church. The rock faces are lined with niches which, in medieval times, housed the tombs of local personalities (abbots and benefactors of the monastery). At the top, it opens onto the Romanesque portal known as the Door of the Zodiac, a masterpiece of early twelfth-century Romanesque sculpture (circa 1120), the work of the master Niccolo, known from the cathedrals of Ferrara, Verona and Piacenza.
Saint Michael the Archangel, Antonio Maria Viani, 17th century
Sacra di San Michele
This painting was donated in 1633 by Cardinal Maurice of Savoy and was specifically intended for the high altar of the abbey.
Triptych, Defendente Ferrari, 16th century
Sacra di San Michele
In the centre, the Virgin is breast-feeding the Infant Jesus, and on either side are Saint Michael and Saint John Vincent. The latter introduces the donor, Urbain de Miolans, abbot commendatory of the Sacra from 1503 to 1522. On the predella, in the lower register, a cycle of the Infancy of Christ.
LE MONT SAINT-MICHEL (Manche)
Mont-Saint-Michel, a Benedictine abbey and impregnable fortress set on a rock overlooking the ocean, has always fascinated people. The text of the Revelatio recounts how Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, founded a church on the summit of Mont-Tombe. Consecrated on 16 October 708, it was made an abbey in 966 and enjoyed great renown in the Middle Ages. After Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela, it was one of the largest pilgrimage centres in the West. The first documented pilgrim was a Frankish monk named Bernard, who came here on pilgrimage in 867-868 after a trip to Monte Gargano, Rome and Jerusalem. With the arrival of the Benedictine monks in the 10th century and the spread of stories of miracles, the number of pilgrims increased, and it was at this time that the first mention of the Chemin Montais appeared (1025). Along with the Dukes of Normandy, many of the kings of France came to venerate the Archangel, the traditional protector of the kingdom. The texts also mention the arrival of the "pastoureaux", bands of children from France, Flanders and Germany.
Besieged in vain by the English for more than thirty years, Mont-Saint-Michel was regarded during the Hundred Years' War as the symbol of heroic national resistance. But from the mid-sixteenth century, the Mont lost its military and religious importance. In 1790, the Revolution drove out the last monks and turned it into a prison until 1863. With the return of the monks, the pilgrimage was revived. The whole site, along with the bay, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Vincent JUHEL (Association "Les Chemins du Mont-Saint-Michel")
Apparition to Saint Aubert
Cartulaire du Mont Saint-Michel, Avranches, 12th century
Location: Avranches, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 210, f° 4 v°.
Manuscript 210 is the Cartulaire written in the middle of the 12th century (around 1149-1155), under the abbatiate of Geoffroi or Robert de Torigni: it contains four full-page drawings, the first of which is enhanced with gold.
The archangel appeared to Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, to invite him to build a sanctuary dedicated to his cult on Mont Tombe: after two unsuccessful visits, the archangel intervened a third time and showed his impatience by touching the bishop's forehead. The latter lay on a bed, his eyes open and his head resting on his hand, perhaps awakened by the din of horns and trumpets sounding from all the windows of the bishop's palace in Avranches.
The discovery, at the beginning of the 11th century, of a skull with a regular perforation hole immediately brought to mind the text of the Revelatio ecclesiae sancti Michaelis recounting the Archangel's three interventions with Aubert: it was then imagined that the hole in the skull had been caused by the Archangel's finger during his third visit.
Journey of the clerics sent by Saint Aubert to Monte Gargano
Salisbury Breviary, known as the Duke of Bedford's (Paris, 1424-1435)
Location: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Manuscripts, ms lat. 17294 f° 609 v°.
This manuscript, executed in Paris around 1424 for John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford and Regent of France (who died in 1435), has a very rich iconography with 46 half-page paintings and 4,300 small images.
After presenting the founding of the sanctuary on Monte Gargano, the artist uses small illuminations to illustrate the origins of Mont Saint-Michel, based on the text of the Revelatio ecclesiae sancti Michaelis. The work occupies four pages, or sixteen medallions, with four images per page. From folio 608 to folio 610, the following are depicted in succession: pilgrims on their way to the Mount surrounded by trees, the apparition of Saint Michael to Saint Aubert, Saint Michael showing the grotto where the animal stolen from Saint Aubert is to be found, the archangel asking the bishop of Avranches to found a building there, the construction site of the Mount, its stoppage due to the presence of huge rocks and the miraculous intervention of the archangel to resolve these difficulties, Saint Aubert supervising the construction work. The folio shows the journey of the two clerics to Monte Gargano to ask for relics of the archangel from the Apulian sanctuary, with the archangel inviting Saint Aubert to send the clerics to Monte Gargano, their arrival at the Gargano sanctuary, the bishop of Siponto and the abbot giving them the relics and finally their return to Monte Gargano, bringing the precious relics of the archangel back to Saint Aubert.
On the last folio (not shown), Saint Aubert welcomes the first pilgrims, strikes the rock to bring a spring to the Mont where there was a shortage of water, before concluding with two views of the Mont (abbey and clerk at work in the scriptorium).
Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century
Conservation site: Bayeux, William the Conqueror Museum
This embroidery was commissioned by Odon, Bishop of Bayeux and half-brother of William the Conqueror, in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings. It was the work of a team of artists, both English and Norman, who worked in one of the workshops in Kent, of which Odon was the Earl.
The Normans crossed the Bay of Mont and the River Couesnon, facing the dangers of quicksand. Harold is depicted with an Englishman on his shoulders, while with his right hand he rescues a Norman who is already stuck in the sand. In the background is the mountain on top of which stands the sanctuary: the arrangement of the building balanced on the rounded hill is in keeping with reality, since the abbey church rests on the rock only at the transept crossing. The three arches probably corresponded to the façade with its three portals, without the towers, which were built much later.
Constantinople and therefore does not follow the Italo-Byzantine iconographic canon.
Saint Michel and Mont Saint-Michel in the mid-15th century
Hour Book of Duke Peter II of Brittany (1455-1457)
Location: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Manuscripts, ms lat. 1159, fol. 160v
This miniature depicts the archangel Saint Michael dressed in a cuirass and purple cloak: in his right hand he is brandishing his sword, while in his other hand he is firmly holding the half-human, half-animal dragon. At the bottom of the page is Mont Saint-Michel, with its ramparts, village and abbey. On the shores, travellers and pilgrims are making their way towards the entrance to the Mont. This image is one of the earliest representations of the Mont, but unlike the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry, which predates it by several years, it is not a realistic depiction but the transcription into images of a topographical description of the site. Particularly interesting is the depiction of the pilgrims crossing the shore on foot, their bumblebee in hand or on their shoulder, or in a cart to bring them to the shrine.
Mont Saint-Michel around 1400
Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry, Limbourg brothers (Paris, c. 1410-1416)
Location: Chantilly, Musée Condé, ms 65, f° 195
Jean de France, Duke of Berry, was the son of King Jean le Bon and brother of Charles V. He had made two pilgrimages to the Mont with his nephew King Charles VI in 1393 and 1394.
The painting of Mont Saint-Michel is the work of one of the three Limbourg brothers: it is the last in the work depicting the fight between Saint Michael and the dragon in the Apocalypse of John. The Mont is depicted with the village and the ramparts. The abbey church still has its Romanesque choir and its entire nave with the two towers on the façade. In the background is the island of Tombelaine, on which stands the Montois priory of the same name, the site of an important Marian pilgrimage. The entire complex disappeared in the 17th century.
Procession of the people of Camembert to Mont Saint-Michel
Painting on wood, 1772,
Conservation site: Camembert church (Orne)
Popular work representing the pilgrims from Camembert arriving on pilgrimage at Mont Saint-Michel on 21 September 1772. The participants advance in procession along the shore with the name of each of them inscribed beside him or her. In the air, Saint Michael brandishes a sword with his right hand and with his left hand drags a chained demon. The pilgrimage flag has also been preserved, with the image of the Archangel painted in the centre of the composition on both sides (18th century). This is one of the last known pilgrimage flags from the 18th and early 19th centuries, often mentioned up until the 1900s and now no longer in existence. During the 19th century, the banner replaced the flag in pilgrimages and processions.
Collar of the Order of Saint Michael
Gilded silver necklace made by Jean Mellerio in 1877-1878
J. Mellerio was inspired by a drawing by Corroyer, whose model came from a fifteenth-century bas-relief. According to the Statutes of the Order, it "was composed of double gold shells, linked and knotted in lakes of love". At the end of the collar was a gold oval depicting Saint Michael slaying the dragon: he raised his flaming sword, ready to strike, his wings spread wide, wearing a cuirass and the Order's mantle dotted with fleurs-de-lis. Underneath was engraved the motto Immensi tremor Oceani "The terror of the immense ocean".
Weighing souls
Bas-relief, gable of the Calende portal, Rouen, Notre-Dame Cathedral, c. 1300
The rich sculpted decoration on the Libraires and Calende portals was made possible by the patronage of Guillaume de Flavacourt, Archbishop of Rouen from 1278 to 1306 and builder of the cathedral's transept facades. This large quatrefoil occupies the centre of the gable surmounting the tympanum of the main portal dedicated to the Passion of Christ. In this scene, in which Saint Michael is weighing souls on Judgement Day, the devil is trying to tip the scales to his side by pulling on a plate. It is worth noting the great elegance of the composition, still influenced by the radiant art of 13th-century France, the archangel's wiggle (contraposto) and the rarity of this isolated scene in medieval art. Most of the time, it is integrated into the Last Judgement ensembles.
and statue of Saint Michael, Alexandre Chertier, 1872
Conservation site: Coutances, Notre-Dame Cathedral
Jean-Pierre Bravard, the "saviour of Mont-Saint-Michel". The following year, he presented another statue to the sanctuary of Mont-Saint-Michel, to which he had sent the fathers of Saint-Edme in 1865, a year after the last prisoners had left. This second statue, now in the Mont parish church, has been the object of veneration by the faithful ever since. It adorns pious images, medals and other pilgrimage souvenirs, not to mention bronze copies and plaster prints in Norman churches. Her coronation, on 4 July 1877, gave rise to major festivities attended by over 20,000 people.
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Catalogue notes: Vincent Juhel, with the collaboration of Pierre Bouet. The notes on Monte Gargano are freely inspired by the Grenzi publication, L'angelo, la montagna, il pellegrino, published in Foggia in 1999.
Photographic exhibition curated by Giorgio Otranto and Angela Laghezza, Università degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Progetto CUSTOS