Abbey of S. Pietro a Villanova

Just above the foundation plinth (see photo of the apse area), which is about one metre high, begins a section of masonry rising 2–2.5 metres: it consists of well-squared white stones interrupted by bands of red brick; in this stretch of wall open the three low single-light windows that light the crypt. The upper part differs from this type of masonry (which in some respects echoes the search for colour effects of the façade): light stone is still used here, but better worked and better squared, its exposed faces carefully smoothed, and excellently laid in thin beds of mortar. In this section of masonry open the other three single-light windows: the one in the centre is the largest, with a monolithic archivolt in white stone. The crowning consists of monolithic blind arches with a double ring, resting on small “bellows” corbels, as on the façade. Between the band of small arches and the roof runs a cornice of white stones laid in a saw-tooth pattern. The six openings made in this apse on the two levels of the crypt and the presbytery seem to be contemporary with the rebuilding of the first decades of the 12th century. The six single-light windows of the apse semicircle would seem to be original, organically placed both vertically and horizontally, with the two central ones larger than the side ones. NORTH APSE From above the foundation plinth, the masonry matches that of the central apse in the type of material used (see photo of the north and central apses), and the insertion of the horizontal bands of red brick is also fairly symmetrical. Here too a more recent window has been opened. The masonry up to the roof does not differ much from that of the central apse: in this small apse, however, there is only one central single-light window (certainly of more recent construction, since here too the opening has cut into one of the hanging arches above), and the crowning consists of the usual series of monolithic blind arches, with a single ring, on “bellows” corbels. It must be said, however, that the stones used in the masonry of this upper section of the small north apse do not show the same care in squaring and smoothing as at the corresponding level of the central apse; on the contrary, the light stones of the lower part, interspersed with the red horizontal bands, are better worked, especially on their exposed faces, and more carefully and precisely laid. Another constructional detail, visible only by looking along the longitudinal alignment from the small north apse, is the middle section of wall, starting from below, just above the last horizontal course of red brick, which is not in line with the masonry beneath but is “set back” up to the level of the top of the pointed arch of the window, where the masonry seems to come back into line with the lower part. From this it can be deduced that, besides the window, the rebuilding work also involved this stretch of wall, which was completely reconstructed. It should be noted that the pitched roof of the aisle above the north apse meets the side of the nave out of line with the opposite pitch of the south aisle, whose point of junction is at least half a metre higher. The masonry under the roof of the south aisle seems to be the result of rebuilding; it keeps a compact arrangement of light, squared stones in beds of mortar, certainly not very different from the opposite masonry of the north aisle, where the signs of restoration are less evident because of the misalignment in the raising of the roof. BELL TOWER Its massive size is striking. It is a mighty square tower whose only “limitation” is its reduced height, whereas the base and foundations would really seem to have been designed to support much taller structures. The bell chamber, in red brick with three large pointed windows on each side, is the result of more recent rebuilding. The lower part of the tower, by contrast, is built of well-worked light stones laid with little mortar. With difficulty, two different building phases can be made out in these walls (visible on three of the four sides of the tower): one part shows a more careful arrangement, with stones of a fairly uniform size compared with the other, though this cannot be taken as an indication of a different date of execution. On the side of the bell tower facing the three apses, 4-5 metres above the foundation plinth, a large rectangular monolith of light stone is set into the wall in the centre, carved with an inscription that is difficult to decipher. Approximately, the text reads: “IN ANNO EST INCEPT ABB.(?)TVBREUBT.MILLESIMO CENTESIMO VIIIIXL”. Above the “E” of (?)BREUBT is a sign like a stylised “omega”. Despite a careful search, however, it was not possible to see the epigraph with the heraldic coats of arms of the Counts of Verona (Counts of San Bonifacio), which, according to the “Breve Guida Storico-Artistica”, should be set into the base of the bell tower and bear the date 1139 (according to Luigina Tregnaghi) or 1131 according to another source. Another visible tablet or epigraph is a well-squared rectangular stone with a slight border, set into the north corner of the west side of the bell tower, but which at present shows no marks or writing. INTERIOR The space of the three aisles is marked by the succession of supports of the modern roof (three piers alternating with two columns on each side). The four columns and their capitals differ from one another in decoration and in the material used. From the entrance, the first on the right is a column of Verona pink marble with a grey stone capital, bearing a rather stylised decoration of leaves and caulicoli; the second, also on the right, is a column of grey marble speckled with white, with a capital, again in grey stone, of Corinthian type with the classical Roman floral decoration; the column opposite it, on the left side, is also of Verona red marble, topped by a grey stone capital decorated in the centre with plant motifs of acanthus leaves and, at the corners, with the heads of four wild boars, skilfully carved (see photo of the capital with boars): their snouts and part of the bristly back can be seen, as well as the forelegs; the last column, that is the first on the left from the entrance, is of white stone shaped and faceted into an octagon, topped by a finely executed capital which on each side bears a decoration composed of three sections in high relief, elongated and rounded towards the bottom, almost like a corn cob, on which a dense foliate plant motif is finely carved (see photo of the capital with plant motifs) (the shape of this capital is found, in a very simple form and without decoration, not only in the crypt of San Pietro below but also in the church of San Michele at Belfiore). The piers, on the other hand, have no particular decoration apart from a double cornice carved with geometric motifs. In the left part of the apse conch, low down, a capital is set into the wall, now used as the support for a shelf and reduced to practically half its original size. Where it comes from is difficult to establish, since the four columns now in place should have kept their original capitals. In its artistic execution, the more legible part is similar to the boar capital, although in this case they seem rather to be lions (see photo of the corbel capital), since the one on the right seems to have tusk-shaped teeth. The vaulting dates from the Olivetan period, with sail vaults over all three bays. The presbytery is greatly raised above the crypt, and between the apse conches and the end of the raised presbytery, with the great staircase in the centre, the space is articulated by a single bay with a large round arch on piers. There is a considerable number of frescoes, some of good quality, dating from the 14th century onwards. Notable, not least for its size, is the fresco with stories of St. Benedict painted on the wall of the south aisle, near the façade. Above the arch of the small south apse remain traces of another fresco (13th-14th century), reworked, which still reveals archaising techniques of execution. Also inside is an altarpiece dedicated to St. Michael, from the mid-1400s, a fine example of 15th-century Venetian painting. Like the abundance that characterises the late medieval and Renaissance painted decoration of San Pietro, what remains of the 14th- and 15th-century sculptural decoration is also considerable (from the two Gothic niches of the Annunciation to the altar ancona carved with St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Benedict, St. Nicholas, St. Andrew and scenes from the lives of St. Peter and St. Agatha; from the tufa sculpture of Our Lady of Sorrows, executed around 1400 by Egidio Wienrenneustadt, to the angels of the Baroque period). Also inside, on the first pier on the left, on the side facing the nave, is carved the so-called “pilgrim's symbol”, a foot, or rather the schematic outline of a pointed shoe, an item of clothing worn by the wayfarers/pilgrims of the Middle Ages. Historians explain the presence of this sign by the fact that Villanova lies just one day's “medieval” walk from Verona, on the road to Vicenza. CRYPT For historians this is a rare example, for a minor church, of a monumental crypt. Scholars' datings range from the 8th to the 12th century. It is difficult to lean towards one dating or the other, since its present arrangement is certainly the result of rebuilding and restoration. Apart from the 8th-century pluteus, parts that are certainly early medieval remain in place. The room ends in three apses, with the perimeter walls following the line of the east end of the upper church. The space in front of the altars set in the apse hemicycles is articulated by eight columns which, as they spring to support ribbed sail vaults, divide it into five aisles, ending in four small lateral piers which, together with those built in between the central apse and the side apses, are probably of pre-Romanesque origin. Two more columns are placed in front of the high altar. The capitals topping the columns and half-columns (some of which would not appear to be original) have no particular decorative motifs except for their shape, adopted in most of the examples here, which echoes that of the first capital to the left of the entrance (on the octagonal column), composed of three elongated elements in high relief that decorate the four faces of the capital. Only one of the capitals (if original) has a different decoration, the stylised plant motif carved on it recalling prototypes of the Roman period. PLUTEUS In the small north apse of the crypt is preserved (now used as the support for an altar) a section of transenna or pluteus (see photo of the pluteus) which scholars date to the second half of the 8th century. In white stone, it is carved in the centre with a cross decorated with interlace motifs; the space on either side of the arms of the cross shows the classic motifs of three-strand ribbons, knotted to form circles mingled with small flowers, bunches of grapes and small leaves. In the lower part of the pluteus are two peacocks drinking from a cantharus from which the shaft of the cross rises. The upper part of the piece consists of another frame with horseshoe motifs, repeated in concentric rows, with flowers in the centre.