Welcome to SPOLIA! This site
intends to provide constantly updated specialised information on the studies
and research on the Middle Ages. SPOLIA was devised by a group of scholars
connected with the University of Rome "La Sapienza". Nowadays
scholars of many universities collaborate with this project (University
of Cassino, University of Lecce, University of Bologna, University of Padova,
University of Zürich etc.).
The title SPOLIA hints at the twofold suggestion that the word has in its
first meaning and in the almost technical meaning it has acquired in archaeological
studies.
Literally, spolia are the spoils taken from enemies during wars. We consider
similar to these the artistic, literary and historical material from the
medieval past, as booty which has been rescued from the clutches of Time,
the enemy of memory. These documents of an era must be presented objectively
and with scientific attention within the historical period in which they
were produced.
In archaeology, the term spolia is frequently used to indicate "recycled
objects". These fragments of ancient monuments are inserted into architectural
contexts that are different from the original, and used in the construction
of new buildings. This "recycling" operation, which is typical
of medieval building techniques, is often accompanied by a re-reading of
the SPOLIUM which, in its new context, also takes on a new meaning.
In our opinion, the tradition/innovation dialectic, which is at the origin
of the composition of artistic and literary works, is similar. Quotations,
allusions and the other forms of intertextuality measure the links with
contemporaries and predecessors, reinterpreting the testimonies through
their position in a new semantic space.
The operation carried out by criticism is also similar, as it arrives at
different readings by placing documents of the past in different contexts
within different critical theories.
The term spolia includes therefore the three aspects that we would like
to underline in the presentation of the materials: historical documents
above all, artistic works devised by the tradition/innovation dialectic,
and objects of critical reflection.
Teresa Nocita |
