E-CCLESIA. Building the church as a monument through texts and images in the Latin West (4th-12th c.) – E-CCLESIA

The aim of the E-CCLESIA project - Constructing the church-monument through texts and images in the Latin West (4th-12th centuries) is to determine the status of the church-building in late antique and medieval society, at a time when it gradually becomes a metonym for the Church as an institution. The approach is based on the hypothesis that the analysis of discourses and representations can lead to grasp the nature, function and symbolic as well as patrimonial value of religious buildings. The aim is to carry out a detailed study of textual and iconographic sources to highlight the transformation of verbal and visual lexicons as an expression of complex thinking about the role of the Church as an institution in late antique and medieval society and the material and spiritual value of church buildings. An innovative research on this central issue in Western societies involves an unprecedented inquiry into the terminology used to describe the building and its parts, aiming to reveal previously unnoticed nomenclature strategies. This multi-faceted study involves the historical analysis of an original corpus of texts and images relating to the architecture and decoration of Christian monuments in the West. This corpus is indexed and structured by a database. Exploiting this mass of documentation will shed light on the concepts expressed in church buildings as a major cultural phenomenon, particularly in Western Christianity. The E-CCLESIA project is multidisciplinary by nature and examines building as a social phenomenon, bringing together a national and international network of experts in historical, philological, artistic, epigraphic, and archaeological issues. The project includes a component to promote the results obtained to the general public through a program of exhibitions, conferences, podcasts and articles in magazines for a wide audience.