San Nicola Archway with Agnus Dei in tympanum

Sculpture

-

Hammond Castle Museum

Name/Title

San Nicola Archway with Agnus Dei in tympanum

Entry/Object ID

HM-975

Tags

Pacifici purchase

Description

Archway with Agnus Dei, Lamb of God, relief in tympanum above door. Has a Byzantine carved symbol, a flat carved disc (bezant), at peak of Romanesque doorway. From an early photograph of this doorway, we can see that was originally on a ruined building in Italy. The dimensions are written on the back of the photo. Hammond bought a number of his piece from dealers who sent him photos. Many times, the first time he saw the pieces was when it was unpacked after shipping. The writing on the back of the photo resembles that of Hammond’s main antique source, Armando Pacifici in Rome. Date for the door is 1323. 1928 purchase from Pacifici, (possibly referred to as Urbanus or marble door from Urbano) "The portal comes from the now-decommissioned church of San Nicola in the town of Castropignano, in the Campobasso region of Italy. The photo was taken by Alfredo Trombetta (you can see A. Trombetta on the photo sent to Hammond if you zoom in). He was a professional photographer who did a lot of work in that region. According to local sources, the church was in very bad shape, with only the exterior walls remaining. The portal was sold away in the 1920s to a dealer. Through John Bodel, the professor at Brown who has been working on the inscriptions at Hammond Castle Museum (and many other places), I made contact with Carlo Slavich, who is currently a researcher at the Università di Firenze. Carlo should be given credit for this translation if you add it to HUB, or elsewhere. He was able to translate the inscription, and feels it is authentic: [A]nno ab I(n)cârnat(i)one mil(len)o CCC [v]iceno tertio ha(e)c opera facta fuit. "In the one thousandth three hundredth twenty-third year from the Incarnation this work was made/done". [Martha Easton 2025-12-06]

Collection

Architecture Features

Acquisition

Accession

975

Made/Created

Place

Location

Italian

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Doorframe

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Element, Door

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Door & Window Elements

Nomenclature Class

Building Components

Nomenclature Category

Category 01: Built Environment Objects

Web Links and URLs

Info about original in situ photo and photographer, video of restored interior of St. Nicola in Castropignano, website to blog about Castropignano

General Notes

Note Type

1977 Hammond Castle Souvenir Guidebk by N R Kline, J J Bolten (12)

Note Type

1928-12-08 from C Stein (Jandolo & Pacifici portals shipment)

Note Type

1928-12 ca from Pacifici (Urbano door, portal, cenerary urn)

Note Type

1929-04-04 from Pacifici (Bari window, Perugian sarcophagus, cinerary urn)

Note Type

1929 ca from Pacifici (complete of purchases & prices) p(1-2)

Note Type

1928-10-09 to Pacifici (Stein charge, medieval windows, 15thc door)

Note Type

1928-05-29 from B Guerra (Perugia, stone portal permit & removal)

Note Type

2025-12-06 Easton email - Identification of the Italian portal w lamb (HM 975)