TheChiesa di San Giovanni del Toro (Italian: "Church of St. John of the Bull") is a church inRavello, southernItaly.
Consecrated in the 11th century, the church was restored in 1715 after damage caused by an earthquake, and it was restored again in the 1990s.[1] The church is named forJohn the Apostle and for "Il Toro", the former name of the old aristocratic quarter in which it was built.[2] It is especially noted for its pulpit, dating from around the 13th century.
Early 20th-century English writers describe the church as in dilapidated condition,[3] stating it would have gone to ruins had it not been for government intervention in the 1880s.[4] According to these authors, who ostensibly derived their knowledge from "an old history,"[3] the consecration took place in 1069, and that the church was built by orders of one of theDukes of Amalfi.[4]
Thepulpit is notable for its mosaics, the decorative patterns of which inspired the interlocking patterns used byM.C. Escher,[5] who spent time in Ravello in the 1920s and studied the church and the pulpit; Ravello was one of his favorite places.[6] One mosaic is ofJonah emerging from the whale. An eagle supports the reading desk, and it holds a book opened to the first sentence of theGospel of John. The "beautiful"[7] pulpit, which dates from the time ofRoger I of Sicily,[8] also contains Oriental pottery ("underglaze-painted and lustre-painted stonepaste bowls, probably Syrian"[9]) andArabic script,[4] and the steps up to it contain well-preservedfrescoes with scenes from the life of Christ.[10] There is a side chapel with astucco figure ofSaint Catherine and her wheel.[10]
40°39′05″N14°36′45″E / 40.6514°N 14.6126°E /40.6514; 14.6126
