The Sator and the Duomo of Siena

Inspired by the presence of small stone slab bearing the so-called
“Magic square”, or SATOR, on the north side of the Duomo
of Siena, Gioachino Chiarini explains – and is the first to do so
in a scientific manner – the meaning of its riddle, its origins, its
history and spread, and its symbolic complexity linked to ancient
astronomy and sun-worshipping cults (“SATOR,” the “Sower,” is
the sun, exalted as he makes his yearly journey). Conceived during
Nero’s reign within the sphere of the imperial army’s Mithraic
initiations in its “ROTAS / OPERA / TENET / AREPO / SATOR’
form, the Square continued to thrive in the new Christianized
universe as well, but in reverse form, with “ROTAS” last and
“SATOR” first: an honor attributed to Christ, the “New Sun” and
“[Good] Sower.” In the final part of the essay, which traces the
Square to the Duomo of Siena, a few possible symbolic meanings
are highlighted, linking the magic of the ancient Latin riddle to the
Sienese Cathedral and its singular artistic and religious fortune.