A number of churches were erected in Rome in the twelfth century, the largest and most important of them being the Santa Maria in Trastevere which replaced an Early Christian basilica from the fourth century. The builder of the church was pope Innocent II (1130-1143). Although the construction was completed only after the death of Innocent II in around 1148, the mosaics in the apse calotte and on the upper part of the apsidal arch were completed during his lifetime.
The mosaics were supplemented toward the end of the thirteenth century by seven more mosaics in the apse and on the lower part of the apsidal arch, six of them narrating the life of the Virgin. Pietro Cavallini is documented as the creator of these mosaics in the apse.
Summary of Italian mosaics |
Early Christian mosaics |
Rome | Ravenna |
Mosaics in Rome |
Santa Prassede |San Clemente | Santa Maria in Trastevere |
Mosaics in Sicily |
Cathedral of Cefalù | Cappella Palatina, Palermo | Cathedral of Monreale |
Mosaics in Venice |
Basilica di San Marco |
Mosaics in Florence |
Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery) |
Other mosaics |
11th-12th centuries | 13th-14th centuries |
Mosaicists |
RUSUTI, Filippo | TORRITI, Jacopo | CAVALLINI, Pietro |
CIMABUE | GIOTTO | GIAMBONO, Michele | ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO |