MOSAIC ARTIST, Italian
(active 1140s in Rome)

Apse mosaic

1140-43
Mosaic
Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome

The mosaic of Santa Maria Trastevere may be compared to early Christian apse mosaics not only in its large dimensions but also in terms of the compositional scheme, numerous specific motifs, and the formal design of particular figures. Quite unprecedented in the Roman tradition, by contrast, is the mosaic's true theme, represented by the two main figures, Christ and the Virgin seated together on a throne in the middle of the composition in the apse.

Toward the end of the thirteenth century, the apse mosaic was supplemented by seven more mosaics, six of them narrating the life of the Virgin. Pietro Cavallini is documented as the creator of these mosaics in the apse.




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