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The decoration of the Early Christian churches, and particularly of the basilicas, was mostly with mosaics. The largest series of early mosaic decorations in Rome are the panels on the triumphal arch and the nave walls of Santa Maria Maggiore of c. 432-40. The ones on the arch include a version of the Flight into Egypt, and in the nave are Old Testament subjects, mainly from the Books of Exodus and Joshua, and despite extensive restoration and some losses they are the most important Early Christian narrative series extant.
The mosaic programme on the triumphal arch at Santa Maria Maggiore is dated to the pontificate of Sixtus III (430-40). The four registers (left side, from top) depict the annunciation, the Visit of the Magi, the Massacre of the Innocents, and Jerusalem.
On the right of the arch, the four registers depict the Presentation in the Temple, a scene from the Flight into Egypt, Herod and the Magi, and Bethlehem.
The picture shows the mosaics on the triumphal arch.
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