MOSAIC ARTIST, Italian
(active c. 1200 in Rome)

Apse

c. 1200
Mosaic
San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome

In a letter to the Venetian doge, Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) asked the mosaic artists be sent to work with the master, also dispatched from Venice, engaged to create the apse mosaic in San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome. This is evidence of the Romans' dependence on foreign mosaicists. Unfortunately, the mosaic in question has not survived undamaged. Like the structure itself, it had to be completely redone after the devastating fire in 1823, although a few original fragments were preserved.

In the apse calotte, Sts Luke, Paul, Peter, and Andrew are gathered around an enthroned Christ, with the donor pope kneeling at his feet. In the base register, for the first time in Roman apse mosaics since the sixth century, the obligatory frieze of lambs is missing, replaced by the empty throne surrounded by two angels and the apostles.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.