More Mosaics (Roma part Cinque)

There is no dearth of mosaics in this city, both ancient and pagan, and neo-Christian. They are really something to behold and be admired, if only for the talent required to make them. Scott was particularly interested in the older churches. They're pretty fun to see, especially for the more gruesome aspects:

Stefano Rotondo,  dating from the mid-fifth c. AD, it was built on top of both a Roman barracks and a temple to the god of Mithras (the early Christians hated this religion). It is the oldest church with a circular plan in Rome.

There is one, sublime mosaic from the 7th c AD.

What is more remarkable, however, are the rounded walls surrounding the central altar: they depict, in all their gruesome detail, the many and myriad ways to torture and kill early Christian martyrs.  This type of fresco represents proper martyrology, painted in the mid-fifteenth c.

One famous author visiting from England said:

To single out details from the great dream of Roman Churches, would be the wildest occupation in the world. But St. Stefano Rotondo, a damp, mildewed vault of an old church in the outskirts of Rome, will always struggle uppermost in my mind, by reason of the hideous paintings with which its walls are covered. Such a panorama of horror and butchery no man could imagine in his sleep, though he were to eat a whole pig raw, for supper. 

- Charles Dickens, Pictures from Italy 

Rather than display the 34 frescoes in this post, may I refer you to https://www.througheternity.com/en/blog/art/santo-stefano-rotondo-frescoes-rome.html#  it really is worth looking at them, if you're into gory horror.

San Clemente al Laterano 

We wanted to visit this minor basilica for the golden mosaic in the apse, one of Byzantine design:  

We got more than we expected, but let me set the stage:  

San Clemente is actually owned by the Irish Dominicans since 1667, but it is also the burial site of St. Cyril of the famous duo, Saints Cyril and Methodius, the guys who created the Cyrillic alphabet (originally the oldest Slavic alphabet was called the Glagolitic alphabet), named after, guess who! They also converted the Slavs to Christianity. 

Saturday 25 May was the national holiday in Bulgaria celebrating the two saints.  We visited San Clemente on the preceding Friday and were treated to a Bulgarian Eastern Catholic Mass complete with chanting, and a bevy of middle aged women in national costume and Bulgarian nabobs in attendance.

A Bulgarian Mass in an ancient basilica in Rome, owned by the Irish.  Go figure.

Baptistery of San Giovanni in Laterano 

Founded by Pope Sixtus III in AD440, it is the first structure expressly built as a baptistery and has been the widely followed model for all others.  For generations, it was the only baptistry in Rome. 

There are two side chapels, both of which have exquisitely intricate mosaic decorations:

It being a baptistry after all, the central focus of the building is a large octagonal basin which was originally filled with water and where the converted could be totally submerged in the holy water. 

Photo by Ken Wang

Santa Maria Maggiore 

Okay, here comes the main attraction for the mosaics we visited.  Santa Maria Maggiore - Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, in English - was built in AD 422-432, right after Mary was proclaimed Mary Mother of God at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Legend has it that the church was built on this site because the Virgin appeared to the rich couple who funded the building of the church. She told them it would snow on the exact spot where they should build. In August. Don’t you just love miracles?

Anyway, we paid to visit the rooftop of the church for the vistas of Rome, but more important to me, the mosaic walls in the triumphal arch. I hope the following do it some justice:

The mosaics are on the right side, to give you an idea of the size

 

An extreme closeup so you can see the detail of the tiles

The artist inlaid his name under the toe of Jesus, but the sun eradicates it on this photo. Sorry.

A couple of parting notes on this church:  the crystal and silver reliquary under the high altar houses fragments of the Holy Crib. (Uh huh) And it’s where Pope Francis was buried just before we arrived in Rome.