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All That Glitters.shtml
All That Glitters: Christian Mosaics from Roman Antiquity to the Late
1200s
"All that glitters is not gold," but in several churches
around Rome, can you be sure? Christian communities, local aristocrats,
and popes (or their cardinal nephews) often lavished sumptuous mosaics
on their favorite churches. Sparkling gold backgrounds, the occasional
use of silver leaf, the weighty presence of navy blue glass…
and the glitter! Imagine what the mosaics looked like during Mass in
the evening as torchlight caused them to shimmer.
The glistening colors were enchanting, and more importantly,
for the faithful the mosaics brought to life promises of an afterlife
and their eternal reward. During this visit, we will study the apse
mosaics in three different churches from three different periods: Santa
Pudenziana, Santa Prassede, and Santa Maria Maggiore, in order to
better understand Christian symbolism and Church politics.
Meeting in the morning (to accommodate all three churches), we start at the spartan parish church of Santa Pudenziana on
the Esquiline hill. We will delve into the saint’s
biography and the general history of her church, but it’s the
mosaics in the apse that immediately catch our attention. Dating to the
end of the 4th century, these are the oldest surviving mosaics in a
Christian church in Rome.
Leaving Santa Pudenziana, we walk briefly uphill to
the neighboring church of Santa Prassede, whose saint is alleged to be
Pudenziana’s sister. According to historical records, a
sanctuary dedicated to her stood somewhere near the current church.
Deeming the original sanctuary too modest (and untenably rickety), a
renovator pope by the name of Paschal replaced the old church around
820. That’s his monogram flashing in the gold mosaic, just
below the Lamb of God mentioned in the Apocalypse.
With Rockefeller-like munificence, he donated the necessary funds to
embellish the apse, together with its inner and outer triumphal arches,
with scenes from the Apocalypse.
A big spender, Pope Paschal had a chapel for his mother,
Theodora, built and decorated on the side of Santa Prassede. The space
is unique for Rome, although it can be compared to several mausolea and
monuments in Ravenna. Stepping into the sacred space, which can
comfortably accommodate no more than 8 or 9 people, visitors find
themselves in a veritable sea of golden rays. From an undetected light
source (a small window high above one's head), light clatters into the
chapel and reverberates warmly around it. There is no better place to
understand how mosaic artists used illumination to heighten the beauty
of their work and strengthen its spiritual significance.
 Next door, at the mammoth Basilica of
Santa Maria Maggiore, gorgeous mosaics await. But before diving in, we
peruse this church's colorful history, which includes a miraculous
snowfall in August.
Proceeding to the 5th century mosaics along the outer
triumphal arch, we see that some images are preoccupied with the
Nestorian heresy that wracked the Church at that time; still others
were gleaned from the books of the Bible now considered a part of the
Apocrypha. We then fly forwards in time and concentrate on the apse
mosaics, executed around 1290-1295 by Giacopo Torriti, whose bold
autograph as pictor is still visible. Since the church is dedicated the
Virgin Mary, Torriti's work features both her Assumption and her
Coronation. An image of cosmic harmony, it must be contrasted with its
equivalent in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Interesting
dissimilarities will divulge much about the historical and political
realities in which Santa Maria Maggiore and the artist, Torriti, were
involved.
Time permitting, the visit ends with the mosaics on the facade
of Santa Maria Maggiore. Here we admire the late medieval craftsmanship
that was brutally covered by a neoclassical loggia in the 1700s. After
purchasing the necessary tickets, we are escorted to the upper story of
the loggia, which overlooks the Square in front of the church. At close
quarters with four enormous vignettes, which uplifted and edified the
populace in the piazza for centuries, we will admire and decipher the
work of Filippo Rusuti, a contemporary of Torriti.
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