feb 11, 432 - Santa Maria Maggiore
Description:
Rome, 432-440 (early 5th century)
Built under Pope Sixtus III, who is honored in the inscription on the triumphal arch, this church celebrates Mary, the Mother of God. Several years earlier, at the Council of Ephesus, Mary was declared theotokos, and this church emphasizes that honored title. It utilizes the same basilica form as Old St Peters with a rectangular plan and clerestory supported by a colonnade. Contains the oldest example of a continuous narrative cycle of mosaics.
Triumphal Arch Mosaics: Shows events from Christ's infancy, the Child Jesus enthroned, Mary and a personification of the Church enthroned, and the four evangelists flanking an enthroned Cross.
Colonnade Mosaics: Shows events from Old Testament including the story of Abraham and Melchizedek. The combination of kingly and priestly power speaks to the relationship between ecclesiastic and political authority.
relevant terms: basilica, colonnade, clerestory, triumphal arch, Council of Ephesus, typology
Added to timeline:
Early Christian and Byzantine Art
Date:
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