Roman Church Mosaics I

The "Romanness" of Christian Art: the apse mosaics at Santa Pudenziana

The fifth century apse mosaics at Santa Pudenziana. 6 July 2022.

Church mosaics are some of my very favourite things. All those glittering tiles laid by hands dead for centuries: undulating and irregular surfaces gleaming in the gloaming, ideally with motes of incense dancing in a shaft of sunlight. This is the first of a series of posts looking at Roman church mosaics in a broadly chronological order, and so we begin with the ancient basilica of Santa Pudenziana al Viminale.