DOI article:
Rushforth, Gordon McNeil: The church of S. Maria Antiqua
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70291#0129
S. Maria Antiqua.
III
-stool of a throne. Below is a dado of drapery of the same character as
that in the church.1
The left side-wall of the chapel is covered above the drapery dado with
a single subject which extends as far as a niche at the upper end. It is a
long row of nimbed saints, standing facing the spectator, with the heads of
a second row appearing behind them (91). Both from their number (there
were originally twenty-six in the front row, and fourteen at the back), and
from the painting in the apse to be described presently, it is clear that they
are the Forty Martyrs. In the centre of the upper row is a bust of Christ
in a medallion. The martyrs are all represented in Byzantine official
costume, and hold a small cross in front of them with the right hand.
They are of different ages, some beardless, others with black or white
beards.2 Above are traces of the frames of six oblong scenes, which may
have told the story. The niche already mentioned contained, apparently,
full-length figures of saints. A small loculus has been cut in the wall
below it.
Of the end-wall of the chapel, the space to the left of the apse only
retains the painting of its lower part, i.e. the dado, but this is fairly perfect
(92). It shows, on a white ground, two (originally there must have been
three) large Latin crosses of gold studded with jewels, enclosed in wreaths
or crowns. Ornaments are suspended from the arms and from chains
which unite the ends of the cross, and the centre is formed by a medallion
containing, in the cross to the left, a head of Christ. In the other case the
centre is damaged, but the indications point to a head of the Virgin. On
either side of the base of the cross is a palm branch. The whole arrange-
ment no doubt represents the hanging crowns and crosses (generally con-
taining lights) which were a regular ornament of churches of the period.
Above the wreaths and between them is represented a small jewelled
crown (like the Iron Crown of Monza) suspended by three chains. In the
corresponding space below, two lambs stand facing one another, while the
angle on the right is filled up by a peacock.
We next come to the apse which is occupied by a representation of the
Forty Martyrs undergoing their martyrdom of exposure in a lake near
Sebaste in Armenia (93). The right-hand portion is the best preserved.
The figures, like a crowd facing the spectator, stand, not on the ice, as in
1 Federici (Z.c. p. 46) gives some graffiti here, but I confess that I can make nothing out of the
traces on the wall.
2 This agrees with the Byzantine Manual. Didron, 326 sq.
III
-stool of a throne. Below is a dado of drapery of the same character as
that in the church.1
The left side-wall of the chapel is covered above the drapery dado with
a single subject which extends as far as a niche at the upper end. It is a
long row of nimbed saints, standing facing the spectator, with the heads of
a second row appearing behind them (91). Both from their number (there
were originally twenty-six in the front row, and fourteen at the back), and
from the painting in the apse to be described presently, it is clear that they
are the Forty Martyrs. In the centre of the upper row is a bust of Christ
in a medallion. The martyrs are all represented in Byzantine official
costume, and hold a small cross in front of them with the right hand.
They are of different ages, some beardless, others with black or white
beards.2 Above are traces of the frames of six oblong scenes, which may
have told the story. The niche already mentioned contained, apparently,
full-length figures of saints. A small loculus has been cut in the wall
below it.
Of the end-wall of the chapel, the space to the left of the apse only
retains the painting of its lower part, i.e. the dado, but this is fairly perfect
(92). It shows, on a white ground, two (originally there must have been
three) large Latin crosses of gold studded with jewels, enclosed in wreaths
or crowns. Ornaments are suspended from the arms and from chains
which unite the ends of the cross, and the centre is formed by a medallion
containing, in the cross to the left, a head of Christ. In the other case the
centre is damaged, but the indications point to a head of the Virgin. On
either side of the base of the cross is a palm branch. The whole arrange-
ment no doubt represents the hanging crowns and crosses (generally con-
taining lights) which were a regular ornament of churches of the period.
Above the wreaths and between them is represented a small jewelled
crown (like the Iron Crown of Monza) suspended by three chains. In the
corresponding space below, two lambs stand facing one another, while the
angle on the right is filled up by a peacock.
We next come to the apse which is occupied by a representation of the
Forty Martyrs undergoing their martyrdom of exposure in a lake near
Sebaste in Armenia (93). The right-hand portion is the best preserved.
The figures, like a crowd facing the spectator, stand, not on the ice, as in
1 Federici (Z.c. p. 46) gives some graffiti here, but I confess that I can make nothing out of the
traces on the wall.
2 This agrees with the Byzantine Manual. Didron, 326 sq.