Rome has a nearly inexhaustible supply of churches - and they’re significant churches with a rich history and magnificent art. While they don’t show up on most tourist itineraries, any one of them would rank as the top sight in most other cities.
The Basilica of Santa Pudenziana is recognized as the oldest place of Christian worship in Rome. It was erected over the 2nd c. home of Pudens, a Roman Senator and secretly a Christian, who, along with his two daughters, welcomed fellow believers into his home, a crime for which all three would pay with their lives. The church is dedicated to one of the daughters, Pudenziana, sister of Prassede whose nearby basilica we visited on a previous trip. The villa served as the residence of the pope until 313 when Constantine offered him the Lateran Palace instead. In the 4th c., the building was transformed into a basilica.
On the wall behind the high altar are three 19th c. paintings of Saints Timotheus, Pudentiana, and Novatus. High above it is a dome with a 14th c. fresco of Angels and Saints before the Savior. Inbetween is the artistic pièce de résistance of the church: the 4th c. mosaic apse. It is among the oldest in Rome and is noteworthy for its unusual iconography. In most early Christian images, Christ is represented symbolically as a lamb or the good shepherd, but here he is shown as a man with regal bearing, prefiguring the way Christ is depicted in Byzantine mosaics. He sits on a jewel encrusted throne, wearing a golden toga with purple trim, a sign of imperial authority. The pose is that of a classical Roman teacher with his right hand extended. In his left hand, he holds the text: "Dominus conservator ecclesiae Pudentianae" (the Lord is the preserver of the church of Pudenziana). He sits among his apostles, two of whom were removed during a 16th c. restoration. The apostles wear senatorial togas and all have individual expressions. Two female figures representing “Ecclesia” (the Church) and “Synagoga” (the Synagogue) hold wreaths above the heads of Peter and Paul. Above them are the roofs and domes of heavenly Jerusalem. Above Christ is a large jewel encrusted cross on the hill of Golgotha amidst the symbols of the Four Evangelists (angel, lion, ox and eagle) the oldest existing such representations.
The Peter Chapel contains part of the table at which Peter celebrated the Eucharist with Pudens in his house (we saw the rest of the table embedded in the altar of St. John Lateran on our last trip). The 16th c. sculpture on the altar depicts Christ giving the keys of heaven to St. Peter.
The richly decorated Caetani Chapel was designed in 1588. It is the family mausoleum of Pope Boniface VIII.
The Basilica of San Clemente allows visitors to descend through multiple levels of Rome’s past. We start at the top level with a 12th c. basilica which boasts a magnificent mosaic apse and Renaissance frescoes.
Descending to the next level, one enters the remains of the original 4th c. church. It was made from a Roman villa dating to 1st c. AD which served as a house church prior to it being turned into a basilica. The walls are decorated with frescos which were added in the 8th -11th centuries.
Going down one more level, we reach the remains of that 1st c. villa which include elements of a Mithraic temple, a popular Roman cult prior to the ascendancy of Christianity. Note the image of Mithras slaying a bull carved into a ruined altar. The scene is a common one in Mithraism and is almost certainly connected to one of the cult’s defining myths, but that story has been lost to history.
The video concludes with a series of still photos.
3 окт 2024
