Santa Pudenziana:
​Mosaics

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Map

Apse mosaic

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The church of Santa Pudenziana, which is thought to have been built c. 390, is home to the oldest mosaic to be found in the apse of any church in Rome. 

The church is dedicated to St Pudentiana, sister of St Praxedes (whose own church lies nearby), and daughter of the Roman senator Pudens, who is thought to have given hospitality to St Peter in a house on this site, when the apostle first arrived in Rome. 

When the church was renovated in the late 1580s the mosaic was badly damaged and as a result it was reduced in size. The original mosaic had the full figures of the apostles in two rows, including two more at each end. And below Christ there was a dove and a lamb atop a mound from which flowed four rivers.  

Christ, the only figure to have a halo (to be expected in a mosaic of such an early date), is seated on a throne above the apostles. He extends his right hand in blessing and in his left hand he holds a book, which is open to reveal the words: DOMINVS CONSERVATOR ECCLESIAE PVDENTIANAE (The Lord, Preserver of the Church of Pudentiana). The two female figures behind Saints Peter and Paul are not, as some once claimed, Saints Pudenziana and Prassede, but are in fact personifications of Ecclesia and Synagoga, the Gentile and Jewish elements of early Christianity. 

Above the arcade of windows, which forms the background to the figures, are rows of decoration in green and gold (intended to represent the tiles of the roof). Above the roof we see groups of buildings. In the colourfully striated sky, we see the symbols of the four evangelists and an immense jewelled cross. ​

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Gallery