Monuments of the early church . atuesque majesty with which theystand out against the dark blue background, produces an effectwhich cannot readily be forgot. Christ stands upon a shim-mering path of cloud; out of the rosy clouds above his headthe hand of God was originally extended with the crown ofrecompense (now destroyed by a window opening). Christalone has the nimbus; he wears a white tunic and palliumstiffly embroidered with gold; the right hand is stretched outwith a gesture of proclamation, the left holds a scroll. The 312 nCTOlilAL ART face of Christ i)resents a type which we have not
Monuments of the early church . atuesque majesty with which theystand out against the dark blue background, produces an effectwhich cannot readily be forgot. Christ stands upon a shim-mering path of cloud; out of the rosy clouds above his headthe hand of God was originally extended with the crown ofrecompense (now destroyed by a window opening). Christalone has the nimbus; he wears a white tunic and palliumstiffly embroidered with gold; the right hand is stretched outwith a gesture of proclamation, the left holds a scroll. The 312 nCTOlilAL ART face of Christ i)resents a type which we have not hithertoseen ; his hair falls beneath his shoulders, he wears a fullbeard; the face is longer and older than usual, and has an ex-pression which is severe without being harsh. The face of , who stands on the right, is also more characteristicallymarked than usual. The two Apostles are presenting to Christthe physicians Cosmas and Damianus, martyrs of Media andpatrons of this church. At the right is the figure of S, Theo-. FiG. 129. —Apsidal mosaic of SS. Cosma niid i:oiii^-. Sixth century. Christstands upon the clouds of lu-aven, Peter and Paul introduce the Median martyrs, Cosmasand Daniianus, patrons of the church, together with S. Theodore and Felix IV., thefounder of the church. dore, likewise offering his crown to Christ; and on the left isrepresented Pope Felix (restored) offering the model of thechurch which he here dedicates. On either side are the tra-ditional palms; upon one of them is perched the jjhoenix, thebird of immortality, with a rayed nimbus about its head. Thisfigure, which is hardly visible in the illustration, is close tothe right hand of Christ. Below is represented the Lamb withthe nimbus, standing upon the mountain. The four streamsare here named: Geon, Fyson, Tigris, Eufrata. The twelvesheep issue as usual from Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The arch above, which has unfortunately been largely de- MOSAICS— S. Lorenzo 313 stroy 3d, repre
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectchristi, bookyear1901
