The Mosaic Masterpieces of Rome: Sacred Stories in the Eternal City

Next, we’re heading into the heart of one of Rome’s most beautiful neighborhoods. The narrow streets of chic Monti are home to buzzing wine bars and boutiques, but things weren’t always so salubrious around here. Thousands of years ago, this was ancient Rome’s most notorious slum, a vast area that extended from near the Imperial Fora all the way to the Esquiline Hill. Home to a large population of prostitutes and ne’er-do-wells, the creaking tenements of the Suburra were extremely unsafe, and fire ripped through the cramped dwellings with alarming regularity. Exploring Monti today, you’d never guess the dark history of one of Rome’s most glamorous quarters! We’ll be taking a stroll up the neighborhood’s major thoroughfare, Via Urbana, to the next stop on our tour, the extraordinary but out-of-the-way church of Santa Pudenziana.

Despite the fact that you won’t see Santa Pudenziana on most tourist itineraries in Rome, this venerable basilica is home to an extraordinary hidden treasure inside. The church itself is one of the very oldest in Rome, with origins dating all the way back to the second century AD. The real highlight here is the apse mosaic, a stunning example of early-Christian art.

Commissioned by Pope Innocent I in the wake of the Gothic sack of Rome in 410 AD, the mosaic portrays Christ seated on an emperor’s throne, flanked by apostles dressed in the distinctive togas of Roman senators – this fascinating fusion of Roman imperial iconography and classical style with Christian themes showcases the pivotal transformation of ancient Roman civilization into a new Christian era. This beautiful mosaic was to have a seismic impact on the history of Western art and established many aspects of Christian iconography that you’ll see repeated all across Rome and beyond.

The 9th-century reign of Pope Paschal 1st ushered in a great golden age of art in Rome, revitalizing the battered Dark-Age city in the process. As a wave of iconoclasm devastated the prospects of artists and mosaicists in contemporary Constantinople, the enterprising pontiff invited the newly unemployed craftsmen to Rome with open arms and had them set about beautifying the city’s churches – and burnishing his own family’s legacy.

Perhaps the most spectacular result of this happy coming together is the marvelous church of Santa Prassede. A series of glittering mosaics decorate the church’s sanctuary, featuring an array of apostles and angels, as well as the pious sisters Prassede and Pudenziana themselves, dressed in the opulent outfits of Byzantine princesses.

On our tour, we’ll also get to take a look at the stunning chapel of San Zeno, one of the greatest artistic hidden gems in all of Rome. Here, jaw-dropping golden mosaics portray Christ being carried aloft by four angels alongside scenes from the Bible and the lives of the Saints. The amazing chapel was commissioned as the final resting place for Paschal’s mother, Theodora, who you can spy in one of the mosaics – her square nimbus halo indicates that she was still alive when the mosaics were completed.