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The Apsidal Arch Mosaics in the Church of SS. Nereus and Achilleus

Alvarez Largaespada, Analaura
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Abstract
Described as being “decorated on a wondrous scale” by the Liber Pontificalis, the church of SS. Nereus and Achilleus was rebuilt by Pope Leo III (795-816) during the last years of his papacy in 814. Inside, the church displays a unique composition on the apsidal arch with the Transfiguration of Christ on the center, flanked by an Annunciation scene on the right and an enthroned Virgin and Child on the left. While representations of the Transfiguration on a monumental level already existed elsewhere, the Transfiguration scene in SS. Nereus and Achilleus was a novel sight in Rome. For the Virgin Mary, instead, pictorial precedents can be found in the city and her unique intercessory position had already made her popular among popes. Both the meaning of the Transfiguration of Christ and the role of the Virgin Mary in art, albeit separately, have been extensively discussed by scholars and theologians, and while generic interpretations have been given about the program on the arch of SS. Nereus and Achilleus, none really fully consider the iconographic, theological, and political factors that could have played a role in the creation of the apsidal iconography. That being said, this thesis will examine the iconographic antecedents of the Transfiguration of Christ and the Virgin Mary in Rome, with the aim of understanding the unprecedented semantic synthesis that was achieved in the church of SS. Nereus and Achilleus, and the ways the mosaic program engaged with contemporary church politics.
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Thesis (B.A. in Art History, Minor in Humanistic Studies)--John Cabot University, Spring 2020.
Date
2020
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Mosaics, Early Christian mosaics
Citation
Alvarez Largaespada, Analaura. "The Apsidal Arch Mosaics in the Church of SS. Nereus and Achilleus". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2020.
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