Title of Art: Praxedes and Pudentiana
Date of Composition: late 300s
Art Form: Mosaic
Exhibit Institution: Basilica di Santa Pudenziana (Basilica of S. Pudenziana)
Exhibit Location: Rome, Italy
VM Image #: 0016
Photographer: Shala Graham
Date of Photograph: December 31, 2022
Subjects: Praxedes; Pudenziana
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Jesus enthroned in center of apse mosaic with four winged creatures appearing above him. He extends two fingers of his right hand; in his left, an open book with an inscription that means, "God is preserver of Church of Pudentiana." Below him, five apostles and a woman appear on both sides. The two women are Praxedes and Pudentiana; they are extending crowns over the heads of two apostles, possibly Paul and Peter. The apostle on the left, closest to Jesus, holds a book with an inscription.
The mosaic depicts Christ Pantocrator, the Almighty, in a scene out of Revelation 4. He is pointing with two fingers, a Nicene symbol of Jesus’ two natures. The apostles sit on either side of Him, while the four creatures representing possibly the four evangelists (angel, lion, ox, eagle) hover above the scene. The twelve apostles, two of whose images in the mosaic were lost over the years, sit at the table on both sides of Christ, who is centered. They all gesture among themselves, while two women, Praxedes and Pudentiana, one on either side of Christ, hold crowns over the heads of the two closest to Christ. The bearded men are dressed in the toga, senatorial dress. Christ himself is on an ornate throne.