Mosaic of Christ flanked by the twelve *Apostles (S02422), on the triumphal arch over the central apse of the basilica of Eufrasius at Poreč (ancient Parentium) on Istria. Datable to the mid-6th c.
E08570
Images and objects - Wall paintings and mosaics
Mosaic at the top of the triumphal arch over the main apse of the church:
The twelve Apostles stand on either side of Christ, who is seated on a globe (though this globe may be the result of restoration) and is dressed in purple and bearing an open book with the inscription 'EGO SVM LVX VERA' (I am the true light). The Apostles, six on each side, face in towards Christ: Peter is carrying his keys; the others carry, in sequence, either a crown, a book, or some rolled up scrolls. All are dressed in the familiar 'philosophers robes', usual in representations of the apostles (see, for instance, the Apostles who appear in the two baptisteries of Ravenna: E05780 and E06018). Peter and Paul are shown with their usual hair-styles and colouring, Andrew has a head of familiarly wild hair, and John appears as a young man. We have not checked whether the rest conform to depictions of them elsewhere (some are bearded, some not, and a few are shown with grey hair).
They are each identified by a mosaic label.
From left to right:
S(AN)C(TV)S / SIM/ON (*Simon Kananaios, the Zealot, Apostle of Christ, S00835)
S(AN)C(TV)S / THO/MAS (*Thomas, the Apostle, S00199)
S(AN)C(TV)S / BART/OLOMEV/S (*Bartholomew, the Apostle, S00256)
S(AN)C(TV)S / IAC/OBVS (*James, the Apostle, son of Zebedee, S00108)
S(AN)C(TV)S / AND/REA (*Andrew, the Apostle, S00288)
S(AN)C(TV)S / PETR/VS (*Peter the Apostle, S00036)
[Christ on globe]
S(AN)C(TV)S / PAVL/VS (*Paul, the Apostle, S00008)
S(AN)C(TV)S / IOH/ANNES (*John, the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042)
S(AN)C(TV)S / FEL/IPPVS (*Philip, the Apostle, S00109)
S(AN)C(TV)S / MAT/TEVS (*Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist, S00791)
S(AN)C(TV)S / IACO / ALFEI (*James, the Apostle, son of Alphaeus, S01801)
S(AN)C(TV)S / IVDA/S IACO/BI (*Jude Thaddeus, Apostle, one of the Twelve, S00792)
The identification of each apostle is certainly correct. However, it should be noted that some of the inscribed labels were badly damaged when discovered in 1890 (see Terry and Maguire 2007, 176-8 and figs 240-247). So the precise original wording and spelling of every label cannot be guaranteed.
Description: Bryan Ward-Perkins
Cult building - independent (church)
Use of ImagesCommissioning/producing an image
Public display of an image
Source
The 'basilica of Eufrasius' is the southern, and larger, church of the palaeochristian double-cathedral of Poreč. Detailed survey and excavation reveals that Eufrasius partially reused the walls of an earlier church on the same site, but his intervention was extensive and transformational: new columns, capitals and bases in imported Proconnesian marble; mosaic floors; stucco-work; sumptuous opus sectile panels in the main apse; and the mosaics that are the subject of this and several other database entries.The precise dates of Eufrasius' episcopate are unknown, and nothing is known about him before he became bishop of Poreč - the only reference to him in textual sources is to a bishop Eufrasius, who must surely be our bishop, condemned as a defender of the Three Chapters in a letter of Pope Pelagius I of 559. Stylistic analysis of the mosaics, stucco-work and opus sectile, and comparison with very similar datable work in Ravenna (just across the north Adriatic), supports a mid-sixth-century date for Eufrasius' episcopate and his church (Terry and Maguire 2007, 59-69).
These mosaics of Christ and the Apostles, at the very top of the east wall of the basilica, were only discovered under a later cornice in 1890 (Terry and Maguire 2007, 51-52). As can be seen in the images reproduced by Terry and Maguire (figs. 240-247, two of which have been reproduced by us), this mosaic band was in poor condition when it was found, so much of what we see now is the result of restoration - in particular, the entire mosaic was lost from the level of the figures' waists downwards. Enough, however, survived (and was well documented in pre-restoration photographs), to show that what we see today of the figures' upper bodies and heads is substantially as they appeared in the sixth century.
Discussion
These images were certainly not 'cultic', in the sense of inviting active veneration; but we have included them in order to give full coverage to the images of saints at Poreč.Bibliography
For Eufrasius:Pietri, C. and Pietri, L., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 2 Prosopographie de l'Italie chrétienne (313-604), 2 vols. (Ècole française de Rome 1999), vol. 1, 671-2, 'Eufrasius'.
For the mosaics and their state of preservation:
Marucchi, O., "Le recenti scoperte nel duomo di Parenzo," Nuovo bullettino di archeologia cristiana, 2 (1896), pp. 14-26 and tav. I-II.
Terry, A. and H. Maguire, Dynamic Splendor. The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč, 2 vols, (Pennsylvania State University Press) 2007.
Images
)
The east end of the basilica of Eufrasius, with the twelve Apostles at the top. (Terry and Maguire 1977, fig. 3)
)
James the son of Alphaeus, and Jude Thaddeus, before restoration. (Terry and Maguire, 1977, fig. 246)
)
Drawing of the east end of the basilica of Eufrasius, before restoration of Christ and the Apostles. (Terry and Maguire 1977, fig. 220)
Bryan Ward-Perkins
25/11/2024
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00042 | John, the Apostle and Evangelist | Iohannes | Certain | S00108 | James, the Apostle, son of Zebedee | Iacobus | Certain | S00109 | Philip, the Apostle | Felippus | Certain | S00199 | Thomas, the Apostle | Thomas | Certain | S00256 | Bartholomew, the Apostle | Bartolomeus | Certain | S00288 | Andrew, the Apostle | Andrea | Certain | S00791 | Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist | Matteus | Certain | S00792 | Jude Thaddaeus, Apostle, one of the Twelve | Iuda Iacobi | Certain | S00835 | Simon Kananaios, the Zealot, apostle of Christ | Simon | Certain | S01801 | James, the Apostle, son of Alphaeus | Iaco Alfei | Certain | S02422 | All Apostles | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cult of Saints, E08570 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08570