Crowns of Martyrdom
| Name of text: | Crowns of Martyrdom |
| Author of text: | Prudentius |
| Date of text: | ca. 400 |
| Date of person in text: | 348 - ca. 413 |
| Name of structure in text: | Old St. Peters Baptistry |
| Type of structure in text: | Baptistery |
| Date of structure in text | 4th century |
| Century of structure 1: | 4 AD |
| Century of structure 2: | |
| Country in text: | Italy |
| Region in text: | Lazio |
| City in text: | Rome |
| Specific place of mosaic in text: | Ceiling |
| Description of mosaic in text: | Painting in diverse hues colours the glassy waves from above, so that mosses seem to glisten and the gold is tinged with green, while the water turns dark blue where it takes on the semblance of the overhanging purple, and one would think the ceiling was dancing on the waves. There the shepherd himself nurtures his sheep with the ice-cold water of the pool, for he sees them thirsting for the rivers of Christ. |
| Mosaic date in text: | 4 AD |
| Tesserae silver mentioned in text? | No |
| Tesserae gold mentioned in text? | Yes |
| Colour descriptions in text: | purple |
| Bibliography: | Prudentius, ‘Crowns of Martyrdom, XII, 37-44, in Prudentius, trans. by H. J. Thomson, 2 vols (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1952), vol. 2, pp. 324-7 Muntz, Eugene, ‘The Lost Mosaics of Rome IV to IX Century’, The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, 2.3 (1886), 295-313, see p. 296 |
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| Comments: | This entry is speculative as Prudentius does not specifically state he is referring to a mosaic. However Muntz argues that it is a mosaic which is reflected in a pool and includes an image of Christ the Shepherd. |