Letter [13] to Pammachius
| Name of text: | Letter [13] to Pammachius |
| Author of text: | Paulinus of Nola |
| Date of text: | ca. 397 |
| Date of person in text: | Paulinus 354-431, Pammachius d. c. 409 |
| Name of structure in text: | Old St Peter's |
| Type of structure in text: | Church |
| Date of structure in text | 4th century |
| Century of structure 1: | 4 AD |
| Century of structure 2: | 13 AD |
| Country in text: | Italy |
| Region in text: | Lazio |
| City in text: | Rome |
| Specific place of mosaic in text: | Atrium, around Peter's tomb? |
| Description of mosaic in text: | They stood where, under its lofty roof, the huge basilica extends far beneath the central ceiling, and glittering afar from the apostle’s tomb arrests the eyes and delights the hearts of those who enter; or where under thee same imposing roof it extends sideways with twin colonnades on each side; or where the gleaming atrium merges with the projecting entrance, in which a cupola roofed with solid bronze adorns and shades a fountain spouting forth water to tend our hands and faces, and encloses the jets of water with four columns which lend it a mystical appearance. Such adornment is proper to the entrance of a church, so that the performance of the mystery of salvation within may be marked by a worthy construction without. |
| Mosaic date in text: | 4 AD |
| Tesserae silver mentioned in text? | No |
| Tesserae gold mentioned in text? | No |
| Colour descriptions in text: | |
| Bibliography: | Letters of Paulinus of Nota, Letter 13.13,trans. by P. G. Walsh (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1967), 2 vols, vol. 1, p. 129 |
| URLs: | |
| Comments: | Text does not specify mosaic - refers to 'glittering' and 'gleaming'. |