Posted on 12/30/2020 5:24:16 PM PST by marshmallow
VATICAN CITY — Even though the baptisms the pope celebrates most years in the Sistine Chapel are better known, the most important place to be baptized in Rome for the past nearly 1,600 years has been the baptistery of St. John Lateran.
The ancient baptistery was built in 440 A.D. just behind the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which was the first Christian basilica founded in Rome by Emperor Constantine in 324 A.D. For generations, it had been the only baptistery in Rome, and, according to the baptistery website, there has never been a year since it was built that a baptism has not been celebrated within its walls.
Almost as old as the fifth-century structure itself, there is a half-dome of mosaics from about 450 A.D. decorating a side chapel, and experts believe they are among the oldest mosaics in Christianity.
"But there's a problem here. A restoration problem. So the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums have stepped forward once again" to dedicate the funds needed to restore the badly damaged and important piece of Christian art and history, Mary Angela Schroth, the project's coordinator, told Catholic News Service.
Most often, water, time and grime are an artwork's worst enemy, but sometimes the damage is caused by past restorers. That is what mosaicist Roberto Cassio and his small team from the Vatican Museums found when they set up scaffolding and got a close look at mosaics in the chapel's small apse and on a side wall, Schroth said.
For example, a huge metal clamp juts out from the side wall, jerry rigging into place a large panel of stone mosaics embedded in cement -- one of the worst mediums to use for supporting mosaics, Cassio told CNS.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicsentinel.org ...
This baptistry is breathtaking inside. It was apparently situated at the site of a natural spring.
The Architecture, including the rare magenta Roman marble is amazing for its era.
Cool post. I went to the website and was impressed by the beauty of the mosaics. I have nothing positive to say about the modern glass windows that they defaced the front of the building with. It is as if someone staples a pair on sunglasses on the face of the Mona Lisa, truly hideous and tacky.
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