RUSUTI, Filippo

Around 1300 the work of Roman mosaicists extended to the exteriors as well. At Santa Maria Maggiore mosaics were not only added to the interior but also to the outside of the apse and the fa�ade. Only the fa�ade mosaics, commissioned by the cardinals Jacopo and Pietro Colonna, have survived. They are now hidden behind the eighteenth-century narthex and bear the Signature of Filippo Rusuti. In their upper section they picture Christ enthroned between angels and saints, but in the lower one are four scenes recounting the story of the basilica’s founding. No other works by Rusuti have survived.

The picture shows the former fa�ade of Santa Maria Maggiore. The mosaic decoration was completed by Filippo Rusuti c. 1300. The upper section shows Christ enthroned in an aureole of glory supported by angels, toward which a procession of saints is moving. The lower section shows the legendary founding of the basilica by Pope Liberius.

Around 1300 the work of Roman mosaicists extended to the exteriors as well. At Santa Maria Maggiore mosaics were not only added to the interior but also to the outside of the apse and the fa�ade. Only the fa�ade mosaics, commissioned by the cardinals Jacopo and Pietro Colonna, have survived. They are now hidden behind the eighteenth-century narthex and bear the Signature of Filippo Rusuti. In their upper section they picture Christ enthroned between angels and saints, but in the lower one are four scenes recounting the story of the basilica’s founding. No other works by Rusuti have survived.

Around 1300 the work of Roman mosaicists extended to the exteriors as well. At Santa Maria Maggiore mosaics were not only added to the interior but also to the outside of the apse and the fa�ade. Only the fa�ade mosaics, commissioned by the cardinals Jacopo and Pietro Colonna, have survived. They are now hidden behind the eighteenth-century narthex and bear the Signature of Filippo Rusuti. In their upper section they picture Christ enthroned between angels and saints, but in the lower one are four scenes recounting the story of the basilica’s founding. No other works by Rusuti have survived.