Jacopo
da Camerino and Jacopo da Torriti
The
Apse Mosaic at the Basilica of St. John Lateran
1291-92
Basilica
of St. John Lateran, Rome
Some parts of the mosaic may be as old as the fourth and ninth
centuries, but it is nevertheless a single artwork with a single
iconographic program. It is actually a
Crucifixion image, with the historical crucifixion represented in the
small medallion at the center of the cross and the rest a meditation on
the timeless meaning of that event.
In this work, the cross
is
Christ. Like Christ in the Deësis
it is
flanked by Mary and John the Baptist. Four of the other saints
who flank it carry scrolls attesting to Christ's divinity. From it flow
the streams of
water from which the stags are
drinking, an allusion to Ps. 42:1, "As the
hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after
thee, O God.
Most importantly, the flowing streams and the vibrant river life at the
bottom of the image (see detail)
refer to Ezekiel
47 (cached), which is
read in Roman Catholic churches each year on the Feast of the
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (November 8). In this chapter Ezekiel is
given a vision of streams flowing out from the Temple to all the
land, making it fertile and healing even the salt sea: "There
shall be fishes in abundance...and all
things shall live to which the torrent shall come.... And by the
torrent on the banks thereof on both sides shall grow all
trees that bear fruit...and their fruit
shall not fail (9, 12)." In traditional Christian interpretation,
the Temple of this vision is Christ, and the water is the water of
baptism. Thus the mosaic labels the river as IORDANES, the Jordan, symbol of Christian
baptism.
The central meaning, then, is that the cross of Christ fulfills the
promise of salvation made to Ezekiel, restoring mankind and
indeed all of nature to
God's grace. We are again in Eden, as is also suggested by the
fact that there are four streams, like the four rivers flowing from
Eden in Genesis
2:10-14 (cached).
This restoration is also suggested by the Tree of Life between the
streams, with a phoenix perched in it, and by the New Jerusalem
directly below. It is a theme is especially suited to
the St. John Lateran, which was originally called the Basilica of the
Savior.
The
figures in the mosaic are identified by labels. On the left (see detail) are
St. Paul, St. Peter, St. Francis of Assisi, and a smaller figure of
Pope Nicholas IV, who ordered the 13th century work. The Virgin
places her right hand on his tiara. The scroll in St. Paul's hand
has the words salvatorem
expectantes, apparently from Titus 2:13, which in full reads expectantes beatam spem et
adventum gloriae magni Dei et salvatoris
nostri Iesu Christi ("Looking for the blessed hope
and coming of the glory of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ"). St. Peter's
scroll bears the words he spoke to Jesus in Matthew 16:16, tu es christus filius dei vivi ("you
are the Christ, the son of the living God").
On the right (see detail) are St.
John the Baptist, a smaller figure of St. Anthony
of Padua (1195-1231), St. John the Evangelist, and St. Andrew. The
Evangelist's scroll reads in
principio erat verbum, the first words of his gospel ("In the
beginning was the Word"). I have not been able to identify the
words on Andrew's scroll, but they begin with tu es ("thou art") -- it was
Andrew who first suggested to Peter that Jesus was the Messiah.
It should be no surprise that Camerino and Torriti included St. Francis
and his follower St. Anthony, because these artists were themselves
Franciscan friars, and Nicholas their patron was the first
Franciscan Pope.
Details from the image:
More
of the Crucifixion and the Cross
Photographed at the
site by Richard Stracke