# Apse mosaic [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MOSAIC ARTIST, Italian]() - Date: 1101-1150 - Technique: Mosaic ## Commentary The mosaic of Santa Maria Trastevere may be compared to early Christian apse mosaics not only in its large dimensions but also in terms of the compositional scheme, numerous specific motifs, and the formal design of particular figures. Quite unprecedented in the Roman tradition, by contrast, is the mosaic's true theme, represented by the two main figures, Christ and the Virgin seated together on a throne in the middle of the composition in the apse. Toward the end of the thirteenth century, the apse mosaic was supplemented by seven more mosaics, six of them narrating the life of the Virgin. Pietro Cavallini is documented as the creator of these mosaics in the apse. ## Related artworks - [Apse calotte mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse calotte mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse calotte mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse calotte mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse decoration \(detail\)]() - [Apse decoration]() - [Apse decoration]() - [Apse decoration]() - [Apse mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse mosaic \(detail\)]() - [Apse mosaic \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()