S.Agnese fuori le Mura: SunDial
Date: 04/27/2007
Once inside the current main entrance to the complex, one passes into a large cloister which a sundial mounted on a tower. Very impressive and calmly beautiful.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Lamb of God
Date: 04/27/2007
Decoration over one of the doors.
The lamb is an artistic attribute (symbol) for St Agnes due to a play on words in Latin. Agnus = lamb; Agnes = given name.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: stairway down to the basilica
Date: 04/27/2007
You has the impression of passing deep into the earth, of moving through history. The walls are decorated with fragments of funerary inscriptions and carvings from the catacombs here.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Funerary fragment 287
Date: 04/27/2007
Note the almost cubist/geometric dove (symbol of peace and/or the Christian soul) and the ribbon or arabesque.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: The glass door into the basilca at the bottom of the stairway
Date: 04/27/2007
Note the baroque fresco and the stained glass lamb in the door
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: niche with Cross as Tree of Life
Date: 04/27/2007
outside the basilica at the bottom of the stairs is this lovely decorated niche.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Tombstone of St Agnes?
Date: 04/27/2007
Perhaps from the original tomb of the saint herself, who now lies in an antique urn under the main altar of the basilica
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Detail of a funerary sculpture
Date: 04/27/2007
A bearded male figure, perhaps a prophet or apostle
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Funerary Inscription
Date: 07/31/2007
Agnesanctissima = Agnes the most holy woman
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Funerary sculpure 245
Date: 07/31/2007
Detail perhaps of a sarcophagus, showing a bearded man holding a book with his hand raised in blessing and a basket of scrolls at his feet. Perhaps an apostle or prophet...
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: A priest celebrating Mass
Date: 07/31/2007
At the high altar of the basilica
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: the ceiling
Date: 07/31/2007
the lovely pholychrome gilt coffered ceiling of the basilica
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: A side chapel
Date: 04/27/2007
dedicated to a female martyr, perhaps St Emerentiana, Agnes's servant
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: devotional picture of St. Joseph
Date: 04/27/2007
husband of the Virgin Mary
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: High Altar (detail)
Date: 04/27/2007
showing the Borghese coat of arms done in pietra dura (semi-precious stones).
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
Date: 04/27/2007
Note the late medieval painting of the Madonna and Child enthroned
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: deatil of the ceiling
Date: 07/31/2007
The painted and gilt ceiling dates from the 1600s. This particular coffer shows St. Cecilia, another of the early Roman virgin-martyrs.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: bronze scultpure of St Agnes
Date: 04/27/2007
A modern statue which has been in various places in the basilica; it is currently in the presbyterium (the place where the priests sit) in the apse.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Apsidal Mosaic
Date: 07/31/2007
St Agnes in the center with Popse Honorius I, who built the current bailica (7th century) on the left (holding a model of the church, and Pope St. Symmachus on the right.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: A side chapel
Date: 04/27/2007
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: the Apse
Date: 07/31/2007
Showing the ciborium, high altar, modern bronze sculpture of St Agnes
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: the Apse and Triumphal Arch
Date: 07/31/2007
Note the mosaic in the semi-dome of the apse and the mosaics and paintings over the archway separating the apse from the nave of the basilica.
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: arcades of the nave 1
Date: 07/31/2007
Note the second story of arches. This is the "matroneum" or "women's gallery".
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: arcades of the nave 2
Date: 07/31/2007
note how gracefully majestically the arches seem to move and draw the eye forward and upward....
S.Agnese fuori le Mura: Portrait of Pope Paul V Borghese
Date: 07/31/2007
Whose coat of arms is one the side of the main altar
S.Costanza: approaching the circular church
Date: 04/27/2007
the path leading to the entrance to this basilica from the 4th century
S.Costanza: The Ambulatory Basilica 1
Date: 04/27/2007
apparently a large pilgrimage church built at the same time as the tomb of S.Costanza in the late 4th century
S.Costanza: The Ambulatory Basilica 2
Date: 04/27/2007
St Agnes seems to have been venerated to a very high degree, since this church was built to accomodate many hundreds of visitors to her tomb.
S.Costanza: Interior 1
Date: 04/27/2007
This circular church with a high central drum is very dramatic and beautiful
S.Costanza: detail of ceiling mosaic
Date: 07/31/2007
The entire circular barrel vault is decorated with gorgeous mosaics. This section is geometric patterns
S.Costanza: ceiling mosaics of the ambulatory barrel vault 3
Date: 07/31/2007
note the mythological and other figures in the geomteric gridwork. Quite spectacular!
S.Costanza: ceiling mosaics of the ambulatory barrel vault 4
Date: 07/31/2007
Note the peacock, a symbol of royalty and resurrection
S.Costanza: apsidal fresco
Date: 04/27/2007
Jesus gives the law to Peter. The scroll reads "Dominus pacem dat." (The Lord gives peace.)
