San Paolo: Mosaic of the Apse

Title and Date of Work: 13th Century; Renovations Made Since

Name of Artist: Various Venetian Masters

Exact Location: San Paolo Fuori le Mura

Medium: Mosaic

Dimensions: 24m by 12m

     In the center of the Mosaic we see Christ making the symbol of the Trinity; this is Christ's hand displaying three fingers (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), the other fingers represent Christ's double nature, divine and human.

     To Christ's right we see Paul and Luke. Paul's name is the only name to be written in both Greek and Latin. To Christ's left we see Peter and Andrew.

     Christ is holding an open scroll displaying the last judgment. The scroll reads "Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the foundation of the world."

     The scroll that Paul is holding reads "At the name of Jesus, let every knee bow down, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth."

     Peter's scroll reads "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Maesta Tri Santi Giovanni Battista e Giovanni Evangelista

Title and Date of Work: Maesta Tri Santi Giovanni Battista e Giovanni Evangelista, 1368-1452
Name of Artist: Bicci di Lorenzo Exact Location: The Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Francis in The Frederick Mason Perkins Collection Assisi, Italy
Medium: Oil and Gold
Dimensions: About 3 feet by 1.5 feet

     This painting is one of fifty-eight pieces from Frederick Mason Perkins private art collection donated to the Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Francis. American painter, Perkins died in 1955, two years after signing his collection over to the Basilica. The reason he wanted his collection at Saint Francis's Treasury is to show his adoration and love for Saint Francis. He was baptized at Saint Francis’s and joined the Catholic Church. Therefore he adopted the name Francis and joined the family of Secular Franciscans at the Basilica.
     The collection left to the Basilica of Saint Francis contains art works from Sienese, Florentine, Emiliana, and Venetian styles and dates back from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries. From 1977 until 1997 the collection was located in an ancient dormitory of the Scared Convent but after an earthquake in 1997 the treasury was closed until resonantly being open to the public. The Frederick Mason Perkin’s collection broadened the culture heritage of the First Saint Francis Shrine endowing the Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Francis with Italian Gothic and Renaissance art works.