Mosaic

Appia Antica, Aventino, Ostiense

Mosaic
Placed above the entrance of the church in counterfacade, the mosaic is made up of a long inscription of dedication to the basilica, in golden letters on a blue background, celebrating the Church of  Santa Sabina as a “wonder” created by Pietro d’Illiria at the time of Pope Celestine I. At the sides of the text are depictions personifying the Ecclesia Ex Circumcisione (the church that came out of the Jewish world) and the Ecclesia Ex Gentibus (the church which grew out of the pagan world), respectively represented by the Old and New Testaments.