Together with the Saints in the New Jerusalem. The Presbytery of Santa Prassede between Paintings and Mosaics

From the time of Pope Paschal i (817-824), the iconographic program of the presbytery of the basilica of Santa Prassede is organized according to a system of images that can be read either individually or as an integrated whole. We attempted to decipher the hypertext present in the triumphal arch by retracing specific access codes. At the heart of the decorative program we find the Heavenly Jerusalem, surrounded by a cluster of powerful images. The triumphal arch is part of a representational program that involves the space and the images arrayed both in the presbytery and transept. These elements allow us to consider of several questions: what is represented on the Santa Prassede's triumphal arch? Did the Arch of Constantine serve as a model? What role did the images represented on the transept play and how did they correspond to the mosaics? Finally, for whom was the decoration of the presbytery of Santa Prassede intended?