Poreč, Cathedral of Eufrasius, mosaic, triumphal arch, medallions of Sts. Euphemia, Thecla and Valeria on intrados, right side
The intrados or underside of the triumphal arch is decorated with six medallions of virgin martyrs on each side. On the left, they are, from top to bottom, Sts. Agatha, Agnes, Cecilia, Eugenia, Basilissa and Felicitas. On the right (shown here), they are Sts. Euphemia, Thecla, Valeria, Perpetua, Susanna and Justina. The prominence of St. Euphemia at the top of the arch may affirm the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon (451) concerning Jesus’ divine and human nature, because the Council actually met in the church dedicated to St. Euphemia at Chalcedon (Terry and Maguire [2007], p. 133). The Istrian bishops held to the definitions pronounced at Chalcedon and resisted Emperor Justinian’s effort to modify its conclusions in 543/44 through the condemnation of the Three Chapters (a set of theological writings alleged to separate excessively the human and divine natures of Christ). The emperor sought to appease the Monophysites who had rejected the Council of Chalcedon and emphasized the single, divine nature of Christ, but this produced a schism when the bishops of Istria and other northern Italian sees rejected the emperor’s action. Cited sources: Terry, Ann and Henry Maguire. Dynamic Splendor: The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč. Univ. Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State UP, 2007. D'Emilio photo archive no. 19773716_1278uGalleries:Cathedral of Eufrasius, Poreč, Croatia, Intrados or soffit of an arch with decoration, Italy and the Adriatic, 500s, Mosaic, St. Euphemia, virgin and martyr, St. Thecla, virgin and martyr, St. Valeria, virgin and martyrKeywords:gold, martyrs, medallionsPhoto Location: Poreč, CroatiaPhotographer: Dr. James D’EmilioDevice Make: NikonDevice Model: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 EDOriginal Dimensions: 3594×5238Picture Orientation: PortraitGPS Coordinates:Picture Number: 22239
WARNING: You are about to download a 50.0 MB TIFF!
Normally such a large file is only needed for high quality printing purposes. If you are certain that you need such a large file, click the DOWNLOAD button to begin.
If you do not wish to download the large TIFF, just click the × in the top right-hand corner to close this alert.
