Vittoriano
The Lunette of the Niche of the Palliums is an artefact in gilded bronze with engravings and enamel inserts, decorated on both sides. The lamina on the front depicts twelve prophets and the twelve apostles in relief with, in the centre, Jesus as the Lamb of God and other symbols drawn from the Book of Revelation. Engraved on the back are bishops in arches over columns and a depiction of a Pope and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
According to some scholars, the Lunette originally crowned the so-called Niche of the Palliums in the confessio of the ancient St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, beneath the main altar. The niche was used to store the palliums, i.e. the white stoles embroidered with black crosses that Popes still confer upon bishops during a solemn investiture ceremony.
The Lunette was conserved for a long time in the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Venturella (Mentorella) at Capranica Prenestina but then stored in Palazzo Venezia in the second half of the last century.
The work was made in the first decade of the 13th century, during the pontificate of Innocent III (Lorario dei Conti dei Segni), who reigned from 1198 to 1216. The artifact is referred to The artifact is referred to a workshop of goldsmiths from Limoges operating in Rome, with influences from the Rhine and Meuse areas.
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“The Lunette is a precious example of the lost decoration of the mediaeval St Peter’s. The reconstruction of the Basilica in the Renaissance entirely cancelled an immense legacy of artworks that had been commissioned by popes, cardinals, kings and princes over more than a thousand years to make the location dedicated to the Saint ever more magnificent. All that remains is a partial memory in graphic and written sources and the few pieces saved during the works – some transferred to the Vatican Grottoes and some acquired by priests who, for their conservation, transferred them to family churches, sometimes outside Rome,” explains the curator Alessandro Tomei.
