The upper church, in spite of modernizations under Clement XI. in the last century, retains more of the details belonging to primitive ecclesiastical architecture than any other building in Rome. It was consecrated in memory of Clement, the fellow-labourer of St Paul, and the third bishop of Rome, upon the site of his family house. It was already important in the time of Gregory the Great, who here read his thirty-third and thirty-eighth homilies. It was altered by Adrian I. in A.D. 772, and by John VIII. in A.D. 800, and again restored in A.D. 1099 by Paschal II., who had been cardinal of the church, and who was elected to the papacy within its walls. The greater part of the existing building is thus either of the ninth or the twelfth century.
At the west end a porch supported by two columns, and attributed to the eighth century, leads into the quadriporticus, from which is the entrance to the nave, separated from its aisles by sixteen columns evidently plundered from pagan buildings. Raised above the nave and protected by a low marble wall is the cancellum, preserving its ancient pavement, ambones, altar, and episcopal throne.
"In S. Clemente, built on the site of his paternal mansion, and restored at the beginning of the twelfth century, an example is still to be seen, in perfect preservation, of the primitive church; everything remains in statu quo—the court, the portico, the cancellum, the ambones, paschal candlestick, crypt, and ciborium—virgin and intact; the wooden roof has unfortunately disappeared, and a small chapel, dedicated to St. Catherine, has been added, yet even this is atoned for by the lovely frescoes of Masaccio. I most especially recommend this relic of early Christianity to your affectionate and tender admiration. Yet the beauty of S. Clemente is internal only, outwardly it is little more than a barn."—Lord Lindsay.
On the left of the side entrance is the Chapel of the Passion, clothed with frescoes of Masaccio, which, though restored, are very beautiful—over the altar is the Crucifixion, on the side walls the stories of St. Clement and St Catherine.
"The celebrated series relating to St. Catherine is still most striking in the grace and refinement of its principal figures:
"1. St. Catherine (cousin of the Emperor Constantine) refuses to worship idols.
"2. She converts the empress of Maximin. She is seen through a window seated inside a prison, and the empress is seated outside the prison, opposite to her, in a graceful listening attitude.
"3. The empress is beheaded, and her soul is carried to heaven by an angel.
"4. Catherine disputes with the pagan philosophers. She is standing in the midst of a hall, the forefinger of one hand laid on the other, as in the act of demonstrating. She is represented fair and girlish, dressed with great simplicity in a tunic and girdle,—no crown, nor any other attribute. The sages are ranged on each side, some lost in thought, others in astonishment, the tyrant (Maximin) is seen behind, as if watching the conference, while through an open window we behold the fire kindled for the converted philosophers, and the scene of their execution.
"5. Catherine is delivered from the wheels, which are broken by an angel.