MARBLE CAPITAL OF THE SIXTH CENTURY, PARENZO
The present cathedral was erected by Euphrasius between 531 and 542. This is proved by his mosaic inscription, which states that "in the eleventh year of his episcopate" (543) he had endowed it; for the endowment would naturally come after the building. He found the second basilica likely to fall, with the roof only kept up by chains. The columns are of Greek cipollino, like those at S. Vitale, Spirito Santo, S. Francesco, SS. Apollinare Nuovo and in Classe, Ravenna, and in S. Maria, Pomposa, and were worked by the same workmen in the Proconesos workshops: for on columns at S. Vitale and Parenzo, and also at Pomposa, are found the same mason's marks, monograms uniting the letters ΠΤΕ for Petrus and Ιω for Joannes. The bases are Attic, as at Ravenna and SS. Sergius and Bacchus, Constantinople; and, of the eighteen caps in the nave, six are exactly similar to those of the lower arcade of S. Vitale, several are like others at Grado, two are like a damaged one at Pomposa, and others are much like some at Otranto and Rome. At Venice, too, capitals of the same types occur in considerable number. The super-abaci are of Greek marble, with a circular plaque bearing the monogram of Euphrasius. On the north the soffits of the arches retain the original stucco ornaments, all different; on the south they have disappeared.
OPUS SECTILE IN THE APSE, CATHEDRAL, PARENZO
The mosaics in the apse closely resemble those of the Arian baptistery at Ravenna in style. The figure of S. Maurus might almost have been worked from the cartoon of one of the Apostles there. In the centre of the semi-dome is a figure of the Virgin with the Infant Saviour, clothed in white and gold. Above, a hand holding a crown emerges from clouds. On each side are an angel and three large figures; on the left are Archbishop Claudius, Euphrasius the bishop, with a small figure of his son, and S. Maurus, holding a jewelled urn; Euphrasius holds his church. The three figures on the other side are unnamed; one bears a book, and the other two crowns. The ground is gold, and below, at the springing of the dome, is the long dedicatory inscription in gold letters on a blue ground. On the wall below are mosaics between the windows. An angel occupies the central pier, and on the piers on either side is a saint, probably SS. Maurus and John the Baptist. On the wide wall spaces beyond the windows are the Annunciation on the north, and the Salutation on the south. The soffit of the triumphal arch has medallions of female saints within wreaths, and at the summit an Agnus Dei. The lower part of the wall is separated from the mosaics by an ornamental plaster moulding, and is decorated with a remarkably fine series of panels in opus sectile, eight designs in couples answering to each other on either side, with a single design above the bishop's seat in the centre, on which the monogram of Euphrasius again occurs. The colours and materials used are green and red porphyry, two blues, a green vitreous paste, a dull-red marble, and a bluish-green marble which has perished a good deal and is now preserved under glass plates cut to fit the shapes, occasional spots of a beautiful orange colour, like a marble used in inlays at S. Vitale, a very dark blue, almost black, a pale yellow-green, and a pale purple like chocolate powder. The white is generally mother-of-pearl, or marble, veined with a pale grey, and a good deal of Oriental alabaster is used. The panel above the simple bishop's throne has a hill, with a golden cross on a green ground diapered with mother-of-pearl, and with tall panels at the sides with the seven golden candlesticks. On a lower level than the throne a marble seat runs round the apse, terminated by two slabs carved with dolphins.
The architect, Signor Tommaso Natale, discovered a mosaic above the triumphal arch a few years ago, which had been hidden by the late Renaissance "improvements." It consisted of a long strip of gold, on which the Apostles stood, clothed in white robes gemmed with crosses, six on each side of a central figure of Christ, robed in purple and seated on the globe. He has a cruciferous nimbus, and is blessing with the right hand, whilst with the left He holds an open book inscribed "Ego svm lvx vera." On the right are S. Peter with the keys, S. Andrew with a book, S. James with a crown, SS. Bartholomew and Thomas with books, and S. Simon with a crown; on the left S. Paul with two scrolls, S. John with a crown, SS. Philip and Matthew with books, S. James Alpheus with a crown, and S. Jude with a book. The names are inscribed above the figures, and a band of dark red with golden gems surrounds the whole. The heads of Christ and SS. Bartholomew and Matthew were damaged by brackets belonging to the roof. The whole of these mosaics have been restored by a Roman mosaicist, Signor Bornia.
The altar of Euphrasius was retained till the time of Bishop Folcherius (1208-1220), who substituted a larger one to contain more relics. A few years after, Bishop Adalpert raised the level of the choir about eight inches, and the altar to correspond, reconsecrating it May 8, 1233. The present ciborium was put up in 1277 by Bishop Otho, using the old columns and caps. It has slightly pointed arches, with Venetian dentil borderings, and mosaics in the spandrils. On the west side is the Annunciation, and on the other three sides heads of saints in circles; the vault is also covered with mosaic. A long inscription in Lombardic letters gives the date and the name of the donor.
The pala was made in 1452, and cost 600 ducats of gold, half of which the commune contributed by selling useless church objects, while half was paid by Bishop Giovanni, a Parentine by birth. It is a fine work in the style of the early Renaissance, with a Virgin and Child in the centre, S. Mark to the right, and S. Peter to the left, and outside of them a bishop with an elaborate crozier, and a deacon holding a model of the town—SS. Maurus and Eleutherius. The figures are within classical niches, the sides of which vanish in perspective towards the central point. Along the cornice runs a series of small medallions with busts of the Apostles. In the chapel of the Sacrament are some stalls to which the same date (1452) is given. They are quite Gothic as to the ornament and structure, and even the figures present considerable contrast with those of the pala. There are five seats with backs, canopy, and ends at each side of the altar. At each end are well-executed figures among foliage scrolls, which are out of scale—on one side, a Virgin and Child and a bishop; on the other, two saints, one of whom is an ecclesiastic. The uprights between the seats are faced with twisted colonnettes, and the backs have a quatrefoil pattern made by cutting the bars of a rectangular framing ornamentally.
HIGH-ALTAR, PARENZO, FROM THE SOUTH AISLE