Santa Costanza
![View of the mausoleum of Santa Costanza and the remaining wall of the Constantinian basilica (photo taken from its apse).](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Santa_Costanza_-_vista_dalla_basilica_costantiniana.jpg)
According to the traditional view, Santa Costanza was built around the reign of Constantine I as a mausoleum for his daughter Constantina, later also known as Constantia or Costanza, who died in AD 354. However, more recent excavations have called this date (and therefore the original purpose of the building) into question. Ultimately, Constantina's sarcophagus was housed here, but it may have been moved from an earlier location.
The mausoleum is of circular form with an ambulatory surrounding a central dome. The fabric of Santa Costanza survives in essentially its original form. Despite the loss of the coloured stone veneers of the walls, some damage to the mosaics and incorrect restoration, the building stands in excellent condition as a prime example of Early Christian art and architecture. The vaults of the apses and ambulatory display well preserved examples of Late Roman mosaics. A key component which is missing from the decorative scheme is the mosaic of the central dome. In the sixteenth century, watercolours were made of this central dome so the pictorial scheme can be hypothetically reconstructed. The large porphyry sarcophagus of either Constantina or her sister Helena has survived intact, and is now in the Vatican Museum – an object of great significance to the study of the art of Late Antiquity. Provided by Wikipedia
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267by Bellopede Pasquale, Sbreglia Costanza, Perrella Alessandro, Morelli Giuseppe, Riccio Vincenzo, Perrella OresteGet full text
Published 2009-01-01
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270by Sara Flisi, Manuel Dall’Aglio, Costanza Spadini, Clotilde Silvia Cabassi, Fausto QuintavallaGet full text
Published 2018-01-01
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274by Sandro Sacchelli, Tommaso Cavuta, Costanza Borghi, Maria Cipollaro, Roberto Fratini, Iacopo BernettiGet full text
Published 2021-06-01
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279by Costanza Culmone, Paul W J Henselmans, Remi I B van Starkenburg, Paul BreedveldGet full text
Published 2020-01-01
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280by Simone Taddei, Giovanni Moreno, Clotilde Silvia Cabassi, Emiliana Schiano, Costanza Spadini, Sandro CaviraniGet full text
Published 2021-03-01
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