Mosaic Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Renaissance and Baroque==== Although mosaics went out of fashion and were substituted by frescoes, some of the great Renaissance artists also worked with the old technique. [[Raphael]]'s [[Creation of the World (Raphael)|Creation of the World]] in the dome of the [[Chigi Chapel]] in [[Santa Maria del Popolo]] is a notable example that was executed by a Venetian craftsman, Luigi di Pace. During the papacy of [[Clement VIII]] (1592β1605), the "Congregazione della Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro" was established, providing an independent organisation charged with completing the decorations in the newly built [[St. Peter's Basilica]]. Instead of frescoes the cavernous Basilica was mainly decorated with mosaics. Among the explanations are: # The old St. Peter's Basilica had been decorated with mosaic, as was common in churches built during the early Christian era; the 17th century followed the tradition to enhance continuity. # In a church like this with high walls and few windows, mosaics were brighter and reflected more light. # Mosaics had greater intrinsic longevity than either frescoes or canvases. # Mosaics had an association with bejeweled decoration, flaunting richness. The mosaics of St. Peter's often show lively [[Baroque]] compositions based on designs or canvases from like [[Ciro Ferri]], [[Guido Reni]], [[Domenichino]], [[Carlo Maratta]], and many others. [[Raphael]] is represented by a mosaic replica of this last painting, the [[Transfiguration (Raphael)|Transfiguration]]. Many different artists contributed to the 17th- and 18th-century mosaics in St. Peter's, including [[Giovanni Battista Calandra]], [[Fabio Cristofari]] (died 1689), and [[Pietro Paolo Cristofari]] (died 1743).<ref>DiFederico, F. R. (1983), ''The mosaics of Saint Peter's Decorating the New Basilica'', University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, pp. 3β26.</ref> Works of the Fabbrica were often used as papal gifts. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page