Abstract

This article examines the apsidal mosaics of the San Venanzio Chapel (640-49) in the Baptistery S. Giovanni in Laterano to investigate the transfer of relics from the Adriatic coast to Rome as а specific example of the circulation of objects and ideas in the early Middle Ages. Starting with а close reading of the translation of the bodies of saints described in the Liber Pontificalis and combining it with analysis of the political relationships and interests of the papaсу and the Byzantine Empire in the Adriatic region in the early seventh century, the study attempts to establish а context that illuminates the iconographic choices made bу both Роре John IV and Popе Theodore I. These pictorial programs must as well bе seen as part of the Roman cult of relics in the way they contribute to the circulation and creation of visual dialogue among the great Roman archetypes specific to the Lateran.