“Seventh Century Rome”: Santa Maria Antiqua and Pope Martin
I stick to the traditional dating of the Maccabees panel, the full-length portraits of Saint Anne, Saint Barbara, Saint Demetrios, the lower Annunciation in the nave, and layer 6 of the palimpsest wall to the pontificate of Pope Martin.
Making this material accessible to undergraduates presents, however, difficulties. The life of Pope Martin and the inscriptions on the scrolls of the Church Fathers on the palimpsest wall together create a compelling, if complex, historical context. Students can relate to the propagandistic value of these images. The panel of the Maccabees provides an occasion to explore a less popular Biblical account leading to a discussion of the presentation of these Old Testament figures as Christian martyrs. And the individual devotional panels depicting various saints all have holes where worshippers once attached precious materials as votive offerings in order to enhance the intercessory powers of the saints.
These ideas fascinate, but at the same time pull the students in so many directions!