Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Punishment of the Couple Ananias and Saphira
Alternate Title:
Altar of the Lie
Image View:
Detail of figure of St. Peter
Creator:
after Cristoforo Roncalli (Italian painter, ca. 1553-1626)
Location:
repository: Saint Peter's (Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano) (Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy)
Location Note:
Piazza di San Pietro
GPS:
41.902222 12.453333
Date:
mosaic 1725-1727 (creation); painting 1599-1604 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Baroque
Work Type 1:
altarpiece
Work Type 2:
micromosaic
Classification:
mosaics
Material:
colored glass and stone tesserae
Technique:
mosaic (process)
Description:
The altarpiece is a fine mosaic (micromosaic), dating from 1725-1727, copied after a Late Mannerist painting by Roncalli dated 1599-1604. From the Renaissance micromosaics began to be made in Italy, reaching the height of their popularity in the mid 19th century, when Rome was the center of production; there was a Vatican Mosaic Studio from 1576, set up to create mosaic replicas of the altarpieces in St. Peter's Basilica, which were being damaged by the humid conditions of the vast and crowded interior. The scene depicts the moment after lying to St. Peter, Saphira falls to the ground before the Apostle; in the background two young men carry the dead body of her husband, Ananias (Acts 5:1-11). (Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Main_Page)
Collection:
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A3-B-SPB-PAS-A04
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Punishment of the Couple Ananias and Saphira