The Feast of Our Lady of the Snows and the Medieval Facade of Santa Maria Maggiore

In a previous article, we discussed the current baroque and previous medieval facade of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Like so many of the churches of Rome, it has seen an evolution in its appearance over the centuries. In general, antique, Roman inspired facades were, in the medieval period, frequently given an appearance more in keeping with the medieval's love of imagery and symbolism, covering them by way of mosaics and other techniques.  As tastes developed during and following the Renaissance and into the baroque age, seeking to reclaim the classical past, these facades were changed yet again, this time far more radically. Here, for example is what the facade looks like today, and what it looked like prior to 1743 when Pope Benedict XIV commissioned the new facade from Ferdinando Fuga.  

In many instances, the old facades were simply replaced and covered entirely over, but in the case of Santa Maria Maggior, the new facade took the form of a loggia, thus allowing the medieval mosaic work to be left not only undamaged but also still mainly visible. The follow engraving, dated to 1621, gives one a better sense of the form the twelfth century facade took:

While we have shown brief glimpses of these mosaics, we have never really provided a more detailed view of them to our readers, so today we will resolve that by providing some further photographs that we have taken of the mosaics recently, as most of this are not visible at street level -- they can, however, be accessed by way of the upper museum of the basilica.  

One of the first things you will notice here is that the main medieval Italian rose window is, regrettably, no longer intact, while the two smaller one's have been sealed off. However, if you are simply curious, here is a digital reconstruction that approximates what it might have looked like:

The other thing you will notice is that you can still see the curvature that our 1621 engraving showed us was found along the very top of the facade.

In terms of the mosaics themselves,  these were done by Filippo Rusuti (+1325) around the year AD 1300. Along the uppermost register we find an image of Christ enthroned, to eitherside, Ss. Peter and Paul, the Blessed Virgin, St. John the Baptist and other saints. Above these are found the symbols of the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, though they are no longer entirely visible. 

St. Paul and the Virgin Mary

St. Peter and to the left (not entirely visible) St. John the Baptist. 

Christ, Lord of the Universe, enthroned and surrounded by angels

Beneath these figures are various scenes depicting the Miracle of the Snows, whereby, according to tradition, a miraculous fall of snow occurred in August, in the midst of the heat of the Roman summer, in the year AD 352. This was interpreted as a miraculous sign from the Blessed Virgin Mary, indicating the spot where a church should be built in her honour, and so it was that Sant Maria Maggiore, the first and largest Marian church in Rome, came to be built upon this spot. 

August 5th marks the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, also referred to as the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, commemorates the dedication of the basilica and this miraculous event.

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