The “Double Apostolate” as an Image of the Church. A Study of Early Medieval Apse Mosaic in Rome

Abstract

As large cities claimed apostolic founding of their churches, the Roman church declared that it was constituted on the “double apostolate” of Peter and Paul. The concordia apostolorum which results from the final agreement between the “former rivals” in this city is also seen as the foundation of the Roman church. The term concordia apostolorum has been applied to at least two image types which show the two apostles together. I propose that this name is more appropriate as a title for the well known Roman apse image of Christ flanked by the apostle princes than the traditional traditio legis, since the concordia and the double apostolate are concepts which relate the church to the city of Rome. Hence, the scheme with the two apostles which decorates so many Roman apses from Late Antiquity until the age of Paschal I can be seen as an emblem precisely of the Roman church.

Space and Art of the visual formula in Rome during the pontificate of Paschal Ist (817-824) : St Prassede's basilica

“…Les reliques concourent ainsi à la fondation d'une basilique en marquant et en s'appropriant un espace déterminant jusqu'à substituer un couple de figures fondatrices par un autre. De fait, la proximité des sépultures présumées de Romulus et Rémus, fondateurs mythiques de Rome, avec celles de Pierre et Paul lors de l'édification au IV e siècle des deux basiliques romaines leur étant dédiées, ne serait pas anodine 13 . Pierre et Paul interviennent ici en tant qu'intermédiaires et introduisent un couple de saints qui réactualise leurs statuts de figures fondatrices.…”