A fresco in the lower basilica of San Clemente, Rome, dated to about 1084 to 1100, showing the translation of the relics of Pope Clement I from Crimea to Rome. The scene shows Cyril, evangelizer of the Slavs, leading the procession with his brother Methodius beside him and the pope who received them, a great crowd of the faithful following the relics. Cyril himself had brought Clement's relics to Rome during his mission with Methodius, and the lower basilica already housed his own remains; a fragment of Cyril's relics, lost for a period, was recovered in the 1960s by Irish Dominican priests and placed in the church by Pope Paul VI. The fresco is one of the earliest surviving depictions of Cyril and stands in the same lower church that holds his relics, making San Clemente the single site most closely associated with his physical memory in art.
Facts
Custody
Current LocationLower Basilica of San Clemente, Rome, Italy 1 Current CustodianIrish Dominican community, Basilica di San Clemente 1 Subject Matter
Depicted SubjectCyril of Thessalonica leading the procession translating Saint Clement's relics to Rome, with Methodius and the pope who received them. 1 Rights and Reproduction
Reproduction and CopyrightSourced to the subject's own accountThis atlas describes and cites the fresco rather than reproducing an image of it. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Paul VI directly: "and placed in the church by Pope Paul VI."
This source names Slavs directly: "The scene shows Cyril, evangelizer of the Slavs, leading the procession with his brother Methodius beside him and the pope who received them, a great crowd of the faithful following the relics."
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