Centcelles

The survey discusses wall- and vault mosaics (Centcelles, Rotunda Thessaloniki), floor mosaics (Aquileia, Madaba, Petra), paintings, textiles, sculpture, sumptuary arts (silver, ivory), iconographical themes (martyrs, Christ, baptism, crucifixion), etc.

Centcelles is a well-known monument, mainly for its mosaic decoration. However, its architecture has rarely been explored. This paper summarises a series of observations on the monument's construction technique, of which a preliminary study is produced. This has enabled us, along with previous work, to shed light on some unclear aspects and to suggest that the current building is the result of several construction phases, one of which is clearly sumptuary, perhaps incomplete. In this phase its ongoing occupation has been attested, which we can estimate ranged from Late Antiquity to the present. The paper features these observations with the aim of servings as a basis for a new way of studying and understanding this monument.