Title of Art: (Pudenziana and Prassedes)
Art Form: Sculpture
Subjects: Prassede; Praxedes; Pudenziana; Pudentiana
Ritual Pose/Object: crown
Exhibit Institution: Basilica di Santa Pudenziana (Basilica of S. Pudenziana)
Exhibit Location: Rome, Italy
VM Image #: 0018
Photographer: Shala Graham
Date of Photograph: December 31, 2022
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Frieze in pediment above main door; both sisters Pudenziana (Pudentiana) and Prassede (Praxedes) wearing crowns. Between them, the image of a lamb wearing crown with cross behind, the symbol of Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God.
On the frieze, Prassede (Praxedes) and Pudenziana (Pudentiana) are memorialized with the prominent men associated with the history of the basilica: Pudens, possibly their father or grandfather, and Pastor, the elder who assisted the sisters with the legalities of obtaining the land their father left to them. The center image of Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, is bracketed by Pudenziana (left) and Prassede (right), who face outward on either side. At far left is Saint Pastor, the author of their story recorded in Acta Sanctorum, and at far right Pudens, on whose ancient home the basilica was built.