Lombard transennae reused by the Cosmati

In 1923, an altar dedicated to San Bruno (see photo) in Segni Cathedral was composed by practicing a modern reuse of three cosmatesque frontals dating back to 1223, when Honorius III celebrated the centenary of the death of St. Bruno. The curiosity is that the Pope’s thirteenth century Marble Craftsmen had already utilised a re-use, as the cosmatesque mosaics are inserted on a stone support made up of Lombard transennae (see photo of the reverse of the frontals) carved with low relief phytomorphic and zoomorphic detail and which were probably taken from the very same cathedral, but part of its 10th century liturgical furnishings.

Segni, Cattedrale. Altare di San Bruno nel suo adattamento attuale che risale al 1923, nel quale sono stati riusati dei paliotti cosmateschi

from Marmorari Magistri Romani di Dario Del Bufalo. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2010