The Apsidal Mosaic

In this work, the cross represents Christ. Like Christ in the deesis, it is flanked by Mary and John the Baptist. Four of the other saints alongside it carry scrolls with texts attesting to Christ’s divinity. From the Cross streams of water flow, from which the deer drink, an allusion to Psalm 42:1, “As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God”.