98 EARLY CHRISTIAN ART. Chap. III. Ma . .. Jaco j ^ Rainerius Petri Rodulpbi fieri fecit. bus m. fecit,) r This mosaic is doubtless executed by Jacobo the son of Laurentius. On the frieze below the cornice of the portico is the following inscription: Magister J . a . c ... obus, civis Romanus cum sma fili.. J ... u.... anis ohc (sic) opus anno dni MCCX This mutilated inscription with its imperfect date, 1 al ready points to the family of the Cosmati, who appear as “doctissimi Romani,” —mosaists and architects in the first half of the thirteenth century. The extent of their practise is proved by numerous monuments. Agincourt, Rumohr, and Karl Witte had already, in the last century, noticed the inscriptions at Civita Castellana. They noted the name of Laurentius and his son Lucas on the dwarf arch of a cloister in S. Scolastica at Subiaco, 2 and on a cornice of the ruined church of S. Alessio at Rome in scribed : f Jacobus, Laurentii fecit has decern et novem columpnas cum capitellis suis.” 3 Their family name of Cosmati is more certainly proved by works in the cathedral of Anagni, on the stone pave ment of which the following inscription may be read: f Dominus Albertus venerabilis anagnen eps fecit hoc fieri pavimentum pi. costruendo magister Rai- nalus anagninu canonicus Dni Honorii III. p. p. subdiacon et cappellan. c. obolos aureos erogavit. Magist. Cosmas hoc opus fecit.” 1 Rumohr assumesthe date ofl‘210, (Forschungen ub. sup. Vol. I. p. 270) and promises the inscrip tion which he afterwards omits. The date is shortened by the loss of some of the numbers. It is possible that the mosaics inside the porch and about the chief portal may be earlier than others signed by Jacobo alone. The date of 1210 would ill suit the latter who lives till the close of the century. Karl Witte falls into a similar error. 2 According to Agincourt as follows: Cosmas et fil. Luc. ia. aet. Romani cives in marmoris arte periti Hoc opus explerunt, abatis tpe. Landi. Kunstblatt, year 1825, ub. sup. No. 41. Ac cording to MSS. records, says Witte, this inscription should bear the date 1235. Ibid. 3 These columns were inlaid with
