AN ITALIAN GOLD-MOUNTED MICROMOSAIC BROOCH

The design of the micromosaic is based on the twelve-century mosaic from the apse and arch of the Church of Santa Maria Prassede, Rome, which shows the monogram of Pope Paschal II. Pope Paschal II, born Ranierius, was Pope from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Cluniac order, he was created Cardinal-Priest of San Clemente by Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) in 1073. He was consecrated as pope in succession to Pope Urban II (1088–99) on 19 August 1099. His reign of almost twenty years was exceptionally long for a pope of the Middle Ages.