Time and Again in Poreč: A Note on the Decoration Program of the Apse in Basilica Eufrasiana

The layers of meaning behind the plan of the apse decoration in the apse of the Basilica Eufrasiana in Poreč now rest on safer ground. The paper aims to show that the most direct aspect of the decoration programme, the anticipated coming of Christ, also involves the synthronon with the bishop’s cathedra. Most of the synthronon is decorated with opus sectile work in geometrical patterns, except for the panels around the cathedra. Above the chair a gold cross stands on a hillock and to its sides are two monumental candlesticks with burning candles which can be the key to the eschatological layer of interpretation of the whole apse design. Furthermore, the location of the cathedra places the bishop on the Parousia axis and as close to the worshippers as possible, thus making him a living local patron saint.