Editing Mosaic (section)

====Renaissance and Baroque====
Although mosaics went out of fashion and were substituted by frescoes, some of the great Renaissance artists also worked with the old technique. [[Raphael]]'s [[Creation of the World (Raphael)|Creation of the World]] in the dome of the [[Chigi Chapel]] in [[Santa Maria del Popolo]] is a notable example that was executed by a Venetian craftsman, Luigi di Pace.

During the papacy of [[Clement VIII]] (1592–1605), the "Congregazione della Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro" was established, providing an independent organisation charged with completing the decorations in the newly built [[St. Peter's Basilica]]. Instead of frescoes the cavernous Basilica was mainly decorated with mosaics. Among the explanations are:
# The old St. Peter's Basilica had been decorated with mosaic, as was common in churches built during the early Christian era; the 17th century followed the tradition to enhance continuity.
# In a church like this with high walls and few windows, mosaics were brighter and reflected more light.
# Mosaics had greater intrinsic longevity than either frescoes or canvases.
# Mosaics had an association with bejeweled decoration, flaunting richness.

The mosaics of St. Peter's often show lively [[Baroque]] compositions based on designs or canvases from like [[Ciro Ferri]], [[Guido Reni]], [[Domenichino]], [[Carlo Maratta]], and many others. [[Raphael]] is represented by a mosaic replica of this last painting, the [[Transfiguration (Raphael)|Transfiguration]]. Many different artists contributed to the 17th- and 18th-century mosaics in St. Peter's, including [[Giovanni Battista Calandra]], [[Fabio Cristofari]] (died 1689), and [[Pietro Paolo Cristofari]] (died 1743).<ref>DiFederico, F. R. (1983), ''The mosaics of Saint Peter's Decorating the New Basilica'', University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, pp. 3–26.</ref> Works of the Fabbrica were often used as papal gifts.