Anyone who’s travelled in Italy knows that sometimes you go to see something and it’s closed because it’s being restored: “in restauro” are words that send chills down the Italophile’s spine. For several years the small church of Santa Maria in Domenica alla Navicella was closed for renovation. The ending “alla Navicella” stands for a fountain outside the church where an ancient Roman fragment of a ship was used in the fountain (navicella is Latin for “little ship”). Finally, last fall, the work on the wonderful apse mosaics was completed. Here’s a detail of part of the newly-restored works. It shows the infant Christ on Mary’s lap, in heaven surrounded by a host of worshipping angels. Below, is the 9th century Pope Paschal I (818-22), who commissioned the mosaics. Note that he has a square halo. This type of halo was given to someone who was still alive, and so not yet sainted. Mary gestures towards him, accepting his gift. Worth the wait.