A Neglected Mosaic in the South Gallery of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople

Just behind the colonnade of Hagia Sophia's south gallery on the wall of the southeast pier and now concealed beneath a thin layer of plaster, a panel of mosaic shows a monumental cross with flaring ends embellished with pearls. Scholars have largely overlooked this panel. Its back­ground - almost certainly of gold - is made of tesserae laid in parallel horizontal rows, each one slightly separate from the adjacent rows. This kind of pattern is a characteristic of Middle Byzantine Hagia Sophia: it is a prominent feature in parts of the poorly pre­served geometric borders of Emperor Alexander's panel in the north gallery. Thus, the panel can be considered to be an example of this distinctive ninth ­and tenth-century mosaic technique.