Confessio (Oratory)

After the middle of the fourth century the confessio, a small chapel, was completed.
According to tradition, it was linked to the martyrdom and sepulchre of John and Paul.
Visiting pilgrims would pause to pray in front of the Christian scenes in the niche.
The decoration, dated to after the middle of the fourth century, is arranged into two registers. At the centre, on the bottom, is a worshipper at whose feet kneel Senator Pammachius, who built the Basilica above us, and his wife. The opening above has been interpreted by scholars as a confessional window or a space intended to have a cabinet holding reliquaries.

Case Romane (Roman Houses), Rome, Italy.