Chigi Chapel Dome, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome Large Clock

Dome Cappella Chigi, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy: The dome is decorated with mosaics executed by the Venetian Luigi da Pace after Raphael's cartoon (1516). The original cartoons were lost but some preparatory drawings, that confirm the originality of the work, survived in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and Lille. The central roundel represents the Creation of the World. God, the Father is effectively foreshortened in an impetuous gesture, harking back to Michelangelo, which seems to give rise to the entire motion of the universe below. The eight other mosaic panels show the Sun, the starry sky and the six known planets as pagan deities depicted in half-length, each moved by an angel. The figures are accompanied by the signs of the zodiac. The Neoplatonist work is a rare example of High Renaissance mosaic art. The mosaic panels are surrounded by richly gilded stucco decoration. Raphael [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons