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Cosmatus.
Italian family of marbleworkers and sculptors, active in Rome in the second half of the 13th century. The name Cosmatus was once mistakenly used to describe all medieval Roman marblework (see COSMATI). Cosmatus is first named in a document of 1264 as the son of Petrus Mellini. In 1279 he was a witness in the palace of the papal chamberlain. His principal work was the papal treasury chapel, the Sancta Sanctorum, commissioned by Nicholas III in 1277–80. Although the marble panelling of the vestibule is inscribed with his signature, it is uncertain if the architecture and mosaic decoration, the very rich pavement, the altar columns and the blind arcade can all be considered his work.
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