IN his review of 'Space in Mediaeval Painting and the Forerunners of Perspective' Speculum, xx, 4 (October 1945, 484-486), Mr Benjamin Rowland has cited the inscription of the apsidal mosaic of SS Cosmo e Damiano in Rome as an example of 'one . . . of the many inscriptions of the Early Christian period and later which specifically mention the symbolism of the gold background and the reasons for its use.' This interpretation of the well-known titulus of the mosaic is so novel and so significant for our ideas about Early Christian art that we are bound to consider it with great interest. Here is the text upon which his interpretation is presumably based: 'Aula dii claris radiat speciosa metallis: marturibus medicis ropulo spes certa salutis optulit hoc duo felix antistite dignum in qua plus fide lux pretiosa micat venit et ex sacro crevithono relocus munus ut Aetheria vivat in arcepoli' (p. 485, n. 1). It is very difficult if not impossible to see how Mr Rowland reaches his conclusion from this strange sentence; he has unfortunately offered no translation. Certain obscurities are no doubt the result of a faulty transcription of particular words; dii is a mistake for di, ropulo for populo, fide for fidei, crevithono relocus for crevit honore locus, Aetheria is not the celebrated pilgrim but aetheria, and arcepoli is two words: arce poli. But after these typographical corrections have been made, the sense remains a mystery. If we consult, however, the reproduction of the original inscription in the book to which Mr Rowland refers (J. Wilpert, Die Rbmischen Mosaiken und Malereien der kirchlichen Bauten vom IV. bis XIII. Jahrhundert, III, Freiburg, 1917, Tafil. 102) we discover the cause of all this confusion: Mr Rowland has copied the inscription as a single passage extending across the entire breadth of the mosaic, when it is in reality a set of three distichs, grouped horizontally and separated by distinct crosses. Here is the actual text as reproduced and transcribed by Wilpert (p. 1072): 'AULA DI CLARIS RADIAT SPECIOSA METALLIS I IN QUA PLUS FIDEI LUX PRETIOSA MICAT t MARTURIBUS MEDICIS POPULO SPES CERTA SALUTIS I VENIT ET EX SACRO CR1VIT HONORE LOCUS t OPTULIT HOC DNO FELIX ANTISTITE DIGNUM I MUNUS UT AETHERIA VIVAT IN ARCE POLI. Even if the titulus had been transcribed correctly, Mr Rowland would be unjustified in his conclusion concerning its meaning. There is nothing in it that 'specifically mention[s] the symbolism of the gold background and the reasons for its use.' It is interesting that Wilpert translates metallis as Steinschmuck and suggests that the verse refers to the rich marble of the apse itself (p. 10792, n. 1). It could scarcely refer to the background of the principal scene of the apsidal mosaic, for this is dark blue. It might possibly be concerned with the narrow strip representing the Holy Lamb, below the main scene, which has a gold background. Judging, however, from the dedicatory character and meaning of the whole inscription, it does not seem to have this very special and limited reference, but rather applies to the decoration of the church in general.