y accepted at the beginning of the fourth century.
The name of the church at that time was simply Ecclesia Pudentiana,
which means "the church of Pudens," its owner and founder. An
inscription discovered by Lelio Pasqualini speaks of a Leopardus,
_lector de Pudentiana_, in the year 384; and in the mosaic of the apse
the Redeemer holds a book, on the open page of which is written: "The
Lord, defender of the church of Pudens." In course of time the
ignorant people changed the word Pudentiana, a possessive adjective,
into the name of a saint; and the name Sancta Pudentiana usurped the
place of the genuine one. It appears for the first time in a document
of the year 745.

The connection of the house with the apostolate of SS. Peter and Paul
made it very popular from the beginning. Laymen and clergymen alike
contributed to transform it into a handsome church. Pope Siricius
(384-397), his acolytes Leopardus, Maximus and Ilicius, and Valerius
Messalla, prefect of the city (396-403), ornamented it with mosaics,
colonnades, and marble screens, and built on the west side of the
Vicus Patricius a portico more than a thousand feet long, which led
from the Subura to the vestibule of the church.

In 1588 Cardinal Enrico Caetani disfigured the building with
unfortunate restorations. He laid his hands even on the mosaics of the
apse, considered by Poussin the best in Rome, as they are the oldest
(A. D. 398), and mutilated the figures of two apostles, a portion of
the foreground and the historical inscription. His architect,
Francesco Ricciarelli da Volterra, while excavating the foundations
for one of the pilasters of the new dome, made a discovery, which is
described by Gaspare Celio[64] in the following words:--

"While Francesco Volterra was restoring the church of S. Pudentiana,
and building the foundations of the dome, the masons discovered a
marble group of the Laocooen, broken into many pieces. Whether from ill
will or from laziness, they left the beautiful work of art at the
bottom of the trench, and brought to the surface only a leg, without
the foot, and a wrist. It was given to me, and I used to show it with
pride to my artist friends, until some one stole it. It was a replica
of the Belvedere group, considerably larger, and so beautiful that
many believe it to be the original described by Pliny (xxvi. 5). The
ancients, like the moderns, were fond of reproducing masterpieces. If
the replica of the Pieta of Michelangelo, w