The altarpiece showing S. Athanasius, a particular favourite of Cardinal Newman’s, was painted on copper by the Greek monks of Grotta Ferrata outside Rome. Its frame is also of burnished copper. The mosaic represents the descent of the Holy Spirit on our Lady and the apostles at Pentecost. The marble of the apse is a rare Moroccan onyx.
Of greatest interest at this altar is the rich coffin which lies beneath it, containing the body of S. Valentine, a martyr whose relics from the Roman catacombs were given to Newman by Pope (now Blessed) Pius IX in 1847.
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