Each of the side altars is surmounted by mosaics depicting scenes from the life of the blessed virgin Mary, beginning at S. Anne’s altar with the presentation in the Temple and culminating with the coronation above the high altar. They were made at Murano, near Venice, and installed by Venetian workmen in 1913.
The mosaic of the visitation above the English martyrs’ altar is after Albertinelli. The Apse of this altar is covered with panels of red African onyx, intersected with bands of verde antico. The altarpiece is a copy by the Benedictine nuns at Talacre of Beltraffio’s S. Peter, adapted to show the Apostle flanked by SS. John Fisher and Thomas More, with S. Peter’s Basilica and the Tower of London in the background.
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