Overhead view of an evocation of the interior of the early Christian cathedral of Saint-Césaire d’Arelate (Arles). The drawing is in portrait format. It is arranged within a frame drawn in ink. Inscriptions appear on the reverse.
The scene takes place in a church during a service. The early Christians are gathered in the nave and aisles. The men are on the right, the women on the left. In the center is the preaching platform, or ambo. In the apse, a ciborium, a canopy-shaped aedicula, overlooks the altar. The ciborium is surrounded by an arched gallery on which the clergy are seated. The basilica is composed of a central nave and two aisles. The nave is extended by a semicircular apse with five openings. The building is covered by a wooden roof structure. Mosaic decoration adorns the nave, the apse and the triumphal arch. The decoration is taken from the Basilica of Saint Apollinaire-in-Classe in Ravenna.