What is "navicella"

Navicella is a genus of fungi in the family Massariaceae. "Navicella" is Italian for "small ship", and also found in English in reference to a mosaic by Giotto in St Peter's, Rome, now so often restored as to be effectively lost. In the 19th century the genus of molluscs now called Septaria were known as "Navicella".

Navicella, an Italian word meaning "little ship", may refer to:

• Navicella (alga), a diatom genus in the family Cymbellaceae
• Navicella (fungus), a fungus genus in the family Massariaceae
• Navicella (mosaic), a large mosaic after Giotto of a "Ship of the Church" which dominated the porch of Old Saint Peter's in Rome, or similar subjects in art

Navicella is a diatom genus in the family Cymbellaceae.

The Navicella (literally "little ship") of Old Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, was a large and famous mosaic that occupied a large part of the wall above the entrance arcade, facing the main facade of the basilica across the courtyard, attributed to Giotto di Bondone around 1305–1313. It depicted the version from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 14:24–32) of Christ walking on the water, the only one of the three gospel accounts where Saint Peter is summoned to join him. It was almost entirely destroyed during the construction of the new Saint Peter's Basilica in the 17th century, but fragments were preserved from the sides of the composition, and what is effectively a new work, incorporating some original fragments, was restored to a position at the centre of the portico of the new building in 1675.

The mosaic, designed to be seen from a distance, was extremely large. A full-scale copy in oil, commissioned by the Vatican from Francesco Berretta in 1628, after much of the work had already been lost round the edges, measures . The full mosaic was probably about , with an inscription in Latin verse running below the image.