Mosaics, Ravenna

4 more images

“Of all the cities in Romanian lands,
The chief, and most renowned, Ravenna stands,
Adorned in ancient times arms and art,
And rich inhabitants, with generous hearts.”
— ‘Ravenna’ by John Dryden (1631-1700)

Battistero degli Ariani was built at the end of the fifth century by Ravenna’s ruler Emperor Theodoric, a Goth who believed in the Arian form of Christianity.

Arianism was declared heresy at the Council of Nicea in AD 325. Its central argument is that Christ, while divine, was created by God the Father and therefore cannot be equal to him. The Orthodox view says Christ is equally divine.

Theodoric built the Basilica Spirito Santo, a new Arian church, with its own baptistery soon after Ravenna's Neonian Baptistery (see von.otter’s Battistero Neoniano Things-To-Do Tip for photos and more information) was built. The two are very much alike, including the dome’s mosaic.

The Arian Baptistery is built in an octagonal plan, with four small apses opposite to each other. The building now stands about eight feet below ground level.

The dome’s central mosaic shows the baptism of Christ and the Twelve Apostles. This version is simpler, with only one concentric circle instead of two, and the figures are naively styled. Although the subject and layout follows closely that of the Battistero Neoniano , the most important difference is Christ’s appearance; he is youthful and beardless. There is debate whether this was artistic license or the Arian belief that the Son is not equal to the Father made visual.

Christ is flanked by his cousin, St. John the Baptist and the personification of the River Jordan. Following Roman tradition, this river god is shown as a bearded, old man holding a rush, with horns made of lobster claws. A vase, the traditional symbolic source of the river, lays next to him.

The Twelve Apostles proceeding towards an enthroned cross at the top can be seen in the surrounding circle of the central scene. They carry jeweled crowns in their veiled hands, but Peter who carries the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and Paul bears a scroll, symbol of his many letters.

The Arian Baptistery is opened daily, 8:30am to 7:30pm; admission is free.

4 more images

“O lone Ravenna! many a tale is told
Of thy great glories in the days of old:
Two thousand years have passed since thou didst see
Casar ride forth to royal victory.”
— from ‘Ravenna,’ Oscar Wilde’s 1878 Newdigate Prize-winning poem

The inside of the Baptistery’s cupola is decorated with a stunning mosaic laid out in concentric circles resembling a giant wheel. The central medallion depicts the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by his cousin St. John the Baptist. In the 18th century restorations were made to the right arm of John the Baptist, the dove, and Christ’s head. St. John uses a dish to pour the water; it is an 19th-century addition by Felice Kibel, a Roman artist, who was employed to restore the mosaics and got carried away!

The majority of the dome’s mosaic remains in its original form. The personification of the River Jordan as an old man rising from the water, holding a reed in one hand and offering a garment to Christ with the other, completes the baptismal scene.

Surrounding the central medallion are the Twelve Apostles (see photo #5). Deep blues and sparkling golds are used to create these men, who are identified by name in each mosaic.

Directly below the Apostles is a ring divided into eight sections, alternating with empty thrones, representing the divinity of Christ, and altars showing an open Gospel. On either side of the thrones are scenes of celestial gardens, and the altars are flanked by empty chairs representing where the Elect will sit in heaven.

Intertwining gold vines frame the prophets on a deep blue background in the building’s corners above marble columns.

4 more images

“This naval establishment, which included the arsenals and magazines, the barracks of the troops, and the houses of the artificers, derived its origin and name from the permanent station of the Roman fleet; the intermediate space was soon filled with buildings and in habitants, and the three extensive and populous quarters of Ravenna gradually contributed to form one of the most important cities of Italy.”
— from ‘The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,’ 1829, by Edward Gibbon

Not only are the walls and ceilings decorated with stunning mosaics, the floors too are beautifully worked with tiles and stone in various patterns throughout the Basilica di San Vitale.

4 more images

“War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it.”
— Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)

THE COURAGE OF A LEO Perhaps Italy’s most infamous Leo, Il Duce, was born on the 29th of July.

Is your astrological sign Leo, the lion? If it is, or if you travel with some who is a Leo as I do, here is a fun way to honor that person and that birth sign and to make unique photos: pose with lions, not real ones, but architectural ones, decorative ones.

Ravenna does not want for lions: indoor, outdoor, ancient, modern, large and small, on doors as knockers and integrated into fountains, in Ravenna, there’s a lion for every Leo.

The lion, the king of animals, was mainly associated by the Romans with Hercules, who was always portrayed wearing a lion’s skin. This association was not lost and was used again in many Renaissance works. Lions protected the dead in the Roman sarcophagi. Ancient Romans were fond of scenes that showed a lion hunting and killing a deer.

4 more images

“Though Ravenna is one of the most interesting places in Italy for its mediaeval and early Christian antiquities, it presents few remains of the Roman period, and those for the most part belong to the declining years of the Empire.”
— from “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography” 1857 edited by Sir William Smith

Ravenna’s 1509 coat of arms includes two lions rampant flanking a pine tree, that represent the forests that once surrounded the city.

4 more images

“To visit the Ravenna churches is to follow a simple thread which imbeds jewels and pearls of great price: it is to contemplate gem by gem a perfect necklace, one portion of the clasp of which is the Basilica of San Vitale.”
— from “Tchay and Chianti or Wanderings in Russia and Italy” 1887 by Welbore St. Clair Baddeley

Not only are the walls and ceilings decorated with stunning mosaics, the floors too are beautifully worked with tiles and stone in various patterns throughout the Basilica di San Vitale.

4 more images

“The magnificent Basilica of San Vitale (in a small square, near the Porta Adriana) exhibits the octagonal form with all the accessories of Eastern splendour.”
— from “Handbook for Travelers in Northern Italy” 1866

Unlike San Vitale’s apse mosaics, where Christ the Redeemer is shown as a clean-shaven youth, at the very top of the arch that leads to the apse, Christ is shown with a beard (see photo #1).

Cascading down the arch, on either side of Jesus, are his twelve apostles; we even found Our Saints’ namesakes, Philip and Thomas (see photo #2).

On the vaulted ceiling of the presbytery shows four angels standing, with arms raised in praise, amid intertwined vines and wild animals calling attention to the Lamb of God, circled in a medallion (see photo #4).

St. Luke can be seen with his Gospel and his sacred cow (see photo #3).

4 more images

“The most notable subjects enjewelling the walls are: on the right, the purple-mantled Empress Theodora standing crowned among her maidens, resplendent in various costumes, and bearing a vase with offerings; on the left stands the Emperor Justinian, in purple and gold, with statesmen, soldiers, and priests, also holding a bowl.”
— from “Tchay and Chianti or Wanderings in Russia and Italy” 1887 by Welbore St. Clair Baddeley

The mosaics of San Vitale’s vault and apse are rendered in rich colors with great action. They date from between AD 526 and AD 547. A young, clean-shaven Christ the Redeemer (see photos #1 and #2), seated on the globe of the world, hands a martyr’s crown to San Vitale. Two angels and Bishop Ecclesius, who founded the church, complete the grouping.

To the left of the apse is a mosaic of Emperor Justinian (see photos #4 and #5), who reigned from AD 527 to AD 565, and his entourage. Justinian stands in the center of the mosaic, wearing imperial purple and holding a large gold paten, the plate on which the bread is placed for Mass. Maximian, Archbishop of Ravenna, stands to his left, holding a jeweled cross.

To the of the apse is a mosaic of Empress Theodora (see photos #3), wife of Justinian, with her court. Corresponding to Justinian’s paten, the empress holds the challis.

4 more images

The mosaics at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia have awed millions of visitors over the centuries, including the American songwriter Cole Porter. In the 1920s he was honeymooning in Ravenna; he wrote “Night and Day” remembering the beauty of the starry sky mosaics of Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

With a floor plan matching a Greek cross, measuring 40 feet by 30 feet, the small brick chapel has blind arches on its walls and a square tower at the intersection. The building has dropped 4.5 feet into the ground over the centuries.

Entrance is through a small door, originally 4.5 feet taller, on the north side. The north façade, now plain, was once covered in marble; all that survives of that marbled façade is a lintel (see photo #3), carved with vegetation and lions, over the door.

Each of three niches of this building, originally built as an oratory, house marble sarcophagi (see photos #4 and #5), traditionally thought to be those of Galla Placidia, her second husband Constantius III (d. 421) and her son Valentinian III (d. 455). As romantic as this idea is, it is false. The tombs are ancient, but were brought from elsewhere between the 9th and 14th century.

4 more images

Galla Placidia was briefly married to Ataulf, a Visigoth king (414-16) and the co-emperor of Rome, Constantius III (417-21). For 12 years (AD 425-AD 437) Galla Placidia was a powerful empress, ruling the western world as regent for her young son Valentinian III.

With a floor plan matching a Greek cross, measuring 40 feet by 30 feet, the small brick chapel has blind arches on its walls and a square tower at the intersection. The building has dropped 4.5 feet into the ground over the centuries.