Ravenna

Our second stop, Tuesday November 15, was the city of Ravenna. Ravenna dates back to at least the Romans and played a significant role in the region during the 400's AD when it was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire. The two main themes for the day were the early Christian monuments/mosaics and Dante. The Christian monuments have been declared a UNESCO world heritage site due to their cultural importance and state of preservation. Our first stop was the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia. It is a plain, brick building in the shape of a cross whose simple outside belies the exquisite interior.

The interior is lit by alabaster windows and every surface is covered in mosaic tile. The beauty and depth of the tiles is difficult to photograph and to describe.  Below is one of the four ends of the cross shape, opposite the main door as you enter. Records of what the artists or patrons intended seldom remains, leaving art historians to interpret the mosaics based on the iconography as well as information about the period and style of the work. This is Saint Lawrence next to the flaming gridiron upon which he was grilled. The yellowish rectangle in the middle is actually one of the alabaster windows I mentioned earlier.

The mausoleum is directly behind the Basilica di San Vitale. It is a double octagonal building with nifty buttresses.

Again, the inside is just covered in mosaics. The picture below is looking straight up at the interior dome of the middle octagon.

Next we traveled to the Battistero Neoniano, or Neonian Baptistry. On the ceiling is a mosaic of the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Below is one of the column details below the main ceiling.

Next we went to the Basilica di Sant Apollinare Nuovo. It was originally built as a Arian Church. The Arians were considered a heretic cult by the Byzantines as they believed in one and only one god (Christ) rather than the Trinity as followed by the Catholics. When the Byzantines took control of the area they altered some of the mosaics inside to obliterate any vestiges of the Arian paton who commisioned the church. Below is a mosaic of the Three Wise Men. You have just got to love the pants on these fellows.

Our final mosaic stop was the Arian Baptistry which is not on the UNESCO list. It was interesting to note the differences and similarities between the two baptistries we visited. Both had depictions of the baptism of Christ. The same three figures are in each. Why three figures, you might ask? Jesus and John the Baptist make two. Who is the third dude? The human personification of the River Jordan, of course. In the scene below, he is a large, muscular figure whereas in the other he was much smaller. In both cases, Jesus is standing in the water naked. In this scene he is quite effeminate with characteristics which might be considered feminine. This is because the Arians felt that Christ was the embodiment of everything, all beings, both male and female.

The second theme of the day, Dante, was sandwiched between visits to mosaics. We visited Dante's Tomb and viewed the insides. Below is a picture of the gardens outside his tomb. The mound was actually his resting place for a few years as he was moved out of the tomb and buried on the grounds during WWII to help save him in the event the building was bombed. Amy, the Imp, is peering out of the rather unique iron-link fence framed by the mound, barely visible in the background.