AP Art History: San Vitale-- #51
Monday, December 26, 2022
Basilica de San Vitale
Bio of the work:
Title: San Vitale
Date: 526-547 CE- Byzantine
Medium: brick, marble, and stone veneer
Location: Ravenna, Italy
Analysis:
This lovely church, already started by the Goths previously there, is centrally planned with a specific apse and was finished under rule of Justinian. Ironically, although Justinian never visited the church or Ravenna, he and his wife are both depicted in ornate mosaics bordering apse. The true apse mosaic depicts Jesus sitting on a throne flanked by angles, handing a saint a crown, and accepting a small version of the church from the bishop. Justinian is shown just below Jesus, wearing the same robe, surrounded by 12 followers (signifying perhaps the disciples), and holding a loaf of bread (signifying prosperity or maybe the miracles of Jesus). The plan of San Vitale is central with the addition of an apse, a mixture that melds the awe of a central plan but the religious focus of an apse.
Theodora Mosaic
Justinian Mosaic
Apse Mosaic
