EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTOR, Byzantine
(active mid-6th century)

Throne of Maximianus (detail of the front)

545–53
Ivory
Museo Arcivescovile, Ravenna

The Throne of Maximianus was made for Archbishop Maximianus of Ravenna (499-556), a protegé of Justinian I. It was carved in the Byzantine Empire (in Alexandria or Constantinople) and shipped to Ravenna.

The picture shows the Four Evangelists around John the Baptist, who is holding a medallion with the Lamb of God and Maximianus's name above him.