MOSAIC ARTIST, Byzantine
(active 6th century in Ravenna)

Interior decoration (south wall)

6th century
Mosaic
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

The interior decoration includes acanthus leaf capitals, presumably imported from Constantinople (now Istanbul). Of much greater significance, however, are the sumptuous mosaics that cover the walls of the nave. They reflect the dominant role that mosaics had assumed in the churches of the Christian East; the traditional accentuation of architecture through cornices or sculptured friezes is reduced to a minimum.

The mosaics are divided into three tiers. The lowest tier, below the clerestory windows, comprises processions of figures against a continuous gold background: to the south, male martyrs advance from Theodoric's palace towards Christ enthroned; to the north, female martyrs set out from the port of Classis towards the Virgin and Child enthroned, who are adored by the Magi. The latter and the rows of saints were put there by Bishop Agnellus, replacing the original court processions.

Between the windows in the second tier are 32 isolated figures of Apostles and Prophets, each standing on a green pedestal with a shell-shaped canopy overhead.

The topmost tier consists of 26 panels, 13 on each side, of which those on the left relate to Christ's ministry and those on the right to his Passion and Resurrection. The lively facial expressions testify to the skill of the mosaicists in cutting and setting the tesserae in such a way as to create an almost abstract effect. Starting from the apse, the scenes follow in chronological order and are separated from one another by shell motifs flanked by doves. The relegation of these panels to such an inconspicuous part of the church differs from that of normal basilican decoration in which biblical narrative scenes frequently dominate large expanses of the nave walls. The whitish-grey, green, blue, red, and gold of the mosaics combine to give the interior a glittering sheen.

The picture shows the decoration on the south wall.The panorama photo was created by Chester M. Wood.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.