MOSAIC ARTIST, Byzantine
(active 540s in Ravenna)

Abraham entertains the three angels

540s
Mosaic
San Vitale, Ravenna

The picture shows the mosaics on the left tympanum.

The patriarch Abraham entertains the three angels, usually read as symbols of the Trinity, while the not so aged Sarah hovers in the background. On the right, Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac (typologically related to the Crucifixion) when he is halted by the hand of God. The Eucharist motif, repeated throughout the choir, is also seen here in the bread that Abraham offers the angels, which has cross shapes baked into the crust - another reminder of the Host.




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