The Mosaics of Ravenna

The past eminence of Ravenna has left a legacy of richly decorated early Christian buildings which has earned it UNESCO World Heritage site status. This lecture will explore some of these buildings and their magnificent mosaics: The domed church of San Vitale - home of the celebrated portrait panels of the emperor Justinian I and his wife, the notorious empress Theodora. The basilica church of S. Apollinare Nuovo - decorated with spectacular processions of male and female saints, and with surprising evidence of its past life as the palace chapel of Ostrogoth King Theodoric. The basilica church of S. Apollinare in Classe, featuring a magical starry sky apse mosaic; and The jewel-like cruciform oratory of imperial princess Galla Placidia, with its heavenly blue ceiling strewn with 567 shimmering gold stars.