Published Apr 2nd, 2023, 4/2/23 1:36 pm
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San Vitale
This is my first public recreation of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. This is a 1:1 scale (1 block=1 meter) reconstruction of the church as it may have when recently completed around 560 A.D. As usual, this recreation comes complete with the famous mosaic decoration of the apse, as well as my interpretation of how the original mosaic decoration of the church may have originally looked.
History
The Basilica of San Vitale is the most famous church in the Italian city of Ravenna. Ravenna had served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogothic Kingdom, and as the seat of Eastern Roman Empire in Italy for three centuries. As a result the city has been richly decorated with a number of churches and monuments, fit for an imperial capital.
Not much is known about San Vitale's initial construction. It was started towards the end of Ostrogothic control of the city by the Bishop Ecclesius. Construction was belated by the prolonged Roman reconquest of Italy, by the famed general Belisarius, and the church was not completed until 547 A.D by Bishop Maximian.
The church is quite unique in form. Instead of a rectangular basilica plan, San Vitale's plan is a centralized octagon, a form which was quite popular in the Eastern Roman Empire. The octagon is flanked by a narthex (entrance hall) and atrium which are strangely positioned asymmetrically.
But what the church is most famous for is its mosaics. Completed in the 540's, they feature various biblical scenes from the Old Testament with elaborate floral motives. The apse portraits Christ, flanked by angels, saints and bishops. Below the apse, on each side are portraits of the Roman Emperor Justinian and his wife Empress Theodora, along with their court.
The church was remarkably well preserved over the centuries, with only the mosaics of the central space and some of the marble being removed.
Bibliography
Click to reveal
"Ravenna in Late Antiquity", Deborah Deliyannis, 2010
"Ravenna, Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe", Judith Herrin, 2020
"Eastern Medieval Architecture", Robert G. Ousterhout, 2019
"Ravenna, Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe", Judith Herrin, 2020
"Eastern Medieval Architecture", Robert G. Ousterhout, 2019
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