Gold, glass, and marble dazzle the eye in this 6th-century church. High above us, Emperor Justinian presides.
Location City: Ravenna
Byzantine texts praise and slander the empress Theodora, who appears in this famous mosaic in Ravenna.
Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
Mosaics in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, and the religious conflict between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
Here Christ, represented by the cross, reveals his divine nature to the Apostles—and to the 6th-century worshiper.
Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (Italy)
An unassuming brick exterior belies the luminous mosaics within. In one, a young, beardless Christ tends his flock.
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