The next church I visited in Ravenna was San Vitale, more in the center of town.
Exterior view.
The church is circular in shape, and therefore an ambulatory encircles the center of the building.
Much of the decoration of the ambulatory and the center of the church was redone during the Baroque period, and it appears a bit anachronistic when viewed with the decoration of the high altar, which is the highlight of the church.
View of the high altar, which is completely covered in brilliant mosaic.
Looking straight up at the archway that separates the altar (on bottom of the picture) from the center of the church (top of the picture). See what I mean about the Baroque painting in the central dome and how that contrasts to the colorful mosaics?
Detail of the right side of the altar with various scenes from the Old Testament.
Closer up of the detail.
The left side.
Ceiling with 4 angels and the Agnus Dei in the center.
On the right side of the altar itself is a panel showing Empress Theodora, wife of Emperor Justinian. They ruled from Constantinople, but influenced much of the building and decoration in Medieval Ravenna.
Across from her is a similar panel with Emperor Justinian.
Column details, incredibly similar in style to that of the East, and what we saw in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
HUGE buttress on the exterior of the church.
A different view of the same buttress. I don't think the Italians quite understood exactly what a flying buttress was meant to look like, or what its purpose was.
Here are some true flying buttresses, from Notre Dame in Paris. As my friend Dave has said, "I get the feeling that the Italians weren't quite up to speed on the purpose of flying buttresses, and they just ended up copying other countries' examples without actually making them useful. Much like they did with their public transit system." :)
No comments:
Post a Comment