Bishop Maximian and Justinian 1. But what’s happening with the feet?

Dear Readers, well here we are, home again, and I’m still reeling a little from all the wonders of Ravenna. So, in no particular order, here are a few of the things that struck me about the extraordinary art, and about the town of Ravenna itself (which is absolutely worth a visit if you’re ever considering a trip to Italy).

First up, there’s something very odd going on with footwear in Ravennese art. We’ve already heard about Galla Placidia and the sandal of St John that she managed to acquire for the city, but have a look at the feet in the photo above.

Very fetching, but why is everybody standing on one another’s feet? And why does the chap between Justinian (in brown) and the Bishop (with the brown cloak) have no legs at all? The outlines of the images were drawn out first, but this didn’t give much leeway if you needed to alter a mosaic for political reasons (as happened very frequently).

Incidentally, have a look at Emperor Justinian’s shoes. They were known as buskins, and very fancy they were too.

Then, there’s the question of images of Jesus at this period (4th through early 6th centuries). This is one of my favourites – it’s from the Chapel now dedicated to St Andrew in the Bishop’s Palace, and  shows Christ as a strapping young warrior, dressed in Roman military uniform. Seeing a clean-shaven Jesus took a bit of getting used to, but it points up the fact that Christian iconography wasn’t settled at this point, and there were lots of variations on a theme. Christ is treading on a lion and a serpent, and looks as if he’s going to take somebody’s head off with that long-staffed cross. The chapel would have been used by high-ranking  church officials, and as there was a lot of heresy going about, while everyone argued about what the Bible actually meant, this is a much more martial image of Christ than, say, the one in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia that we looked at previously, where Jesus was gently feeding a sheep.

Jesus from the Chapel of St Andrew at the Bishop’s Palace (6th Century)

It’s interesting to also note how Jesus is depicted in two baptisteries that we visited – one was for those of the Orthodox faith, and the other was for Arians, which was increasingly seen as heretical. During this period, baptism was performed on adults, on just one evening per year at Easter. In the first baptistery, the baptismal pool was enormous, and it was likely that those being baptised would have been dunked three times, in the name of the Trinity.

In the Orthodox baptistery, Christ is bearded, and in the lower right-hand side there’s a personification of the River Jordan. St John the Baptist is pouring water on to Christ’s head from a vessel.

Image of Christ being baptised from the Orthodox (Neonian) baptistery

You can imagine how the mosaic would have sparkled in the candlelight.

Now have a look at the image from the Arian baptistery. Christ looks very young, almost prepubescent. St John the Baptist is touching, maybe anointing Christ’s head, and you could easily mistake the River Jordan personification for Poseidon.

There are lots of theories about the differences – the Arians believed in Christ’s essential humanity, while the Orthodox church celebrated his divinity (and was much keener on the idea of the Trinity). But at heart, it seems to me there are two things going on here.

The ruler at the time of the creation of both baptisteries, Theodoric, was a Gothic king who was very impressed by Rome – he wore a Roman purple gown, and had a bronze equestrian statue (the only one in Ravenna) set up outside his palace. He was also a very tolerant man, who built both the Orthodox and the Arian baptisteries. I suspect that if the imagery in the Arian baptistery had been unacceptable, it wouldn’t have survived, so maybe this just gives a nod to the differences in belief. But mostly, it makes me think of how the Christian faith was evolving, and how it borrowed images from classical times when it suited.

And finally, a few more general observations on Ravenna.

1. It’s a city of cyclists – and in the middle of what appear to be pedestrian areas there are often central areas of white stones, where you can ride a bike. Everyone rides, from the smallest children to the most august seniors, and generally they are extraordinarily tolerant of groups of daft tourists standing in the middle of the road.
2. Ravenna has a special soft cheese called Squaquerone di Romagna, from the Emilia-Romagna region, and it crops up everywhere, particularly in the tasty local flatbreads, called piadina. It’s a bit like a particularly runny burrata.

Squacquerone (Photo from https://www.turismo.ra.it/en/recipes-and-traditions/squacquerone-di-romagna-pdo/

3. This is a very compact city, easy to walk around, but if you’re at all interested in the history and culture of Ravenna I would definitely get a guide. Ours was fantastic, and she really helped to untie some of the complexities of this extraordinary place.

4. It was sunny for most of the time that we were in Ravenna, but it was colder than the BBC weather app had led me to believe so pack an extra layer if you’re travelling in autumn/winter.

5. And as you might expect, I was keeping my eyes open for weeds and street trees. So, can anybody tell me what this beauty is? All will be revealed on Wednesday….