A Closer Look: Episode 26 - Imperial portraits in San Vitale, Ravenna
Ravenna, on the Adriatic in northern Italy, was a significant administrative capital for the Roman Empire, Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and Byzantine Empire. Modern political developments mostly passed Ravenna by, and so it remains one of the best places to see well-preserved Byzantine art in particular, in grand monuments built by emperors, administrators and bishops.
San Vitale, one of the city’s principal churches, is celebrating for its mosaic portraits of Emperor Justinian and his fascinating wife Theodora. In this episode, Dr Nick Gordon talks to art historian Dr Louise Marshall about how these sixth-century portraits came to be in Ravenna, the symbolism embedded in them, and the insights they offer on a powerful but absent Byzantine emperor and empress.
You can browse images of the mosaics at Wikimedia Commons.
Images in recording courtesy Roger W and Carole Raddato, Flickr, CC BY SA 2.0.
Dr Louise Marshall
Dr Louise Marshall is an art historian, with a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and a research specialisation in Italian art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. She is an honorary senior lecturer in the Department of Art History at the University of Sydney, where she taught for over thirty years.
Dr Nick Gordon
Nick is a historian of Italy and of Western Europe in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. He has led tours to Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia, East Asia and Australasia for more than fifteen years. Nick is a director of Limelight Arts Travel.