         In the year 526, the cathedral of  San Vitale's construction began, as had been ordered by Ecclesius; who was bishop of Ravenna at the time. A man named Julianus Argentarius was the primary benefactor for the building, most historians agree that he was a private banker in Ravenna. In 548, marking the year of the cathedrals completion, archbishop of Ravenna Maximian Most of the important Byzantine structures at the time displayed mosaics on the interior walls, and employed Greco-Roman building styles. Many of the mosaics were centered around depictions of christ, and/or the local clergy.(Knight) The san vitale cathedral is famed as having some of the most beautiful mosaics in ravenna. The men depicted in the mosaics are always shown to be tall, straight figures, devoid of any jollity. The lack of happiness can be explained by the early churches unwillingness to portray religion as a happy experience, or anything related to personal pleasure. In fact, a lot of the art of the time was religiously focused, the church still exercised almost absolute control over the freedoms of the people. The mosaics of the san vitale church, in Ravenna, Italy deserves to be remembered throughout the years, because of the insight they brings us into to the byzantean world at the time.

         Personally I find the mosaics to be breathtaking works of art,  it took tens of thousands of tiny pieces of glass to complete the works. While beautiful, these pieces really show the priorities of the religious figures at the time, the rigid, unemotional way they portray the men in the mosaics. The churches then focused more on  the dogma and absolute practice of the christian teachings, whereas in present times, the Bible is much more loosely interpreted. The mosaics in this specific cathedral are important because of the perfection and beauty attained by the artist who worked on it, because they had a larger budget than a lot of the other mosaic artists at the time. The creators were able to use actual gold flaked glass pieces and higher quality glass in general, on wider, better constructed interior walls.(Hayes) Many buildings in Ravenna have mosaics in them, all of various quality  and scale, but the ones at San Vitale are considered among the most beautiful.(Knight) The mosaics also included visual instructions for dogmatic actions, such as the depictions of receiving the eucharist, and some of the famous sacrifices in the bible (Abraham, Isaac, etc).
          The mosaics in the San Vitale are almost overshadowed by the “Floating Dome” effect created by the many windows that line the bottom of the domed roof. When looking up during a bright day, an optical illusion is created that makes the supports of the roof seem to vanish. “The best-known building in Ravenna associated with Theodoric, the Ostrogothic king is his own mausoleum - with its dome carved from a single The best-known building in Ravenna associated with Theodoric, the Ostrogothic king, is his own mausoleum - with its dome carved from a single block of stone.”(Knight) Somehow the Byzantine figured out how to carve a dome 124 feet tall and 183 feet wide, out of a single stone, then move it. Many historians  praise the  unknown architects who somehow knew the measurements and ratios necessary to build this innovative structure. An interesting detail is that the artists depicted a juvenile representation of christ, as opposed to the usual practice of depicting jesus as a fully grown man.
      Ravenna was the seat of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and then of Byzantine Italy until the 8th century, so it created an atmosphere of achievement and, trying to see how beautiful and intricate they could make their buildings. There are many mosaics in Ravenna, all from different eras, but the most sophisticated, and famous works were created during the reign of the Byzantines.(Hayes) The people of Ravenna were proud of their beautiful works, as there was almost a “competition” between the different byzantine cities as to who could have the most beautiful, and most praised mosaics. Tremendous support was raised very quickly for the building of the basillica.



        The cathedral would be the inspiration for  its sister basilica San Vitale built in Rome some 300 years later, the building style would be the same, but the mosaics present in the byzantine structures were non-existant. (Hayes) All of the scenes depicted on the walls of the Roman building were scenes of martyrdom, which contrasted with the salvation and holy healing based arts in the San Vitale, Ravenna. The lackluster way in which the Roman temple was remembered versus the way the basilica in Ravenna was remembered shows how much of an  impact the mosaics really had on the building's history. The Roman basilica also lacked a nave of the church to house their archbishops, unlike Ravenna's which held the sarcophogi of 8 former archbishops. (Knight) The basilica in Ravenna is a recognized UNESCO world heritage site, and is one of eight recognized in Ravenna.
           







































Works Cited
Hayes, Holly. "San Vitale Basilica - Ravenna, Italy." Sacred Sites at Sacred Destinations - Explore Sacred Sites, Religious Sites, Sacred Places. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. 
Knight, Kevin. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ravenna." NEW ADVENT: Home. Web. 09
