The Roman Empire split into a western half, which fell apart in the 400s, and an eastern half ruled from Constantinople, which lasted another thousand years. Historians call that eastern empire Byzantine. In 540 the Byzantine emperor Justinian won back Ravenna in northern Italy, and in 547 the church of San Vitale there was consecrated, its apse covered in some of the finest mosaics that survive.
A mosaic is made of tesserae, small cubes of colored stone and glass pressed into wet mortar. For gold, a thin leaf of gold was sealed between two layers of glass. The cubes were set at slight angles, so they catch light unevenly and glitter as you move or as candlelight flickers.
Looking closely: Justinian and Theodora. On one wall of the apse, Justinian stands at the center of a row of churchmen, officials and soldiers, holding a golden dish of bread for the service; on the opposite wall, the empress Theodora carries a gold chalice, with her ladies. The figures stand in a shallow line, facing us, their feet barely touching the ground, which seems to tilt up beneath them. Their bodies are hidden by long robes that fall in straight lines, so they look tall and weightless. The faces are individual, with large eyes, but the setting is gold, not a room. Neither ruler is known to have visited Ravenna: the mosaics place them there forever, in image.
Key idea
Why it works
Worked example: What kind of space?
- The Good Shepherd sits in a landscape with rocks, plants and a sky, and the sheep turn in space.
- The Justinian panel shows a row of standing figures against flat gold, with almost no ground.
- So the earlier mosaic is deeper; Byzantine art moved toward flatness on purpose.
Answer: The earlier Good Shepherd mosaic.
Common mistake