aug 31, 499 - Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

Description:

Ravenna, c. 500

Theodoric patronized this basilica form church as his palace church. It uses a very similar form to that of Santa Maria Maggiore (basilica with colonnades beneath tiers of mosaics, and a clerestory), aligning it with a Roman identity. When facing the apse, the mosaic above the left colonnade shows a procession of female martyrs processing towards the Virgin Mary and Child enthroned and that above the right colonnade shows male martyrs processing towards Christ enthroned. These mosaics are replacements for whatever Theodoric originally had placed here (Arian saints? Imperial family?)

relevant terms: Arianism, Orthodox or Chalcedonian Christianity

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