as taking place in this very sanctuary. Thus, the emperor appears for-
ever as a participant in the sacred rites and as the proprietor of this
royal church and the ruler of the Western Empire.
The procession at San Vitale recalls but contrasts with that of
Augustus and his entourage (FIG. 10-31) on the Ara Pacis, erected
more than a half millennium earlier in Rome. There the fully mod-
eled marble figures have their feet planted firmly on the ground. The
Romans talk among themselves, unaware of the viewer’s presence.
All is anecdote, all very human and of this world, even if the figures
themselves conform to a classical ideal of beauty that cannot be
achieved in reality. The frontal figures of the Byzantine mosaic, by
comparison, hover before viewers, weightless and speechless, their
positions in space uncertain. Tall, spare, angular, and elegant, the fig-
ures have lost the rather squat proportions characteristic of much
Early Christian work. The garments fall straight, stiff, and thin from
the narrow shoulders. The organic body has dematerialized, and, ex-
cept for the heads, some of which seem to be true portraits, viewers
see a procession of solemn spirits gliding silently in the presence of
the sacrament. Indeed, the theological basis for this approach to rep-
resentation was the principle that the divine is invisible and that the
purpose of religious art is to stimulate spiritual seeing. Theodulf of
Orleans summed up this idea around 790, when he wrote “God is
beheld not with the eyes of the flesh but only with the eye of the
mind.”^6 The mosaics of San Vitale reveal this new Byzantine aes-
thetic, one very different from that of the classical world but equally
compelling. Blue sky has given way to heavenly gold, and matter and
material values are disparaged. Byzantine art is an art without solid
bodies or cast shadows, with blank golden spaces, and with the per-
spective of Paradise, which is nowhere and everywhere.
Justinian’s counterpart on the opposite wall of the apse is
Theodora (FIG. 12-11), one of the most remarkable women of the
Middle Ages (see “Theodora, a Most Unusual Empress,” above). The
empress too is accompanied by her retinue. Both processions move
into the apse, Justinian proceeding from left to right and Theodora
from right to left, in order to take part in the Eucharist. Justinian car-
ries the paten containing the bread, and Theodora the golden cup
with the wine. The portraits in the Theodora mosaic exhibit the same
stylistic traits as those in the Justinian mosaic, but the women are rep-
resented within a definite architecture, perhaps the atrium of San Vi-
tale. The empress stands in state beneath an imperial canopy, waiting
to follow the emperor’s procession. An attendant beckons her to pass
through the curtained doorway. The fact that she is outside the sanc-
tuary in a courtyard with a fountain and only about to enter attests
that, in the ceremonial protocol, her rank was not quite equal to her
consort’s. But the very presence of Theodora at San Vitale is signifi-
cant. Neither she nor Justinian ever visited Ravenna. Their participa-
tion in the liturgy at San Vitale is pictorial fiction. The mosaics are
proxies for the absent sovereigns. Justinian was represented because he
was the head of the Byzantine state, and by his presence he exerted his
authority over his territories in Italy. But Theodora’s portrayal is more
surprising and testifies to her unique position in Justinian’s court.
Theodora’s prominent role in the mosaic program of San Vitale is
proof of the power she wielded at Constantinople and, by extension,
at Ravenna. In fact, the representation of the three magi on the border
of her robe suggests that she belongs in the elevated company of the
three monarchs who approached the newborn Jesus bearing gifts.SANT’APOLLINARE IN CLASSE Until the ninth century,
Sant’Apollinare in Classe housed the body of Saint Apollinaris,
who suffered his martyrdom in Classe, Ravenna’s port. The church
itself is Early Christian in type, a basilica with a nave and flanking
aisles, like Theodoric’s palace-church (FIG. 11-17) dedicated to the
same saint in Ravenna. As in the earlier church, the Justinianic
building’s exterior is plain and unadorned, but sumptuous mosaics
decorate the interior, although in this case they are confined to the
apse (FIG. 12-12).
The mosaic decorating the semidome above the apse probably
was completed by 549, when the church was dedicated. (The mo-
saics of the framing arch are of later date.) Against a gold ground, a
large medallion with a jeweled cross dominates the composition.
This may represent the cross Constantine erected on the hill of Cal-
vary to commemorate the martyrdom of Jesus. Visible just above the320 Chapter 12 BYZANTIUMT
heodora (FIG. 12-11), wife of Justinian and empress of Byzan-
tium, was not born into an aristocratic family. Her father, who
died when she was a child, was the “keeper of bears” for one of the cir-
cus factions (teams distinguished by color) at Constantinople. His re-
sponsibility was to prepare these animals for bear fights, bear hunts,
and acrobatic performances involving bears in a long tradition rooted
in ancient Rome. Theodora’s mother was an actress, and after the
death of her father the young Theodora took up the same career. Act-
ing was not a profession the highborn held in esteem. At Byzantium,
actresses often doubled as prostitutes, and the beautiful Theodora was
no exception. In fact, actresses were so low on the Byzantine social lad-
der that the law prohibited senators from marrying them.
Justinian met Theodora when he was about 40 years old, she
only 25. She became his mistress, but before they could wed, as they
did in 525, ignoring all the social norms of the day, Justinian’s uncle,
the emperor Justin, first had to rewrite the law against senatorial
marriages to actresses to permit wedlock with an ex-actress. When
Justin died in April 527, the patriarch of Constantinople crowned
Justinian emperor, and Theodora became empress of Byzantium,
capping what can be fairly described as one of the most remarkable
and improbable “success stories” of any age. By all accounts, even of
those openly hostile to the imperial couple, Justinian and Theodora
remained faithful to each other for the rest of their lives.
It was not Theodora’s beauty alone that attracted Justinian.
John the Lydian, a civil servant at Constantinople at the time, de-
scribed her as “surpassing in intelligence all men who ever lived.” As
her husband’s trusted adviser, she repaid him for elevating her from
poverty and disgrace to riches and prestige. During the Nika revolt
in Constantinople in 532, when all of her husband’s ministers coun-
seled flight from the city, Theodora, by the sheer force of her person-
ality, persuaded Justinian and his generals to hold their ground. The
revolt was suppressed.❚ART AND SOCIETY:Theodora, a Most Unusual Empress
ART AND SOCIETY