occupy a carefully described landscape that extends from fore-
ground to background beneath a blue sky. As at Santa Maria Mag-
giore (FIG. 11-14), all the forms have three-dimensional bulk and are
still deeply rooted in the classical tradition.
SANT’APOLLINARE NUOVOAround 504, soon after
Theodoric settled in Ravenna, he ordered the construction of his
own palace-church, a three-aisled basilica (FIG. 11-17) dedicated to
the Savior. In the ninth century, the relics of Saint Apollinaris were
transferred to this church. The building has been known since that
time as Sant’Apollinare Nuovo.
The rich mosaic decorations of the nave walls are divided into
three zones. Only the upper two date from Theodoric’s time. Old
Testament patriarchs and prophets stand between the clerestory
windows. Above them, scenes from Christ’s life alternate with deco-
rative panels.Architecture and Mosaics 303A
s an art form,mosaichad a rather simple and utilitarian begin-
ning, seemingly invented primarily to provide an inexpensive
and durable flooring. Originally, small beach pebbles were set, unal-
tered from their natural form and color, into a thick coat of cement. Ar-
tisans soon discovered, however, that the stones could be arranged in
decorative patterns. At first, these pebble mosaics were uncomplicated
and were confined to geometric shapes. Generally, the artists used only
black and white stones. Examples of this type, dating to the eighth cen-
tury BCE, have been found at Gordion in Asia Minor. Eventually, artists
arranged the stones to form more complex pictorial designs, and by the
fourth century BCE, the technique had developed to a high level of so-
phistication. Mosaicists depicted elaborate figural scenes using a broad
range of colors—yellow, brown, and red in addition to black, white,
and gray—and shaded the figures, clothing, and setting to suggest vol-
ume. Thin strips of lead provided linear definition (FIG. 5-68).
By the middle of the third century BCE, artists had invented a
new kind of mosaic that permitted the best mosaicists to create de-
signs more closely approximating true paintings. The new technique
employed tesserae (Latin for “cubes” or “dice”). These tiny cut stones
gave the artist much greater flexibility because their size and shape
could be adjusted at will, eliminating the need for lead strips to indi-
cate contours and interior details. Much more gradual gradations of
color also became possible (FIG. 5-70), and mosaicists finally could
aspire to rival the achievements of painters.
In Early Christian mosaics (FIGS. 11-1, 11-13, 11-14, and 11-16
to 11-18), the tesserae were usually made of glass, which reflects light
and makes the surfaces sparkle. Ancient mosaicists occasionally used
glass tesserae, but the Romans preferred opaque marble pieces. Mo-
saics quickly became the standard means of decorating walls and
vaults in Early Christian buildings, although mural paintings were
also popular. The mosaics caught the light flooding through the win-
dows in vibrant reflection, producing sharp contrasts and concentra-
tions of color that could focus attention on a composition’s central,
most relevant features. Mosaics worked in the Early Christian man-
ner were not meant to incorporate the subtle tonal changes a natural-
istic painter’s approach would require. Color was “placed,” not
blended. Bright, hard, glittering texture, set within a rigorously sim-
plified pattern, became the rule. For mosaics situated high in an apse
or ambulatory vault or over the nave colonnade, far above the ob-
server’s head, as in the church of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo (FIG. 11-17)
in Ravenna, the painstaking use of tiny tesserae seen in Roman floor
and wall mosaics (FIGS. 5-70and 10-24) would be meaningless. Early
Christian mosaics, designed to be seen from a distance, employed
larger tesserae. The pieces were also set unevenly so that their surfaces
could catch and reflect the light. Artists favored simple designs for
optimal legibility. For several centuries, mosaic, in the service of
Christian theology, was the medium of some of the supreme master-
pieces of medieval art.Mosaics
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES11-17Interior of
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo,
Ravenna, Italy, dedicated 504.
Theodoric, king of the
Ostrogoths, established his
capital at Ravenna in 493.
His palace-church features an
extensive series of mosaics
depicting Old Testament
prophets and scenes from
the life of Christ.