Oh, Ravenna! — Neonian and Arian Baptistries, Ravenna, Italy
Today sees the first entry in a series of occasional posts on the subject of the Italian town of Ravenna and its incredible mosaics (did I mention that I rather like mosaics? I did? Right, well, moving on…). Ravenna became the capital of the Western Roman Empire after barbarian invaders threatened its previous first city, Milan, in the early fifth century AD. The city then became the capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom between 476 and 580 AD, and after that, the administrative centre of the Byzantine Empire until the middle of the eighth century AD. Between the fifth and sixth centuries, some truly exquisite works of art were created in Ravenna’s buildings, several of which are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I’m going to introduce two of these today: the fifth-century Neonian (or Orthodox) Baptistry and the sixth-century Arian Baptistry. Both feature beautiful mosaics depicting the baptism of Christ, but aside from their obvious aesthetic appeal, what makes these interesting is the imagery itself and the way it reflects developing ideas about Christianity during this period.
Construction
began on the Neonian Baptistry in the late-fourth to early-fifth century AD as part
of a great basilica (demolished in the eighteenth century) and was completed by
a Bishop Neon (hence the name) towards the end of the fifth century AD. The
building is also known as the Orthodox Baptistry to distinguish it from the
Arian one, more of which later. Christ is depicted, in the Neonian Baptistry, as
a mature, bearded man (the kind of image we tend to expect, based on centuries
of iconography). He is baptised by St. John the Baptist (again, as one would
expect), but these two figures are accompanied by a personification of the
River Jordan, a figure straight out of late-antiquity paganism. I’m no art
historian, but I believe that, when it came to natural phenomena, this kind of personified
imagery died out as late antiquity morphed into the medieval period (although
you could still personify things like virtues). I may be wrong in this, and I am
happy to be corrected.
The Arian
Baptistry was built in the late fifth to early sixth century AD by Theodoric, king
of the Ostrogoths and an Arian Christian. When Theodoric became king, he
created new structures in which Arians could worship, although apparently he
was quite tolerant towards non-Arian Christians. Arianism asserted that Jesus’ humanity made him less divine than God the Father, and this idea can be seen
depicted in the mosaic dome of the Arian Baptistry, as the figure of Christ is
shown as beardless and boyish (he actually looks slightly disinterested in
proceedings!). Again, the River Jordan is personified as an old man, with a
headdress of crab claws this time. Clearly the design drew heavily on its Neonian
predecessor, and in both cases, the Apostles surround the baptismal scene,
which would have been seen similarly by both types of Christians in both buildings as they looked
up to it during their own baptisms. After Arianism was suppressed in the sixth
and seventh centuries, the Arian Baptistry was adapted to become a Catholic
place of worship.
You don’t
need to be a believer in anything divine or otherworldly to appreciate the vivid
colours, glittering gold, and outstanding artistry of these mosaics, created by
craftsmen whose names are lost to history. Expressing the evolving nature of
Christian theology at the time, they challenge our established ideas about Christian
iconography, and it’s difficult to view them without at least a little of the
sense of wonder felt by those newly received into the faith (in whichever form)
a millennium and a half ago.
For a
comprehensive history of Ravenna throughout late antiquity and the early Middle
Ages, I can recommend Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe by
Judith Herrin ISBN: 9780241954454
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