Raven­na’s mag­nif­i­cent mosaics were real­ized dur­ing a time of upheaval that echoes today in Ukraine.

There is some­thing odd about how the ancient mosaicist of Raven­na’s church of San Vitale tells the sto­ry of Moses receiv­ing the Ten Com­mand­ments.  When God presents him with the law, Moses turns away.  His gaze is fixed on the mosa­ic below, in which God pre­vents Abra­ham from sac­ri­fic­ing his son Isaac, instruct­ing him to offer a ram instead, thus ful­fill­ing the patriarch’s expec­ta­tion that God him­self would pro­vide an aton­ing sacrifice.

San Vitale’s mosaics are sixth cen­tu­ry mas­ter­pieces of light and col­or.  They con­vey the Chris­t­ian gospel with inef­fa­ble elo­quence.  They also express polit­i­cal aspi­ra­tions, long-for­got­ten visions of what Europe might be.  Their dis­ap­point­ments rever­ber­ate today in the streets of Kiev, Odessa and Donet­sk. Con­tin­ue read­ing →