The Harts Apse

5th century
Mosaic
West apse, mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy

In the barrel lunette below, two harts approach a spring or stream. Above, in the drum lunette Saints Peter and Paul flank a window above two doves at a footed water basin. Their right arms are raised in a gesture that indicates the giving of an oration.1

The doves at the basin echo the harts in the barrel lunette and the doves in the corresponding position on the east drum lunette. In all three cases the motif is a way of expressing both the thirst of the repentant for healing and the promise of immortality. (See my essay on fountains and peacocks.)

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Read more about images of St. Peter and St. Paul.

View these detail photographs with commentary:
• The harts
• The vault above the harts
• Peter and Paul

• Home Page
• Harts and Fountains
• This Picture

Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

1 West, 18.