The Procession of Martyrs at Sant'Apollinare Nuovo: The Palace of Theodoric

6th century
Mosaic
Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

The Procession of Martyrs runs in the bottom register along the upper band of the right wall of the nave, from the city of Ravenna to the throne of Christ. Behind the façade of the palace we see the walls and major buildings of the city; at the far right we see the city gate with the inscription CIVITAS RAVENN[A] – "The City of Ravenna," corresponding to the CIVITAS CLASE facing this on the left wall.

The palace was built by Theodoric the Great, who was not in good odor when the mosaics were revised in 561. Originally the arches may have framed Theodoric and members of his court, but now they feature tied curtains against monochrome backgrounds. Disembodied hands can be seen on the first column on the left and the second-to last column on the right.

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• Sant'Apollinare Right Wall
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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.