Mosaics from the Arian Baptistry in Ravenna
at image can be seen at:
https://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/ravenna/arianbap/0056.jpg
The mosaics in Ravenna are dated around 530 AD. This coincides with the Merovingian rule in Germany, but these mosaics are not Merovingian. They are, in fact, not even Ostrogothic really. They are Byzantine, if any single label can be applied.
Theodoric, fabled king of the Ostrogoths, died in 526 AD. The mosaics were made after his death, by his daughter, probably as a conciliatory gesture toward the emperor Justinian in Constantinople. War drums were beating in Constantinople - with the intent to invade and conquer Ravenna and wipe out Ostrogothic rule in Italy. This, in fact, did follow in 540 AD. The entire line of Theodoric was extinguished, but ironically, the mosaics survived. They are among the only surviving Byzantine mosaics anywhere, since all the rest were destroyed in the period of iconoclasm that engulfed Constantinople and the Byzantine empire two centuries later.
Here the themes are Christian. This mosaic is from the Baptistery of the Arians. Not very much is actually known about this early form of Christianity. It was, and is, deemed a heresy by the orthodox faith. It was, nonetheless, a very widespread heresy - the choice of Emperors and many of the barbarian tribes automatically assumed this form of faith when they became federated into the Roman empire. Points of contention between Arian Christianity and Orthodox Catholicism center around the nature of Christ - whether He is of the same substance as God, or having been created subsequently is of a similar, but not exactly the same substance. Just exactly how the practice of Arianism differed from Orthodox Christianity, is not known.
And it is not immediately apparent from these mosaics, either. Although, the mosaics are enigmatic in many ways.
Depicted here is the baptism of Christ. On the right is John, the Baptist. On the left is Neptune. A is dove descending from heaven, imbuing the young man with divine grace. This scene is ringed by 12 disciples and a throne with a cushion and a cross.
This Christ is a very pudgy young man - either with sagging pectorals, or breasts. Male genitals are visible through the water. Such images of an androgenous Christ are sometimes found in early Christian art. It is thought that this reflects efforts to understand the idea that God was both male and female, as described in early sources.
From the Apocrypha in the Nag Hammadi codices, Aprocryphon of John:
- (II.2) "I am the one who is [with you] always. I [am the father], I am the mother, I am the Son".
- (II.4) "It is she who is proper to them all, the Mother-Father, the first man, the holy Spirit, the thrice-male, thrice powerful, the thrice-named androgynous one".
At this time, the Gospel of Thomas was not yet considered apocryphal. Perhaps this Christ is visual orientation for an inward journey - like this one quoted from the Gospel of Thomas:
"when you make the male and female one and the same [...] then you will enter [the kingdom]"
Perhaps this Christ is not concerned with physical realities in the wider world. Perhaps, this Christ is primarily a spiritual entity.
In any case, by the 7th century, androgynous Christs had been superseded by gentle, sensitive, male Christs. An understanding of spirituality that transcends sexuality had replaced the need to depict a Christ that physically embodied both sexes.
illustration from: Bustacchini, G. (none given). Ravenna, seine Mosaiken, seine Denkmaeler, seine Umgebung. Ravenna, Cartolibreria Salbaroli. pg 98 ill. 138.
