A reconstruction of a 6th c. mosaic depicting *Michael (the Archangel, S00181), *Gabriel (the Archangel, S00192) and shadows which provide spaces for *Cosmas and Damian (brothers, physician martyrs of Syria, S00385). The original was in San Michele in Africisco in Ravenna (northern Italy) and was created c. 545/547.
E06049
Images and objects - Wall paintings and mosaics
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Reconstructed mosaics from San Michele in Africisco, Ravenna
In the semi-dome of the apse, Christ stands in a landscape in front of a golden background. He holds a cross and an open book, which says:
+ QUI VI
DIT ME
VIDITET
PATREM
EGO ET
PATER
UNUM
SUMUS
‘Anyone who has seen me has seen my father. I and my father are one.' (John 14.9; 10.30)
Christ is flanked by two angels, both of whom are haloed and are wearing white. The angel on the left is labelled 'MICHAHEL' (Michael). The angel on the right is labelled 'GABRIHEL' (Gabriel).
On either side of this image on the front of the apse, two panels depict shadowy outlines of men standing in a landscape before a gold background. These men are both labelled. On the left there is 'COSMAS'. On the right we have 'DAMIANUS'. Above the apse Christ is depicted enthroned and surrounded by unnamed angels.
Description: Frances Trzeciak.
Cult building - independent (church)
Use of ImagesPublic display of an image
Commissioning/producing an image
Source
This mosaic is currently displayed in the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany. It was very heavily restored after its move to Berlin. After Napoleon's invasion of Italy in the early nineteenth century, the church of San Michele in Africisco was sold and ceased to be a church. In 1843, King Frederick William IV of Prussia purchased it and the mosaic was moved to the Bode Museum in Berlin, where it has remained ever since.Discussion
Cosmas and Damian are depicted in several other mosaics which were present in Ravenna in a similar period, for example in the Cappella Archieviscovile (E05950) and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (E06046). Cosmas and Damian were venerated elsewhere in Italy in this period: the relics of Cosmas and Damian were brought to Rome by Pope Symmachus (498-514) and were venerated in Rome in the 6th c. (see for example $E01361).Bibliography
Further Reading:Centro Internazionale di Documentazione sul Mosaico - http://www.mosaicocidm.it/Mosaico/Read_full.action?cardNumber=348&leaves=2 - for a very full account (in Italian) of the sorry story of this mosaic's history.
Deichmann, Friederich Wilhelm, Ravenna, Hauptstadt des spätantiken Abendlandes, vol. 1-3 (Wiesbaden, 1958-89).
Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf, Ravenna in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, 2010).
Jäggi, Carola, Ravenna: Kunst und Kultur einer spätantiken Residenzstadt; die Bauten und Mosaiken des 5. und 6. Jahrhunderts (Regensburg, 2016).
Verhoeven, Mariëtte, The Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna: Transformations and Memory (Turnhout, 2011).
Centro Internazionale di Documentazione sul Mosaicohttp://www.mosaicocidm.it/Mosaico/Read_full.action?cardNumber=348&leaves=2
Images
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Reconstruction of the apse from San Michele in Africisco depicting the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and shadowy shapes below the names Cosmas and Damian. Now in the Bodes Museum, Berlin, Germany. Photo credit: Richard Morel, 16/01/2018. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Frances Trzeciak
30/07/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00181 | Michael, the Archangel | Michahel | Certain | S00192 | Gabriel, the Archangel | Gabrihel | Certain | S00385 | Kosmas and Damianos, brothers, physician martyrs of Syria | Cosmas, Damianvs | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E06049 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06049