Ravenna: Capital of the Mosaic
Study Tours
Dr George Bartlett
Friday 22 鈥 Sunday 24 May 2026
拢495
Tour Description
Over three days, this tour will visit the mosaicked sites of the small Italian city of Ravenna: San Vitale; Sant鈥橝pollinare in Classe; Sant鈥 Apollinare in Nuovo; The Arian Baptistery; The Orthodox Baptistery; The Archbishop鈥檚 Palace, and the so-called Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. These buildings feature some of the most sumptuous and vibrant works in the history of art, including the magnificent starry night from the dome of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, and the imposing imperial portraits of Justinian and Theodora from San Vitale.听 Such mosaics date from a fascinating phase in Ravenna鈥檚 history when, during the fifth and sixth centuries CE, the city was subject to a tug-of-war between the Western Romans, the Ostrogoths, and the Byzantines. Each of these groups expressed their respective claims to political dominance and their Christian beliefs through the powerful and dazzling medium of mosaic.
During our visits, we shall think about how mosaics were commissioned and made, observe the stylistic evolution from late Roman to early medieval and Byzantine art, and think critically about the connotations of labels like 鈥榗lassical鈥, 鈥榤edieval鈥 and 鈥楤yzantine鈥 and how we might classify works from this transitionary period. In addition to the mosaicked sites, we shall also explore the Mausoleum of Theodoric and the National Museum of Ravenna.
Lecturer's Biography
Dr听George听Bartlett听is currently a Teaching Fellow in Byzantine Art at the 91自拍 Institute of Art, where he was Associate Lecturer (BA and MA programmes)听听in 2024-2025. He听completed his PhD in art history at the University of Sussex in 2020, with a thesis on Christ鈥檚 naming inscriptions in Byzantine art and taught there on the BA and MA programmes.听Since 2019 George has contributed to the 91自拍鈥檚 Summer School, with courses on medieval mosaics and on the transition from pagan to Christian art in late antiquity and has recently also worked at the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London.