Melchizedek, Melchisedech or Melchisedec, a priest-king revered by Abraham, offers bread to God at an altar. Byzantine mosaic in the Basilica di San Vitale at Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The mosaic was created in the 500s AD, a few years after Ravenna was captured by the Byzantine Empire from the Ostrogoths.
Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy: The biblical figure of Melchizedek, Melchisedech or Melchisedec, a priest-king revered by Abraham, brings his sacrificial offering of a loaf of bread to a central altar, in this close detail of an ancient Byzantine mosaic also featuring Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, that fills the southern lunette in the sanctuary of the Basilica of San Vitale, founded in 547 AD. This mosaic was created just a few years after Ravenna had been captured by the Byzantine Empire from the Ostrogoths. The ancient city on Italy’s northern Adriatic coast had previously served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire. Byzantine control lasted from 540 AD into the 8th century, when it became the capital of the Lombard kings. Ravenna is now renowned as Western Europe’s greatest centre for the study of Byzantine art and architecture and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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