Abel, the shepherd second son of Adam, stands by an altar wearing a red cloak and with flowers around his sandalled feet, offering a sacrificial lamb to God. Detail of 6th century AD Byzantine mosaic in sanctuary of the Basilica di San Vitale, founded in 547 AD at Ravenna, Emilia Romagna, Italy.
Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy: flowers bloom around the sandalled feet of red-cloaked Abel, shepherd second son of Adam, as he stands beside an altar to offer a sacrificial lamb to God, in a detail of a 6th century AD Byzantine mosaic, also featuring Canaanite priest-king Melchizedek, filling the southern lunette in the sanctuary of the Basilica di San Vitale. The church was founded in 547 AD, after the ancient city had been captured from the Ostrogoths by the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire, which was ruled from Constantinople. Ravenna remained under Byzantine rule until it was taken by the Lombards in 751 AD. The legacy of those centuries now makes it Western Europe’s greatest centre for the study of Byzantine art and architecture.
Size: 2848px × 4288px
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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