Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac. Detail of 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: Abraham prepares to obey God’s will by sacrificing his son Isaac. This biblical scene is portrayed in a 6th century mosaic in the sanctuary of the Basilica of San Vitale, founded in 547 AD. Ravenna, located on Italy’s northern Adriatic coast about 43 miles east of Bologna, was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 AD until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom until it was captured by the Byzantine Empire in 540. In the 8th century, it became the capital of the Lombard kings. It is now renowned as Western Europe’s greatest centre for the study of Byzantine art and architecture, with its Early Christian monuments protected as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
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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