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The Apostle Paul

Apostle Paul, circa 494–519 C.E. Mosaic, Museo arcivescovile di Ravenna, Italy.

This tondo of the apostle Paul appears in the Archiepiscopal Chapel in Ravenna. Ravenna's historic architecture illustrated the divisions and developments in early church art of the fifth and sixth centuries. This private chapel for the city's bishops feature anti-Arian iconography in their mosaics. The Latin Orthodox bishops of Ravenna were trying to distinguish themselves from the Ostrogoth Arian rulers who conquered Ravenna in the late fifth century. The conflict between Arianism and Orthodoxy was a major influence on artistic as well as political developments in the fifth and sixth century. Ravenna came under the direct control of Constantinople in about 540 C.E with Arianism increasingly sidelined and eventually banned.

The Apostle Paul

Common Era; a notation used in place of A.D. ("Anno Domini") for years in the current calendar era, about the last 2,000 years.

of or relating to Moses or the writings attributed to him.

Of or belonging to any of several branches of Christianity, especially from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, whose adherents trace their tradition back to the earliest Christian communities. Lowercase ("orthodox"), this term means conforming with the dominant, sanctioned ideas or belief system.

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