HISTORY, ETC: THE SUNDAY SNAP
A picture for today, and a taster of the week ahead in history
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According to my phone, which knows everything, it’s exactly two years since my last, pre-pandemic research trip outside the UK. I went to Ravenna, in north-east Italy, to check out the stunning mosaics and tombs which date back to the age of Byzantines and the so-called barbarians who ruled after the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. Here’s one of my favourite images from that trip: one of the many stunning and bright mosaics, high up in the Basilica di San Vitale.
This week on History, Etc we’ll put the royal family’s woes in context with a rundown of the worst princes in British history, a subscriber-only piece on medieval outlaws and another Q&A-led issue of the podcast (or is it?), First Draft.
See you then.
Gorgeous pic! Mosaics are fantastic. Never been to Ravenna, but my favorite ones are in Monreale Cathedral in Sicily. I could spend all day staring up at those beauties (with occasional pasta and wine breaks, of course)😉
I visited Ravenna on a daytrip from Bologna last September. The mosaics can be viewed at several places, and they're absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, the floors of the Basilica di San Vitale are wonderful as well. We tend to gaze only upwards, but looking down has its merits too.