Maximianus of Ravenna, or Maximian (499 – February 22, 556; feast day formerly February 21) was bishop of Ravenna in Italy.

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

was then the capital of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

's territories in Italy, and Maximianus's role may have included secular political functions.

Life

Born in the

Istrian Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betw ...

town of Vistar (now Veštar) near Pola ( Pula) in modern-day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Maximianus was consecrated bishop of Ravenna in 546 by

Pope Vigilius Pope Vigilius (died 7 June 555) was the bishop of Rome from 29 March 537 to his death. He is considered the first pope of the Byzantine papacy. Born into Roman aristocracy, Vigilius served as a deacon and papal ''apocrisiarius'' in Constantino ...

in Patras, Greece. Maximianus was a forty-eight-year-old

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

from Pola when he became the twenty-sixth bishop of Ravenna. According to the ninth-century Ravennate priest Andreas Agnellus, Maximianus' flock initially refused his leadership, because he was selected by the emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...

and was not their initial candidate. To a modern art historian Meyer Shapiro, "Maximian was "a poor deacon of Pola who rose to a high position through his political adroitness" as a protégé of Justinian I. He had not been wanted as archbishop by the people of Ravenna, but "by shrewd maneuvers he overcame their opposition, and won their respect by his discretion, generosity, and great enterprises of church building and decoration".Schapiro, 38 He completed the Basilica of San Vitale and

Sant'Apollinare in Classe The Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe ("Saint Apollinaris in Classe") is a church in Classe, Ravenna, Italy, consecrated on 9 May 549 by the bishop Maximian and dedicated to Saint Apollinaris, the first bishop of Ravenna and Classe. ...

in Ravenna, and built several other churches, including

Santa Maria del Canneto The Basilica of Santa Maria del Canneto, or Santa Maria Formosa, was a sixth-century Byzantine church erected in Pola (modern-day Pula, Croatia) under the patronage of Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna. The structure was damaged at the time of the ...

in his native Istria. Maximianus devoted himself to the revision of

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic C ...

s and to the emendation of the Latin text of the Bible, and commissioned a large number of illuminated manuscripts. For the high altar in Ravenna he had a hanging made of the most costly cloth, which was embroidered with a portrayal of the entire life of Jesus. In another hanging he had portraits of all his predecessors embroidered on gold ground. Maximian's most remarkable episcopal furnishing is the

Throne of Maximian The Throne of Maximian (or Maximianus) is a ''cathedra'' (episcopal throne) that was made for Archbishop Maximianus of Ravenna and is now on display at the Archiepiscopal Museum, Ravenna. It is generally agreed that the throne was carved in the G ...

, the ''cathedra'' of the bishop which was constructed entirely of ivory panels. It was probably carved in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

and shipped to Ravenna. It consists of decorative floral panels framing various figured panels, including one with the complex monogram of the bishop. In a famous 6th-century

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

in San Vitale, Maximianus (named above the figure) is with Emperor Justinian and his retinue. The saint holds a jewelled cross and wears early versions of an alb,

chasuble The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...

and

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

. He is regarded as a saint by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches, though essentially local to Ravenna, where there is a church dedicated to him at Piazza S. Massimiano, Punta Marina, Ravenna, 48020.

Gallery

File:Sanvitale03.jpg, File:Detalle lado.JPG, Side view of the

File:Capilla de Santa María Formosa, Pula, Croacia, 2017-04-16, DD 49.jpg, The surviving side chapel of the church of

Notes

References

*Andreas Agnellus of Ravenna. ''The Book of Pontiffs of Ravenna'', trans. Deliyannis Mauskopf. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2004. * Schapiro, Meyer, "The Joseph Scenes on the Maximianus Throne", in ''Selected Papers, volume 3, Late Antique, Early Christian and Mediaeval Art'', 1980, Chatto & Windus, London, , also on JSTOR from the ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'', 1952

External links

Saint Patrick's Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximianus Of Ravenna 499 births 556 deaths People from Pula Italian Roman Catholic saints 6th-century Byzantine bishops 6th-century Christian saints Bishops of Ravenna People from Istria 6th-century Latin writers 6th-century Byzantine writers 6th-century Italian writers

Life

Gallery

Notes

References

Further reading

External links