Cappella Arcivescovile (di Sant'Andrea)

The Archiepiscopal Chapel of Saint Andrew is the small early Christian oratory within Ravenna's episcopal palace. Its mosaics belong to the period of Bishop Peter II, at the turn of the sixth century, when the city's Orthodox bishops lived under Theodoric's Arian court.

Why it matters

The chapel is an exceptional surviving private episcopal place of worship and forms part of Ravenna's UNESCO-listed early Christian monuments. Its imagery expresses the Orthodox Christian identity of the episcopate within the religious setting of Theodoric's reign.

What to notice

At the entrance, Christ appears as a warrior bearing a cross and trampling a lion and serpent. Birds and flowers fill the vestibule's mosaic vault. In the oratory, four angels support Christ's monogram among the symbols of the evangelists, while roundels of saints and apostles enrich the surrounding arches.

Context and history

The chapel was created during Peter II's episcopate, conventionally dated 494–519, as part of the bishops' residence. The surrounding Archiepiscopal Museum developed in the eighteenth century following rebuilding of the cathedral. That later museum setting gives the earlier chapel a new context without making all nearby objects part of its original decoration.