Chiesa di San Michele in Africisco

San Michele in Africisco was a sixth-century basilica in Ravenna whose surviving fabric has been incorporated into later buildings. Its celebrated apse mosaic was removed in the nineteenth century and entered the Berlin collections.

Why it matters

The church was founded through the patronage of Giuliano Argentario and Bacauda and consecrated in 547 by Maximian. Its history connects the building of Ravenna's early Christian churches with the later dispersal and preservation of their decoration.

What to notice

The surviving polygonal apse and later chapel recall the former church, while the Gothic bell tower rises above its altered surroundings. The apse mosaic depicts a youthful Christ with cross and open book between the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Other fragments associated with the church, including mosaic and carved stonework, remained in Ravenna's National Museum.

Context and history

Deconsecration in 1805 was followed by sale and secular uses. Frederick William IV of Prussia purchased the mosaic in 1843, beginning its history in Berlin. The separation between architectural remains, museum fragments and the removed mosaic is central to understanding the monument's later fate.