Raving about Ravenna

Before jumping on the Ravenna bandwagon...because I am most certainly going to do that...pardon this interruption for a quick note about Easter Sunday.

I was invited for Easter lunch and egg dying at Leah's apartment. Christine and Leah were kind enough to share their plans with me and we had a fun afternoon. We dyed eggs old school style, no kit, no crayons, just vinegar and food coloring...and some tape.

Leah had Peeps! omg. My craving is satisfied.

Thanks ladies! The food was delicious and our eggs were, well, colorful, to say the least!!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

After my jaunt to San Marino, I headed to Ravenna, just a little ways north from Rimini. I had heard about Ravenna before, as my good friend Kate had visited there before moving back to the States two years ago.

Ravenna is most known for the most gorgeous collection of Byzantine mosaics.

Did you notice that the picture is made entirely of fingernail sized squares?

I mean, even the street signs are mosaics.

According to my good friend Rick, "The Roman emperor moved his capital to Ravenna and kept close ties with the other Roman capital at Constantinople (called Byzantium)" (p. 185, Rick Steves Italy 2011).

love, love, love

a little shaky on full zoom...

Once I saw how amazing these mosaics are I became kind of obsessed.

It's easy to see how artist Gustav Klimt took inspiration from the mosaics in Ravenna for his work during his golden period and pieces like The Kiss.

I began searching online for local mosaic artisans. I found a list from the Ravenna Tourism Office with a list of local studios. Another helpful list was a forum post on Trip Advisor that listed these artists.

Koko Mosaico Via di Roma, 136
Barbara Liverani Studio Via Girolamo Rossi, 21/a
Imad Punto Mosaico Via Francesco Negri, 4/a

Near Basilica di San Vitale I found another shop: Annafietta on Via Guiliano Argentario, 21

I admired something at each shop, but in the end decided to buy from Barbara Liverani this time around. She had a large variety of pieces for sale and the prices seemed on track with some of what I had seen around town. She was super friendly, allowed me to practice my broken Italian with her, and, well, I just liked her.

Barbara's workspace

This looks like the perfect spring frame to add to my collection of treasures from around the world. 

So if you're ever in Ravenna and have a burning desire to buy a mosaic to take home with you, I hope you'll stop by Barbara's studio and check out her work.

Several of the studios appear to offer classes...and that may put Ravenna on the agenda again.