The Cosmic Cross as Logos’ Theophany. First Version of Sant’Apollinare in Classe’s Apsidal Mosaic and Jerusalem’s Staurophany of AD 351

The apsidal mosaic of Sant’Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna is not, as it seems, a single iconographic program, but was made in three distinct phases. In the first version, attested by sinopias, St Apollinaris didn’t appear, but there were just two crosses, the former crowned, in the middle of the apsidal vault, the latter drawn at the base, in the centre of a frieze with peacocks and other birds. Such composition, perhaps considered less understandable, was replaced by a symbolic Transfiguration, constituted by a crowned cross as image of the transfigured Christ and by three lambs as the symbols of Peter, James and John. Both inscriptions IXΘΥΣ and SALUS MUNDI, but particularly the landscape, characterised by tall olive tree making the background of the crowned cross, are all elements present in the famous Letter of Cyril to Constantine II, in which the bishop tells the Emperor about a staurophany which occurred over Jerusalem in AD 351 between Golgotha and the Mount of Olives. The impression is that building’s original dedication was not to St Apollinaris, but rather to the Cross, or better to the Staurophany of 351: the saint’s sarcophagus was brought inside the church, many years after its foundation, by Bishop Maximianus, who perhaps rededicated the basilica on that occasion to Apollinaris and introduced the figure of the first bishop of Ravenna in the apsidal mosaic between the twelve lambs. The reason of the original dedication is evident by the quoted letter, in which Cyril admonishes Constantine II to believe in the consubstantiality of Christ/Logos with the Father, and to fight heretics using as standard the victorious sign of the Cross: this is the slogan of Justinian, who legitimates his war against the Goths in the name of the fight against Arian heresy.

Apsidalni mozaik u crkvi Svetog Apolinara u Classeu pokraj Ravenne nije, kako se čini, jedinstven ikonografski program, već je rađen u tri odvojene faze. U prvoj se fazi, potvrđenoj sinopijama, ne pojavljuje lik sveca, već su na njegovu mjestu bila dva križa: jedan okrunjen u sredini konhe apside, a drugi naslikan na postamentu, u centru friza, s paunovima i drugim pticama. Ta je kompozicija bila zamijenjena simboličnim prikazom Transfiguracije, sastavljenim od crux gemmate (simbolom transfiguriranoga Krista) i tri janjeta (simbolima Petra, Jakova i Ivana). Natpisi IXΘΥΣ i SALUS MUNDI i pejsaž istaknut visokim drvom masline, koje predstavlja pozadinu crux gemmate, elementi su prisutni u slavnom pismu Ćirila Jeruzalemskog caru Konstantinu II., u kojem biskup govori caru o Staurofaniji (Križojavljanju) koja se dogodila u Jeruzalemu 351. godine, između Golgote i Maslinske gore. Pretpostavlja se da prvotna građevina nije bila posvećena svetom Apolinaru, već križu ili, vjerojatnije, Staurofaniji; sarkofag sveca donesen je u crkvu mnogo godina nakon njezina osnutka, zalaganjem biskupa Maksimijana, koji je tom prilikom možda posvetio baziliku svetom Apolinaru te uveo lik prvog ravenskog biskupa u prikaz s dvanaest janjaca u apsidalnom mozaiku. Razlog izvornog posvećenja crkve očit je u već spomenutom pismu, u kojem Ćiril Jeruzalemski podsjeća Konstantina II. da vjeruje u konsupstancijalnost Krista/Logosa s Ocem te da koristi pobjednički znak križa kao simbol u bitci protiv heretika; to postaje i Justinijanovo geslo, koji opravdava svoj rat protiv Gota bitkom protiv arijanske hereze.