Transformations and perceptions of the Early Christian monuments of Ravenna

I stumbled across a Nijmegen PhD which was published recently. I haven't studied it but the short abstract seems quite interesting.

Candidate: Mariëtte Verhoeven

Dissertation title: ‘‘Nothing perishes, everything changes’: transformations and perceptions of the Early Christian monuments of Ravenna’

Promotor: Prof Sible de Blaauw

Summary

A dozen ecclesiastical buildings in the Italian town of Ravenna, dating from the end of the fourth until the sixth century, constitute the starting point of this research. It focuses on the transformations these monuments underwent during fifteen centuries of continuous use and tries to contextualize these changes. At the same time the research aims at establishing the relationship between the material vicissitudes of the buildings and the perceptions of the Early Christian past of Ravenna. The intended result is to give a representative picture of Ravenna’s attitude towards its cultural heritage and especially of the influence of the mental perception and reception of the Early Christian past on it.

[Picture: Mosaic of Emperor Justinian in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna ca. 547 A.D.]