on as have those of Rome. After the invasion of the Visigoths in
A.D. 404, Honorius transferred the imperial court to Ravenna, and that
city then became distinguished for its learning and art. The Ravenna
mosaics are so numerous that I shall only speak of one series, from which
I give an illustration (Fig. 19).

This mosaic is in the church of S. Vitalis, which was built between A.D.
526 and 547. In the dome of the church there is a grand representation of
Christ enthroned; below Him are the sacred rivers of Paradise; near Him
are two angels and S. Vitalis, to whom the Saviour is presenting a crown;
Bishop Ecclesius, the founder of the church, is also represented near by
with a model of the church in his hand.

On a lower wall there are two pictures in which the Emperor Justinian and
the Empress Theodosia are represented: our cut is from one of these, and
shows the emperor and empress in magnificent costumes, each followed by a
train of attendants. This emperor never visited Ravenna; but he sent such
rich gifts to this church that he and his wife are represented as its
donors.

[Illustration: FIG. 19.--JUSTINIAN, THEODORA, AND ATTENDANTS. _From a
mosaic picture at S. Vitalis, Ravenna._]

After the time of Justinian (A.D. 527-565) mosaics began to be less
artistic, and those of the later time degenerated, as did everything else
during the Middle or Dark Ages, and at last all works of art show less and
less of the Greek or Classic influence.

When we use the word miniature as an art term, it does not mean simply a
small picture as it does in ordinary conversation; it means the pictures
executed by the hand of an illuminator or _miniator_ of manuscripts, and
he is so called from the _minium_ or cinnabar which he used in making
colors.

In the days of antiquity, as I have told you in speaking of Egypt, it was
customary to illustrate manuscripts, and during the Middle Ages this art
was very extensively practised. Many monks spent their whole lives in
illuminating religious books, and in Constantinople and other eastern
cities this art reached a high degree of perfection. Some manuscripts have
simple borders and colored initial letters only; sometimes but a single
color is used, and is generally red, from which comes our word rubric,
which means any writing or printing in red ink, and is derived from the
Latin _rubrum_, or red. This was the origin of illumination or
miniature-painting, which went on from one step to ano