The Good Shepherd Mosaic Analysis

PHILOSOPHY BEHIND CULTURAL PRODUCTS
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Art has a different but unique way of communicating with people. It appeals to the mind and the eyesight. Art holds the history together in a manner that gives it life and a soft touch. Through artistic creations, it is easy to have a touch and feel of some creature or lifestyle that existed in ancient time. It makes it possible to peep into the past and look at the people’s way of life socially, religiously or economically. Let us shift our focus a little to the mosaics in Ravenna and Galla Placidia and the Byzantine mosaics. These are mosaics dating back to about 400 AD. What about them?
To start with, Christ the good shepherd is located on the entrance wall of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. Ravenna was a great city because it came under Roman control in 191 BC and it possessed one of the few right ports on the East sides of Italy. This was also a home of very learned high profile people of the time. The mosaic was made in 425 AD. Although before it, Christ had been represented in various ways, this representation was different. It does not display Christ as a carpenter. It shows the royal version of Christ. He is represented wearing a Roman robe in a way that depicted imperial status. Next to him is a set of sheep on each side with Him touching one of them. Also in the mosaic is a golden staff. The staff has been in designed to look like a crucifix. Christ is represented as a king looking after the very ones He came for. The symbolism of the good shepherd has come from the Bible where John says Christ is the shepherd and we are His flock and that He takes good care of His flock which is represented in the mosaic because even in His royalty, he still is holding one sheep at the nose.
Another excellent and outstanding mosaic is the Saint Apollinaris Amid Sheep also from Ravenna, Italy named after a martyr. It depicts the transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of the three closest disciples He had. At the top of the mosaic is the hang of God and the images of Moses and Elijah. It was made on a dome, and all the figures appear to be on the same level. This is characteristic with all the Byzantine mosaics. This particular mosaic shows what the Byzantine was like, how they tried hard to make domes even if it practically involved measuring out all the figures so that it does not appear distorted to the viewer. It was started on the order of a Bishop, Maximian and dedicated to the Bishop of Ravenna. The mosaic has a large facade with some simple uprights and a single mullioned window designed with three openings. An artistic Byzantine from over 1600 years ago talking to present-day humankind is a sweet sense of art.
The early Christian mosaics are in the church of Santa Costanza which date to as far as 320BC believed to have been built for Constantine's daughter. Not much is said though because most of it was lost in the 4th century. However, Constantine transformed Christianity in his time as emperor. After his reign, Christianity changed. He, through art, made a difference. He had artistic constructions made, including the one in Santa. For that very reason, he lives on. He is still remembered through his art.
In the words of Woody Allen, and which can be echoed by many artists "I do not want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying" (Weiss, 2007). Just like many producers of cultural products, to Allen, there is no more seductive idea than his work continuing beyond his lifespan. This perception has affected how art is ranked and perceived. No wonder there is an almost shouting irony in expending ‘low' culture (popularly known as pop culture) to advance something that is reflected as ‘high' culture (and in this case poetry) and anticipating for high culture's attendant permanence. When taking into context different forms of art, for instance, poetry, it is worth remembering that poetry did not set off as high art. Pop culture only emerged about eight decades ago, and before then, it was known as another form of culture (Watkins, 2005).
For an artist, everything they encounter, it is an inspiration for their creation and grist to their creative mill (Scarre and Robin, 2013). Most artists will try to remain keen in enjoying high, folk as well as pop culture devoid of creating value judgments as far as the kind of culture they are ingesting. The reason behind this is to remain alive to different functions of cultural products continually, the different cultures they serve, and cleanse themselves of any self-consciousness or cultural superciliousness affecting the experience, whether an artist is looking at ‘Da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist,' a film like the Teen Wolf, or a TV show like Dollhouse. These can also draw a particular side of an artist that also enjoys reading graphic novels or comics, and other forms of art. It is possible to love all those and still enjoy dancing Agbadza, (a famous traditional dance among the Ewe people from Ghana) or sometimes boxing preparation just as much. The routines of boxing and dance share a couple of similarities in many ways instead, but one that still allows the artist to maintain the ties to the roots through an extremely subjective folk philosophy experience, while the other routing builds up their fitness, concentration and reflexes. These different subcultures, whether it is comics, movies, paintings, dancing or sport, they all allow access into comparable but universes that are poles apart. High, pop and folk cultures appeal seductively to very different types of audiences, but interestingly all of them present much delight to their respective audiences.
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