The local government of Ravenna established the highly successful travelling exhibition of the special copies of the world-famous Ravenna icons in the 50s. The exhibition was first opened in Paris in 1951 and has been travelling around the world ever since.

The entire collection was produced using a very rigorous complex method in order to ensure absolute faithfulness to the originals. For each piece the exact design and surrounds of all the tesseras was first copied onto a transparent film. Then all the colours in their various shades were sampled so that the glass slabs could be ordered from the glassworks of Murano and Venice.

The mosaic was then produced using the so-called indirect method on a temporary base (a bed of lime onto which the transparency was printed) finally to be removed, cleaned and relocated in its final location. The copies made this way carry even the finger imprints the makers of the originals left while working, and the sparkle and refraction of the stones also perfectly resemble the originals.

The exhibition that comes to life by the support of the city of Ravenna displays a collection of the copies of the most beautiful mosaics from 5 buildings: the Basilica of S. Vitale, the Basilica of S. Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery, the Neone Baptistery and the Archiepiscopal Chapel.

Zsolt Páva Pécs Mayor, Francesco Giangrandi President of the Province of Ravenna, and Alberto Cassani Culture Councillor of the Ravenna Municipality, will open the exhibition in the Dóm Museum (8 Káptalan street.) on 10 April 2010 at 16:00."

Source: pecs2010.hu