{"product_id":"ravenna","title":"Ravenna","description":"\u003ch2\u003eGold, Ghosts \u0026amp; the Empress\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eRavenna\u003c\/strong\u003e endures. Named for the city that became the last capital of the Western Roman Empire — the place where civilisation did not fall, but transformed, gilded itself in gold, and refused to be forgotten — she is the sculptural figurine that carries the weight of fifteen centuries in her form. Some things are not beautiful despite their history. They are beautiful \u003cem\u003ebecause\u003c\/em\u003e of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eKiss me gently\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Rome fell in 476 AD, Ravenna did not fall with it. It became something else — the seat of Byzantine power in the West, a city that fused Roman grandeur with Eastern opulence and produced mosaics so extraordinary they have never been surpassed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd from the walls of the Basilica of San Vitale, the Empress \u003cem\u003eTheodora\u003c\/em\u003e stares out across fourteen centuries with an expression that has never been fully explained. She was born to a bear-keeper in the Constantinople hippodrome. She became an actress — the lowest social rank in the Byzantine world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe caught the eye of the future Emperor Justinian, who changed the law to marry her, and she co-ruled an empire with a ferocity and intelligence that historians still argue about. When the Nika riots threatened to destroy everything, it was Theodora who refused to flee. \u003cem\u003e“Royalty is a fine burial shroud,”\u003c\/em\u003e she told the court. They stayed. They won.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eRavenna\u003c\/strong\u003e carries that same quality — the beauty that has survived everything, and knows it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat makes her golden\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNamed for Ravenna — the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, home to the greatest mosaics ever made\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInspired by the Empress Theodora — who rose from the hippodrome to co-rule an empire and stares from the walls of San Vitale with undiminished authority\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA sign value object that carries the weight of fifteen centuries of beauty that refused to disappear\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHand-finished with the deliberate care given to objects meant to outlast their makers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLimited edition — like Ravenna itself, some things are too significant to be repeated\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eRavenna\u003c\/strong\u003e is for those who understand that the most enduring beauty is the kind that has already survived the unthinkable.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"suplesm","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52910636302625,"sku":null,"price":49.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0985\/8885\/2513\/files\/Ravenna_F.jpg?v=1782765219","url":"https:\/\/suplesm.com\/products\/ravenna","provider":"suplesm","version":"1.0","type":"link"}