Mosaico dell’Onda (lit. Wave mosaic)

The Mosaico dell’Onda (lit. Wave mosaic) welcomes and amazes visitors to the Classis museum, decorating its grand entrance staircase. It was designed by architect Andrea Mandara and created by mosaic artist Paolo Racagni, in collaboration with the Ancient Mosaic Restoration Laboratory of the RavennAntica Foundation. It is a 33-metre long installation evoking a sea wave, alluding to the past of Ravenna and Classe, once lapped by the sea and marshy waters. It is an opportunity to see up close a mosaic work. The gaze can discovery the many trends, the variations in shape and size of the tesserae, their different inclinations and depths in which they are set. Also distinguishing the different hands of the mosaicists engaged in the work. The intense blues in smalti-tesserae were chosen from the samples of mosaic tesserae set up during the restoration of the UNESCO monuments in Ravenna, in a symbolic and poetic link with the city’s great historical and artistic heritage.