Question of the week: what's one of your favourite places to visit in Europe? "I'll categorize my reply to the assignment, my favourite European place, by listing one of the places I would go if I were able to get there --
I would return to Ravenna, Italy, located on the east coast of Italy, a few hours south of Venice and east of Florence -- and so very do-able to include Ravenna on a Rome-Florence-Venice itinerary.
Why? To see the mosaics again.
During the reign of Octavianus Augustus (Caesar's heir) Ravenna was developed as a military harbour that guaranteed the defence of the Adriatic and the eastern shores of the Empire. By 402 CE the fleet had left when the Emperor Honorius made Ravenna the capital of the Western Roman Empire. Like Venice (now approximately 2 hours north) Ravenna was surrounded by swamps that served as a barrier to invaders. Indeed, for the next few centuries Ravenna was the capital of an invaded empire, enriched by imperial and churchly patronage. And -- the benefit for modern visitors -- the extraordinary churches and other buildings with their unimaginably rich mosaic decorations have remained unchanged and in superb condition.
Go to see for yourself the Basilica of San Vitale, the Basilicas of Sant'Apollinare in Classe and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, and even the Baptistery of the (heretical) Arians. You'll marvel at what 5th and 6th century artists could do -- these photos of spectacularly beautiful mosaic interiors can only hint at what it is like to be inside, surrounded by 360 degrees of such beautifully varied decoration."- Dr Holt
* Photos by antiquite-tardive and Sebastià Giralt, used under Creative Commons.
I am glad that you liked my photo of the inside of San Vitale, but I didn't like that you went on to use it without asking permission.
ReplyDeletePictures have authors and rights and you should be more careful about this kind of things.
@Lluis.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that you are unhappy to have had your work used in this way. I apologise, and will remove the image from the post.
However, I must admit that I am surprised by your comment. The image is on Flickr, where it is licensed under a Creative Commons liscence, permitting anyone to copy or display the image so long as the usage is not commercial (this blog is not commercial), the image is not altered in any way (which it was not) and the photographer is credited (which you were, both by name and by link from the photo.)
(The removed photo was this beautiful shot)
ReplyDeleteI've seen that the names of the authors are in very small letters at the bottom of the post. I presume it must have been there too yesterday but I didn't see them back then.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is licensed under Creative Commons but I think that it is a courtesy measure to let the author know about the picture being used. That's what I was complaining about. Because I'm kind letting others use my pictures if they need to, I like that those who do would also be kind to me in letting me know. If I would have been really pissed off I would have removed it myself and I didn't, I let it there.
Anyway, do as you please, but the world works better with some drops of kindness in it. That's how I see it.