Santa Sofia e l'imperatore: Barlumi di luce e d'ombra

The Great Church of Constantinople, Hagia Sophia, is the pinnacle of Byzantine architectural expression. It has had a troubled history, and what can be admired today was built on the ashes of two previous churches, destroyed by fire. It was commissioned by the Emperor Justinian (6th century) to glorify Christ, the divine Sophia, and to establish the image of his imperial majesty. This ambivalence in the history of St. Sophia - glorification of the divine and of the emperor - has remained an interpretative and provocative constant throughout the following centuries, up to the present day.