Born in the
Istrian town of Vistar (now Veštar) near Pola (
Pula) in modern-day
Croatia, Maximianus was consecrated bishop of Ravenna in 546 by
Pope Vigilius in
Patras, Greece. Maximianus was a forty-eight-year-old
deacon from Pola when he became the twenty-sixth bishop of Ravenna. According to the ninth-century Ravennate priest
Andreas Agnellus, Maximianus' flock initially refused his leadership, because he was selected by the emperor
Justinian I and was not their initial candidate. To a modern art historian
Meyer Shapiro, "Maximian was "a poor deacon of Pola who rose to a high position through his political adroitness" as a protégé of Justinian I. He had not been wanted as archbishop by the people of Ravenna, but "by shrewd maneuvers he overcame their opposition, and won their respect by his discretion, generosity, and great enterprises of church building and decoration". He completed the
Basilica of San Vitale and
Sant'Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna, and built several other churches, including
Santa Maria del Canneto in his native Istria. Maximianus devoted himself to the revision of
liturgical books and to the emendation of the Latin text of the Bible, and commissioned a large number of illuminated manuscripts. For the high altar in Ravenna he had a hanging made of the most costly cloth, which was embroidered with a portrayal of the entire life of Jesus. In another hanging he had portraits of all his predecessors embroidered on
gold ground. Maximian's most remarkable episcopal furnishing is the
Throne of Maximian, the
cathedra of the bishop which was constructed entirely of ivory panels. It was probably carved in
Constantinople and shipped to Ravenna. It consists of decorative floral panels framing various figured panels, including one with the complex monogram of the bishop. In a famous 6th-century
mosaic in San Vitale, Maximianus (named above the figure) is with Emperor Justinian and his retinue. The saint holds a
jewelled cross and wears early versions of an
alb,
chasuble and
pallium. He is regarded as a saint by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches, though essentially local to Ravenna, where there is a church dedicated to him at Piazza S. Massimiano, Punta Marina, Ravenna, 48020. ==Gallery==