THE BEGINNINGS OF MEDIEVAL INFORMATION VISUALIZATION - Information Visualisation: Techniques, Usability and Evaluation - page 14

A sufficient number of images of a young Christ were created during
early Christendom to support this ascription. 5 One notable example is
found within the apse mosaic of Ravenna's Basilica of San Vitale, created
between 526 and 547, which displays a youthful Christ Redeemer sitting
on the sphere of the world. Finally, De natura rerum embodies Isidore's
understanding of the physical universe, arranged into a narrative format
that follows the Bible's order of creation. It should be remembered that
Isidore was a Church Bishop, whose charge was to spread Christian
teaching and address paganism, so an image of Christ at the centre of
“time” makes conceptual sense.
Fig. 1.6 Calendar, De natura rerum , Isidore of Seville, c. 760-780 ( MS Cod. Sang.
238, fol. 325, St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek).
5. Chavannes-Mazel [33] discusses the history behind the dual renderings of Jesus
in early Christian art: the Hellenistic Jesus, eternally youthful; and the classical
Christ, the bearded wise God among us. Although the latter rendering of Christ
was codified in the East in the late sixth century, the West did not standardize on
this scheme until the late twelfth century, thus reinforcing the argument for Christ
at the centre of Isidore's calendar from this late eighth century manuscript.