<P> At the foot of the apse side walls are two famous mosaic panels , completed in 547 . On the right is a mosaic depicting the East Roman Emperor Justinian I , clad in Tyrian purple with a golden halo , standing next to court officials , Bishop Maximian , palatinae guards and deacons . The halo around his head gives him the same aspect as Christ in the dome of the apse , but is part of the tradition of rendering the imperial family with haloes describe by Ernst Kantorowicz in the King 's Two Bodies . Justinian himself stands in the middle , with soldiers on his right and clergy on his left , emphasizing that Justinian is the leader of both church and state of his empire . The later insertion of the Bishop Maximian 's name above his head suggests that the mosaic may have been modified in 547 , replacing the representation of the prior bishop with that of the Maximian . </P>
whose portrait appears on the choir call to the right of the apse of san vitale ravenna
East Roman Emperor Justinian I