I visited Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast, just three weeks ago, but it seems like months. So it goes with travel; one’s sense of time is strangely warped. For me the highlight was the great Byzantine bronze portal of the cathedral. The doors were made in 1179 by Barisano da Trani, who cast several such doors in his life, three of them still extant. This picture shows one of the panels, the one of St George killing the dragon with his lance. It’s charmingly cartoon-like, but smart in its design with arcing curves giving a sense of action and buoyancy. St George gives a little smile as he looks out at you, as if killing a dragon is the easiest thing in the world. On the other hand his horse looks strong and fierce, but George handles him without effort. He’s an exemplar of Christian heroism bravely battling evil, a message that must have had much currency in the war-torn world of twelfth-century south Italy, and, indeed, the entire Eastern Mediterranean at that time. The doors date from the time of Norman rule of Sicily and south Italy.