Vitalis of Milan (Italian: San Vitale) was an early Christian martyr and saint.

[1] According to legend, Vitalis was an officer who accompanied the judge Paulinus from Milan to Ravenna.

Paulinus ordered Vitalis to be racked and then thrown into a deep pit and covered with stones and earth.

"Many scholars believe that the narrative is partly fanciful, recognising in the characters mentioned, other martyrs of the same name venerated both in Milan and Ravenna.

[5] Churches are dedicated in honor of Saint Vitalis at Assisi, and Rome, in Italy and at Jadera (now Zadar) in Dalmatia (now Croatia), but by far the most famous church bearing his name is the octagonal Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, a masterpiece of Byzantine art, erected on the purported site of his martyrdom.