Early Christian Art

 

Introduction

In the first two centuries after Christ Christianity grew in popularity pushing out the old notions of the Greek and Roman pantheon and replacing them with the another pantheon of the Christian Trinity and Saints. But the fundamental idea of religion had made a more profound shift. The Greek and Roman gods were open to bribes to control nature and luck for betterment of the individual. Animal sacrifice and monetary payments to the priests were made in exchange for the betterment of the individual or the state in the near future. Basically the Greco-Roman religion was: "Here is a Lamb, now please stop the plague in town." With Christianity a new emphasis was added: moral behavior (as sacrifice) yields the reward of a better situation after death. Not that the Christian church ever gave up selling betterment in the here and now; but a moral component that was underplayed before, came more to the front. But during these three early centuries, Christianity never became the state religion of Rome, and occasionally under the an Emporer who believed in the old gods, the Roman Christians suffered massive persecution.

The political situation during the first three centuries after Christ was dominated by the Roman Empire which was just too big to control effectively with slow communication and the limited resources of the people near Rome. This was true as early as Julius Caesar (who died in 44 BC) and it became more and more apparent with time. Each Roman Emperor dealt with how to administer the Empire. With few exceptions the Empire was divided administratively into East and West and almost inevitably the two Emperors fought for control of the whole. No sooner was is united than it divided again with another civil war. Rome was almost constantly at war, either with itself, or with barbarian invaders.

The Christian church, as time went on, was divided East/West in the same as Rome. By the fourth century Rome was no longer the center of the Roman Empire, not even the Western Roman Empire, the capital of the empire was where the emporer decided it would be convenient for him.

At the beginning of the fourth century, Constantine, the Great, reunited the empire, at least for a time, and decided that Christianity would be the state religion of the Roman Empire.

Art in the early Christian era was heavily influenced by Byzantine style because the Roman Empire was ruled from the East. Constantine, the Great, spent lavishly on art, primarily in Constatinoble. But his sons and successors, those that managed to reunite the empire, would built elsewhere, and Byzantine art occurs with some regularity in Rome, Ravenna, Venice, and elsewhere in the empire. This art was usually influenced by the art of Constantinople, in part because it was done by artists raised in that tradition. As the empire and the church divided, the art diverged as well.

Western Early Roman Art

Third Century

Heron and A Military God about 200 Royal Museum of Art Brussels

 

This shows a styalist similarity to Byzantine icons that is unmistakable, yet it was clearly done by a Pagan artist far from the the center of Byzantine art.

 

Fourth Century

 

 

Sarcophagus with Christian Scenes
about 350
Catacombs -- Rome

 

Good Shepherd Sarcophagus
about 390
Catacombs -- Rome

 

 

Fifth Century

Veiled Woman about 400 Catacomb of Pricilla, Rome	Mosaic of Christ in His Glory about 400 Santa Pudernziana, Rome
Jonah and the Whale about 400	Mosaic about 400 Santa Maggiore, Rome

 

 

Sixth Century

 

Baptistry of Arians
about 510
Ravenna, Italy

 

Mosaic Scene: Cross with a Background of Stars with Christ and Twelve Sheep

Mosaic Scene: The Three Magi

Sant Apollinaire Nuovo in Classe
about 550

 

Saxon Art

Early Christian art in the North: Britain, the lowlands, and Scandinavia was dominated by different art traditions than in places more influenced by Rome. So far, the museum has no good examples of Saxon art.

Byzantine Art
Romanesque Art
Gothic Art
Medieval Art