EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

As the Romans were conquering people around the world through force, something even more powerful was brewing in the Middle East: Christianity. In the centuries after the death of Jesus, Christianity spread over the same areas as the Roman Empire. Though the Romans tried to quell this force, it proved unstoppable. Eventually, even a Roman emperor was converted.

The life and teachings of Jesus Christ have inspired artists for 2,000 years. In this lesson, we'll look at the art of the early Christians, and see the influence that exists in churches around the world today.

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss funerary art of the early Christian era.

• Explain the purpose and use of iconography and symbols in the early Christian church.

• Describe the painting and mosaic art of early Christians.

• Identify the characteristics of early Christian architecture.

• Explain the role of manuscript illumination in early Christian art.

VOCABULARY

EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

Borrowings

In style, the early Christian artists borrowed from the Romans, just as the Romans originally borrowed from the Greeks. Like the Romans, early Christians created paintings, mosaics, sculptures, and monuments. They also painted beautiful sarcophagi.

Early Christians suffered from persecution at the hands of the Romans. Neither Christians nor Jews could own property, and they did not believe in cremation so they used catacombs, which were tunneled in tufa under the city. They could not practice their religion openly, so they sometimes had services in catacombs or in secret houses.

Named after Pope Saint Calixtus, one catacomb was the official burial place of the early bishops of Rome. During the time when Christianity was illegal, it was unlawful to bury Christian martyrs in Roman cemeteries, so the Christians, aided by wealthy adherents, dug caves in the soft volcanic stone beneath the outskirts of Rome. Although the emperors tried to seal the entrances, they never succeeded in finding all of them.

ICONOGRAPHY AND SYMBOLS

The Christians also developed an iconography — which you remember from earlier lessons is a system of symbols, that appeared on the walls of the catacombs and on marble slabs that sealed the tombs.

Christ was symbolized in early Christian iconography by:

• a fish (representing the last supper)

• a cross (representing the crucifixion)

• a lamb (representing the good shepherd)

• the combined Greek letters chi and rho (XP, the first two letters of the Greek spelling of Christ)

The fish was a secret sign used by early Christians.

Of course, the symbol that is most widely used in Christian iconography is the cross. Christians were initially reluctant to use it as a symbol because it depicted a painful, gruesome method of execution.

The Jewish Encyclopedia, though, indicates that Christians began associating their religion with it as early as the second century. The marking of the cross on the forehead and the chest, early Christians believed, could repel the powers of demons.

But Christians weren't the first to use the cross as a religious symbol. European cult caves that date back to the stone age bear cross-shaped incisions on their walls. Its earliest symbolic use was related to life, eternity, and the elements.

Ancient African, Egyptian, and Greek civilizations also used the cross in their religions: a marble sacral cross dating from 1600 BC was found in the Temple Repositories of Knossos; and Egyptian hieroglyphs from around 1500 BC include the cross in the form of an ankh, a symbol of creation, life, and fertility.

Many scholars hypothesize that the symbol of the cross is so pervasive because it is simple to draw and resembles the human body with outstretched arms.

Look at the example above. This is another "good shepherd" work, but notice the rich details and the prominent use of blue and gold. Jesus does not look like a carpenter but more like a rich Roman. You can also see that although there is a sense of depth in the way the sheep are spaced, the artist does not make the closer sheep bigger to create depth. Realism is not the goal in this work.

You can see that the mosaic is a good artistic medium for conveying a spiritual message. Its colors are brilliant and the fragmentation of figures into tiny pieces is less representational than a painting would be — and therefore less like this world and more representative of the spiritual realm.

In basilicas, sequences of panels running the length of the nave above the column arcades would be devoted to Old Testament scenes or processions of saints. The arch separating the nave from the sanctuary — called the triumphal arch — was usually covered with mosaics from floor to ceiling. The half-dome of the apse was customarily reserved for representations of Christ, the Virgin, and — in churches dedicated to a saint — patron saints. Baptisteries and mausoleums were also decorated with mosaics of appropriate scenes and motifs.

Once Christianity became an officially recognized religion, the Christians needed public places of worship.

There were two types of buildings in which Christians would worship.

• the basilica — a longitudinal hall

• the baptistery or mausoleum — a centralized building

1. The basilica

The basilica provided an ideal model for the first churches. Look up the floor plan from the basilica of Old Saint Peter on the Internet, and note how it is shaped roughly like a cross. Like the Roman architects before them, Christians incorporated many of the same elements into their buildings, including columns and bronze roof tiles. Many smaller basilican churches existed in Rome and in other cities. Look at the picture of the Church of Santa Sabina and notice the Roman touches.

You first learned about the basilica in your Roman art lesson. This civic hall provided an ideal model for the first churches. The standard plan included an atrium, or forecourt; a narthex, or porch; a long nave flanked by side aisles; a transept hall crossing the nave; and a semicircular or polygonal apse opposite the nave. In front of the apse, the altar was set directly over the shrine.

2. The baptistery or mausoleum

Baptisteries, mausoleums, and martyria used the centralized form and were round or polygonal (many-sided) rather than long like the basilica.

In this setting, the object of veneration — the baptismal font, the sarcophagus, or the holy place — was visible to the faithful from an ambulatory. For an example of a baptistery or mausoleum from this time, you can visit the Laterano in Rome. Here you will find an opulent structure.

Santa Costanza was built as a Mausoleum for Constantine's daughter, Constantina. It is domed and circular. Churches with a centralized plan were influenced by architecture of the Eastern Empire, including Greek tholos tombs as well as from Roman sources such as the Pantheon. Constantina's magnificent porphyry sarcophagus was located under the dome. It is now housed in the Vatican Museum.

Notice the detailed carvings. From the outside, one would never suspect the wealth and riches that make up these structures. It is inside these early Christian buildings that one would discover walls covered in gold, bronze doors, and incredible art work hanging on the walls.

MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION AND METALWORK

Back in the sixth century, there was no such thing as a printing press. All books had to be hand-copied. The book that was most important to early Christians, of course, was the Bible. Located in the National Library in Vienna is a book from the sixth century. It is known as the Vienna Genesis. This handwritten and illustrated book is an elaborate work of art with purple-dyed parchments and naturalistic illustrations. Purple was in honor of the emperor. The figures look very natural. On each page of the surviving manuscript is a half-page illustration. 

Metalwork

Early Christian artists were especially talented when it came to creating pieces in gold and silver. They made altar furnishings such as goblets, wine vessels, candlesticks, and chalices.

Look at the following example of the Chalice of Antioch. It is a double-shelled silver goblet. Read the article, "The 'Antioch Chalice'", for more information.

Christianity continued to have an enormous influence on art. In your next lesson, you'll study Byzantine art and later you'll see how Medieval and Renaissance artists incorporated Christian themes into their work.

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson, you have covered the following subjects:

• early Christian art as it was first practiced in the catacombs

• Christian funerary art

• the two styles of the Christian basilica

• the Christian tendency to decorate manuscripts and altar pieces

Complete the quiz before moving forward.