22/01/2021 Early Christian art -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Early Christian art

Early Christian art, also called Paleo-Christian art or primitive Christian art,
architecture, painting, and sculpture from the beginnings of Christianity until about the early
6th century, particularly the art of Italy and the western Mediterranean. (Early Christian art in
the eastern part of the Roman Empire is usually considered to be part of Byzantine art.) The
Christian religion was part of a general trend in the late Roman Empire toward mysticism and
spirituality. As Christianity developed, its art reflected the prevailing late antique artistic
climate. Except for differences in subject matter, Christian and pagan works looked much the
same; in fact, it is possible to show that the same workshop sometimes produced sculpture for
both Christian and non-Christian purposes.

The earliest identifiably Christian art consists of a few

2nd-century wall and ceiling paintings in the Roman
catacombs (underground burial chambers), which
continued to be decorated in a sketchy style derived
from Roman impressionism through the 4th century.
They provide an important record of some aspects of the
detail from sarcophagus of Junius development of Christian subject matter. The earliest
Bassus
Detail from marble sarcophagus of Junius Christian iconography tended to be symbolic. A simple
Bassus, c. 359; in the Museo Petriano, St.
rendering of a fish was sufficient to allude to Christ.
Peter's, Vatican City.
Scala/Art Resource, New York Bread and wine invoked the Eucharist. During the 3rd
and 4th centuries, in the catacomb paintings and in other
manifestations, Christians began to adapt familiar pagan prototypes to new meanings. The
early figural representations of Christ, for instance, most often show him as the good shepherd
by directly borrowing from a classical prototype. He was also sometimes depicted in the guise
of familiar gods or heroes, such as Apollo or Orpheus. Only later, when the religion itself had
achieved some measure of earthly power, did he take on more exalted attributes. Narratives
tended at first to be typological, often suggesting parallels between the Old and New
Testaments. The earliest scenes from the life of Christ to be depicted were the miracles. The

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Passion, particularly the Crucifixion itself, was generally avoided until the religion was well
established.

The beginnings of Early Christian art date to the period when the religion was yet a modest
and sometimes persecuted sect, and its flowering was possible only after 313, when the
Christian emperor Constantine the Great decreed official toleration of Christianity. Subsequent
imperial sponsorship brought the religion popularity, riches, and many converts from all
classes of society. Suddenly the church needed to produce art and architecture on a more
ambitious scale in order to accommodate and educate its new members and to reflect its new
dignity and social importance.

Churches and shrines were soon being built throughout the empire, many sponsored by
Constantine himself. These buildings were usually five-aisled basilicas, such as Old St. Peter’s
in Rome, or basilican-plan buildings centring upon a round or polygonal shrine, such as that in
the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Large-scale sculpture was not popular, but relief
sculpture on sarcophagi, such as that of Junius Bassus (died 359), and ivory carvings and book
covers continued to be produced. The walls of the churches were decorated with paintings or
mosaics to instruct the faithful. The church of Sta. Maria Maggiore in Rome has an extensive
mosaic program of Old and New Testament scenes that was begun in 432. Painting also
illustrated liturgical books and other manuscripts.

The art of this period had its roots in the classical Roman style, but it developed into a more
abstract, simplified artistic expression. Its ideal was not physical beauty but spiritual feeling.
The human figures thus became types rather than individuals and often had large, staring eyes,
“the windows of the soul.” Symbols were frequently used, and compositions were flat and
hieratic, in order to concentrate on and clearly visualize the main idea. Although the art of the
period intentionally departed from earlier naturalism, it sometimes has great power and
immediacy.

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Citation Information
Article Title: Early Christian art
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 23 July 2015
URL: https://www.britannica.com/art/Early-Christian-art
Access Date: January 22, 2021

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