Early Christian Art

characteristics of Early Christian Art

1. Christ presented as a youth. As we shall see, representations of Christ become more "mature" with time. 2. Old Testament accounts of salvation. 3. Orants (Praying figures have their hands uplifted and spread widely apart) (cf. Psalm 28:2, 63:4, 119:48, etc.); as the art historical periods progress, the hands of Christians in prayer are lowered and come closer together.

Rebecca and Eliezer at the well

Eliezer, a servant of Abraham, was sent to search for a wife for Isaac, Abraham's 40-year-old son. When Eliezer stopped at a well to get water for himself and his camels, he met Rebecca, who drew water for him, and he chose Rebecca to become Isaac's wife. The scene is told using continuous narration in two episodes, as indicated by the repetition of the image of Rebecca. The first episode shows Rebecca leaving the city of Nahor to retrieve water from the well. Nahor is shown from above as a walled city. Rebecca walks along a colonnaded avenue to the well, symbolized by a partially nude female personification of the spring that is the source of the water in the well. The presence of this female figure shows the persistence of classical motifs and stylistic models. The lack of landscape elements, with the exception of the miniature city of Hathor and the road to the well, are significant of the stylistic change to the Early Christian modes of representation.

Santa Sabina (049)

Old Saint Peter's was demolished, section by section, during the Renaissance in order to make way for the current basilica on the Vatican Hill that asserted the power and authority of the Catholic Church. We can still get an idea of what an Early Christian church looked like by visiting Santa Sabina (Image 049) in Rome, which was erected about 100 years after Old Saint Peter's. The Temple of Juno Regina orginally stood on the site of Santa Sabina. The basilican church of Santa Sabina was an expansion of a Roman house-church owned by a woman named Sabina, and its plan has more modest proportions than those of Old Saint Peter's. Twenty-four Corinthian columns made from Proconnesian marble line the nave arcade, creating a steady rhythm towards the apse end. Clerestory windows pierced the upper walls of the nave, flooding the interior with light and reflecting off the glass tile mosaics that covered the walls. Light is often used as a symbol of divinity and Jesus Christ, creating an overall sense of spirituality. The structure had a timber roof and carved wooden doors. Although this structure is considerably smaller than Old Saint Peter's, it shares many of the same characteristics as the older church, such as its simple brick exterior, rows of columns lining the nave, terminating apse, and clerestory windows.

Santa Costanza c337

Originally built by Constantine as a mausoleum for his daughter Costanza, it was later converted into a church during the thirteenth century. As we see in our images, the central domed space is surrounded by a circular, barrel-vaulted ambulatory and features twelve pairs of Corinthian columns and twelve clerestory windows. The central area was also once covered in wonderful mosaics as well, but regrettably they have been lost.

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassius, Roman official

The front of the work presents ten scenes from the Old and New Testaments in two registers. At the center of each register, there is an image of a youthful and triumphant Jesus Christ. The central panel in the upper register (detail below) shows Christ enthroned between the Saints Peter and Paul. Below Christ's feet is a personification of the sky, illustrating that Christ is the master of the universe (cf. Isaiah 66:1). The lower central panel depicts Christ entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the only time Jesus was honored as king during his lifetime (cf. John 12:12-19). Old Testament scenes include the Sacrifice of Isaac (leftmost panel, upper register), Adam and Eve (lower register, immediate left of center) and Daniel among the lions (lower register, immediate right of center). Christians view Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as a foreshadowing or prefiguartion of God the Father's willingness to give up his own son, Jesus Christ (cf. John 3:16). As Isaac was spared death, and thus in a sense resurrected, so he is seen as a precursor for Christ's resurrection and victory over death. This theme will be repeated in Christian art. Interestingly, a depiction of Christ's crucifixion is noticeably absent from the work. This is also a characteristic of Early Christian art, as the portrayal of Christ's death does not appear until the fifth century, and even then it was very rare. Outside of sarcophagi, sculpture in general was quite rare during this period as well. This is probably because the Early Christians wished to distinguish themselves from the pagan cults that were still carving idols and architectural sculptures

Early Christian Luxury Arts

a codex = collection of separate sheets, called folios, bound together and enclosed with a cover. The folios themselves were made of calfskin (vellum) or lambskin (parchment), which were much more durable and suitable for decoration than papyrus. Covers were often beautifully carved wood or ivory panels as well. Scholars refer to these decorated "luxurious" handwritten manuscripts as illuminated manuscripts.

diptych

a picture or bas-relief made of two panels hinged together, often an altarpiece. THIS may also be any picture consisting of two individual surfaces, an ancient Roman or Early Christian two-hinged writing tablet, or two ivory memorial panels. (In early Christian Luxury Art,: uncomplicated, yet highly skilled depictions of biblical scenes on ivory boxes, codex covers, and writing tablets

Joseph wrestling the Angel

a whole sequence of events is told using continous narration using a number of scenes along a U-shaped path. In the center foreground, Jacob is seen wrestling with the angel, and then to the left he receives the angel's blessing. The progression of events resembles a classical frieze, such as the one seen on the Column of Trajan. An additional image from the manuscript shows the account of Joseph interpreting the dreams of two of his fellow prisoners (Genesis 40). Earlier Joseph had been sold into slavery by his jealous, elder brothers (Genesis 37:12-36). He eventually found himself in the service of Potiphar, the captain of the Egyptian pharaoh's guard. Potiphar's wife, however, was attracted to Joseph and tried to seduce him. Joseph was faithful to his master and rejected the mistress of the house. Rebuffed, Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of attacking her and, naturally, Potiphar believed his wife and placed Joseph in jail

central-plan

all parts equidistant to a central point. side aisles = ambulatory

relic

an object of religious veneration, especially a piece of the body of a holy person, or of an object associated with [the saint]. In the Christian tradition, relics were especially important throughout the Middle Ages

fish

another common subject in the catacombs were THIS/THESE since Early Christians used the fish as a symbol of who they were and as an acronym of their Savior, Jesus Christ. .

ceiling fresco in the Catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcinellus

at the center, Christ has rescued a lamb that had gone astray, representing Christ's role as Savior (cf. John 10:10-12) who rescues the "lost sheep" in his Christian "flock" and leads them away from sin. The prophet Jonah is considered an Old Testament prefiguration of Christ since like Christ, he was presumed dead for three days. Similar to Christ, who rose from the dead and left the tomb after three days thanks to the power of God, Jonah was also rescued from certain death at sea after three days in the belly of a whale by God.

confraternities

burial associations created by groups of Christian families that would pool their money to create them

cubicula

chambers in the catacomb. usually square, but some were polygonal or circular. These chambers served as family vaults, special tombs for martyrs or mortuary chapels (but there is little evidence that the early Christians actually worshiped in the catacombs)

catacombs

early Christian cemeteries. vast underground networks of passageways (galleries) and chambers (cubicula) carved from tufa bedrock. similar to the Etruscan tombs, but much more extensive. as much as 600 acres and were several levels deep under ground as well, extending as much as 65 feet under the surface. The galleries in the catacombs contained shelves (loculi) where the dead were placed. The cubicula were usually square, but some were polygonal or circular. These chambers served as family vaults, special tombs for martyrs or mortuary chapels (but there is little evidence that the early Christians actually worshiped in the catacombs). The walls and ceilings of the catacombs were typically painted with fresco decorations. After Christianity was legalized by the Roman state, he catacombs fell into disuse, but their frescoes are an excellent window into the art of the period. In the art of the catacombs, there are excellent examples of the Late Roman style painting with Christian subjects.

mosaic

endurability - for as the Bible endures, so should its pictorial representations. Also glittering, reflective tesserae were used to shower the interiors of Christian structures with color and light (as opposed to the dull marble preferred by the Romans), again thematic of the "brightness" of the Gospel.

orants

figures with their arms raised in a gesture of prayer

Baldacchino

four-columned canopy

Galla Placidia

half-sister of Honorius and mother of the future emperor Valentinian III, was a devout Christian and an extensive patroness of the religion

galleries

network of passageways underground, part of a catacomb. contained shelves (loculi) where the dead would be placed

Bibical scenes from Vienna Genesis

purple vellum, silver ink and scene decoration give these pages a truly majestic feel. The purple dye used to color the vellum was also used to give imperial cloth its distinctive color, indicating that this work was expensive to produce and likely created for someone of high social rank. The manuscript is the product of many artists working together, with each artists assigned specialized tasks such as curing and cutting the animal skin, inscribing the paper with lines for the text, lettering, creating the illuminations, binding the pages, and adding the covers, buckles, and clasps which held the pages together as a manuscript.

lunettes

semicircular frames

blind arcade

series of arches.; when the arches are simply for decoration and provide no actual openings.

loculi

shelves where the dead would be placed

ivory diptych

showing both the Angel of the Lord announcing Christ's Resurrection (Matthew 27:62-66, 28:1-7) and Christ's Ascension into heaven (Luke 24:50-53). On the left, the tomb of Christ is highly stylized and definitely influenced by Roman mausoleum design. Yet the message is clearly conveyed that it is indeed a tomb. The fruitful tree and birds in the upper left are also iconographic representations of the fruit that this tomb produced: the Risen Christ. In front of the tomb, the Angel of the Lord is easily identified by his authoritative gesture telling the threee Marys of the resurrection of Christ. While in the upper right of the piece, we see Jesus grasping the hand of God that is descending out of the clouds, thus indicating Christ's Ascension. Note, too, that the Savior is holding a scroll, indicating the authority of the Risen Lord.

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

small building was constructed in 425 and is an important work in the history of architecture because it combines the basilica plan and the central-plan church designs. It is a cross-shaped structure (from the basilican plan) with a central domed area (from the central-plan). Make a special note of this because we will see this type of dome-covered crossing many times in the weeks ahead, just on a much larger scale. The exterior is typically plain, except for the blind arcade1 and entablature. The interior, however, presents us with the finest and best preserved examples of fifth-century Early Christian mosaics known. The lower walls are covered in gray, veined marble, while every inch of the lunettes, vaults and walls of the central dome are covered in remarkable mosaics. An important mosaic solution comes from the lunette over the entrance. Here, we see Christ as the Good Shepherd. When compared to the catacomb frescoes, the Savior's appearance is older and more royal (dressed in the colors gold and purple like an emperor). The sheep are ordered in two groups of three (with the numbers two and three having iconographic significance). Finally, note the rocks that are used as landscape. We will see rocks used to represent landscape in this way throughout our study of Christian art, only they will become more stylized with time as art moves away from naturalism in the Middle Ages.

Catacomb of Priscilla (IMG 48)

the fresco features a youthful Christ and orant figures with uplifted hands. There is also another Old Testament account of salvation, but this time it is from the Book of Daniel (see Daniel 3:8-30). In this store, three young men were hurled into the furnace by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, but they did not burn because they were saved by God.