EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

& ARCHITECTURE (200 500 AD)

Is the art produced by Christians or under

Christian patronage from about the 200-500
AD;
Prior to 200 there is no surviving art that can
be called Christian with certainty.
Christianity brought into the Western
Mediterrean, an other-worldly ideal,
emphasizing the spirit over the flesh, faith
over position, salvation over power.
After about 500, Christian art shows the
beginnings of Byzantine artistic style.

Significant Dates
313 AD Edict of Milan made Christianity the
Roman Empires state religion by
Emperor Constantine the Great.
323 AD Constantine moved the capital of the
Roman Empire to the Greek town of
Byzantium (Constantinople).
476 AD Fall of Rome by the Goths;
527- 565 AD Byzantine Empire under Emperor
Justinian reached new power and
stability.
Possible reasons for absence of surviving
art before 200 AD:
1. Christians were constrained by their position
as a persecuted group thus the inability
to produce durable works of art;
2.
May be due to lack of funds for patronage
considering that early Christians were
largely from lower classes;
3.
The Old Testament restrictions against the
production of graven (an idol or fetish
carved in wood or stone) images;
4.
"Christian" art may not be immediately
recognizable as such since it was
possible that Christians purchased art
using pagan iconography, but gave it
Christian meanings.
Early Christian Art media (Visual Arts)
1.
2.
3.
4.

Fresco
Mosaic
Manuscript Illumination
Sculpture

Main Characteristics of Early Christian Art

1. Restricted to the decoration of the hidden places
of worship;
2. Influenced by Roman art, appropriately stylized to
suit the spirituality of the religion;
3. Rejected the ideals of perfection in form and
technique but rather sought to present
images which would draw the spectator into the
inner eye of their work, pointing to its spiritual
significance.
4. An iconography was devised to visualize Christian
concepts.
5. The first Christians don't see in art a way of
expressing beauty, but one of transmitting
their faith and beliefs as well as to teach
them.
Common Subject Matter
1. Symbols: Cross, fish, lamb, Chi-Rho, Alpha
and Omega, triumphal wreath,
grapes, doves, peacock
2. Christ : haloed, with lamb, Crucifixion
3. Virgin Mary
4. Saints
5. Royalty
6. Pagan motifs
Style & Technique
1. Derived from Alexandria, Hellenistic
conventions, but figures are heavier, shorter;
heads and hands are larger.
2. Stylization derived from Roman art.
3. Anatomical figures vanish under flattened
toga.
4. First Western Crucifixion were triumphant,
stocky beardless, young Christ with head
erect and short loin cloth.
5. Ugliness and heaviness of figures contrast
with well-executed ornaments and symbols
-- technique becomes subordinated to
spiritual and symbolic meanings.
Early Christian art & architecture prior to 313 AD
1. Funerary art
a. Catacomb frescoes
b. Sarcophagi (relief sculptures)

2. House Church
- Dura Europos
Early Christian art after 313 AD
1. Illuminated Manuscripts
Vienna Genesis
Rossano Gospels
Cotton Genesis
2. Mosaics
3. Sculpture and Carving
4. Metalworks
2 Types of Early Christian Architecture after
313 AD
1. Basilicas longitudinal hall
a. St. John Lateran
b. St. Mary Major
c. Old St. Peters Basilica
d. Church of the Holy Sepulchre
e. Church of the Nativity

Church of Sta. Constanza, Rome

2. Centralized Plan Churches

a. Santa Constanza Church (Rome)
b. Baptistries
c. Mausoleums
IN CONCLUSION:

Early Christian art continues the

Western classic traditions.
It concentrates upon spiritual
expression rather than physical beauty.
The Good Shepherd
Catacomb fresco

Christian Basilica

Christ Crucified with Judas hanging

Relief panel, c. 420 AD