THE ROUTLEDGE

HANDBOOK OF EARLY
CHRISTIAN ART
Edited by Robin M. Jensen and Mark D. Ellison

I~ ~~o~!~!n~~~up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
 CONTENTS

List effigures V i l/.

List ef tables xviii

List ef contributors XI.X

Foreword xxiii

1 Introduction: Early Christian Art 1

Robin M. Jensen

PART I
Media 19

2 Catacom.b Painting and the Rise of Christian Iconography

in Funerary Art 21
Norbert Zimmermann

3 Christian Sarcophagi from Rome 39

Jutta Dresken- W eiland

4 Early Christian Sarcophagi outside of Rome 56

Guntrarn Koch

5 Freestanding Sculpture 73
H eidi]. Hornik

6 Chiistian Wall Mosaics and the Creation of Sacred Space 86

Sean V. Leatherbury

V
 Contents

7 Christian Floor Mosaics: Modes of Study and Poten tial M eanings 104
Rina Talgam

8 Gold-Glass in Late Antiquity 124

Susan Walker

9 Engraved Gems and Amulets 141

J ~ffrey Spier

10 Reliquaries and the Cult of Relics in Late Antiquity 150

Erik Thun,~

11 Cerarn.ics in the Early C hristian W odd 169

John]. H errrnann, Jr. and Annewies van den Hoek

12 Panel Paintings and Early C hristian Icons 191

Katherine Marsengill

13 C hristian Ivories: Containment, M anipulation, and the

C rea tion of Meaning 207
Niarnh Bhalla

14 Textiles: The Emergence of a Christian Identity in Cloth 221

Jennifer L. Ball

15 Early Christian Silver: Sacred and Domestic 240

Ruth Leader-Newby

16 Early Christian Illum.inated M anuscripts 254

Dorothy Verkerk

PART II
Themes 273

17 Early Cluistian Art and Ritual 275

Michael Peppard

18 Pictming the Passion 290

Felicity Harley-McGowan

19 Miracles and Art 308

Lee M. Jefferson

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 Contents

20 "Secular" Portraits, Identity, and the Christianization of the

Roman Household 326
Mark D . Ellison.

21 The Mosaics of Ravenna 347

Deborah Mauskopf D eliyannis

22 Early Christian Art and Archaeology in Sixteenth- and

Seventeenth-Centmy Rome 364
J an.et Huskinson

23 "Early" "Christian" "Art" 380

Robert Couz in

Index 393

vii
 FOREWORD

In recent decades, students of early Christianity have become more and more interested in
incorporating the study of visual art into their research, teaching, and writing. Material culture
has come to be appreciated as a rich resource for a better understanding of lived religion in
all times and places, and no less so for the complex and diverse practice of Christianity in the
Greco-Roman world. At the same time, both art historians and historians of religion in Late
Antiquity now recognize that C lui.stianity emerged within pre-existing cultures with estab-
lished artistic forms, iconographic prototypes, and rn.anufactmi.ng teclmiques that it drew upon,
adapted, and transformed as it gradually developed its own distinctive iconographic vocabulary.
Thus, recent debates over questions of cultural continuity and change among Clui.stians, Jews,
and traditional polytheists are relevant to any discussion of these objects. Similarly, scholars in
recent years have come to reassess the so-called anti-classical styles of early Clui.stian artworks,
granting them their own aesthetic value while reevaluating the gradual return of mythological
figures and classical styles at the end of the fourth century.
However, while the academic study of early Clui.stianity has become more attuned to the
value of including non-documenta1y evidence, the training of scholars in the field has remained
focused predominately on the analysis of surviving texts, particularly texts that tend to be asso-
ciated more with the development of Clui.stian dogma, discipline, and ecclesiology than with
the nature of the wider con1111urti.ty's lived expe1i.ence of the faith. The desire of many of these
same scholars to expand their investigation into material manifestations of early Clui.stian belief
and practice created a need for a handbook to the basic corpus of early C lui.stian artifacts-one
that would offer introductions to th e va1i.ety of objects, the manner of their fab1i.cation, issues of
style, and basic visual content, along with overarching essays on fundamental problems regard-
ing influ ences, contexts, and catego1i.zation. In addition to matters touching upon formal art
historical analysis, such a handbook also needed to attend to the theological, liturgical, and
exegetical significance of these objects, thus not losing sight of their place in the formation and
transmission of beliefs, values, and religious identity. Beyond th e provision of a basic overview
of the p1i.mary mate1i.al, this work also includes helpfol lists of reso urces for further study.
This book atten1pts to meet these needs. Part I opens with a general survey of the subj ec t
and then presents fifteen essays, each of which considers one traditionally identified category
of early Clui.stian art. The first of these chapters discusses the earliest acknowledged examples
of Chii.stian painting in the Roman catacombs, and the chapters continu e through sarcophagus

xx.iii
 Foreword

re liefs, freestanding sculpture, mosaics, gold glasses, ceraniics, engraved gems, pan el paintings,
ivories, textil es, silver, and illuminated manuscripts. As these essa ys demonstrate, early C hristian
art was produced for burial, eccl esiastical, and dom.esti c contexts, and w hile ri ghtly co nsidered a
subset of late antiqu e Roman art, possesses a distinctive character and purpose . Part [[ takes up
th em.es relevant to the study of ea rly Christian art. T hese chapters consider the ritual pra ctices
in decorated spaces , the em.ergence of images of Christ's passion and miracl es, the fun ctions of
C hristian secular po rtraits, and the exemplary mosai cs of R avenna. Th e first of two conclud-
ing essays discusses the early modern history of Christian art and archaeology studies, while th e
second invites furth er refle ction on this fi eld of study , and correctly problematizes th e book's
titular terminology of "early," "Christian, " and " art."
The edito rs are first of all grateful to all the autho rs who agreed to contribute their expertise
and effort to produ ce this volume. They are the heart of this project and we are fortunate to
count th em all as colleagues. W e also wish to thank o ur editors at Taylor and Francis, Elizabeth
Risch and Amy Davis-Poynter, who were both suppo rtive and patient with the time and trou-
ble involved in compiling both essays and images. W e are likewise grateful to all th ose who
assisted us with acquiring the illustrations, the photographers (and authors) who generously sup-
plied them, the staff of Art R esource, and the rights and reprodu ctions departments of museums
around the world. W e also acknowledge the financial and moral support of the University of
Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, and Brigham Young University . Finally, we would like
to thank Rob ert M cFadden for his proofreading and correctio n of style after the essays were
initially edited for publication, and Jennifer M cDaniel, Suzy Bills, McCall Kelson, and Scarlett
Lindsay for their help preparing the index.

Robin M.Jensen and Mark D. Ellison

xx.iv