CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE

 DATES – ORIGIN
 PROCESS OF EVOLUTION-HOW?FROM WHERE?WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE?WHY?
 EXAMPLES OF BUILDINGS, ARCHITECTS, EXCLUSIVE FEATURES OF THEM
 TECHINIQUES USED,MATERIALS USED
 CONNECTION TO BYZANTINE PERIOD

NOTES:
• The most crucial period of Christianity was the first three centuries A.D.
• Officially recognized as the state religion of Rome in 326 A.D. by the Roman
Emperor Constantine
• Replaced Paganism
• First Christian architecture was modest in scope and served two needs:
• Provided a space for spiritual needs of the living
• Provided a burial place for the dead
• Early Christian meeting places were actually set-up in preexisting apartments
or homes
• These locations were known as titilus
• Most were rebuilt into full scale churches
• Best known early Christian architecture are the burial places, known as
catacombs
• Early Christians were quite poor
• Burial was provided in individual “shelf” tombs or private family chambers
• Usually located beneath churches
• Open air cemeteries were also in existence
• Actually preferred over the dreary catacombs
• Vatican Hill
• Modest monument of the late second century
• Said to have marked the grave of Saint Peter
• Now occupied by the church of Saint Peter
Roman Structures
Lateran
• Constantine donated this structure to be seat of the Bishop of Rome (The
Pope)
• Built around 313 A.D., prior to the official establishment of Christianity in
Rome
• The first important Christian structure in Rome
• Has been rebuilt, leaving only its foundations and historical evidence as to its
original form
(Old) St. Peters Church
• Considered the most important basilican church built by Constantine
• Building began around 333 A.D.
• Located on the slope of the Vatican Hill in Rome
• Covers a cemetery and features a shrine to Saint Peter, whom is presumably
buried there
• A. Plans.—The Early Christians followed the basilican model for their new churches and may
also have used old Roman halls, baths, dwelling-houses, and even pagan temples as places of
worship. The campanile or bell-tower dates from this period, and that of S. Giorgio in Velabro,
Rome, one of the earliest, is a prototype of Mediaeval towers. An isolated circular baptistery was
generally attached to the chief basilican church or cathedral of a city.
• B. Walls.—These were still constructed according to Roman methods of using rubble or
concrete, faced with plaster, brick, or stone .Mosaic decoration was added internally (p. 211), and
sometimes also externally on west facades ; though little regard was paid to external architectural
effect.
• C. Openings.—Arcades, doors, and windows were either spanned by a semicircular arch which,
in nave arcades, often rested directly on the capitals without any entablatures, or were spanned
by a lintel, as in the doorway of the Tomb of Theodoric, Ravenna. The marble doors at Cividale
show the ornate character sometimes attempted. Window openings, filled in with pierced slabs of
marble or alabaster, were small ; those of the nave were in the walls above the aisle roofs. This
system was developed in the wonderful clear-stories of Gothic architecture.
• D. Roofs.—Timber roofs covered the central nave, and only simple forms of construction, such
as king and queen post trusses, were employed. It is believed that the decoration of the visible
framework was of later date, as at S. Miniato, Florence. The narrower side aisles were
occasionally vaulted and the apse was usually domed and lined with beautiful glass mosaics,
which formed a fitting background to the sanctuary
• E. Columns.—These differ both in design and size, as they were often taken from earlier Roman
buildings, which had either fallen into ruin or been purposely destroyed .It was natural that early
Christian builders should use materials and ornament of the pagan Romans, and, as these
belonged to the better period of Roman art, a grand effect was obtained though the details of the
design were not necessarily homogeneous. Middleton states that all the fine marble columns,
whether Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian, in the churches of Rome were taken from ancient Roman
buildings, except those in S. Paolo fuori le Mura.
• The carved capitals are governed by Roman pagan precedent and sometimes by that of
Byzantine ,and in both the acanthus leaf forms an important part.
• F. Mouldings.—These are coarse variations of old Roman types, and the carving, though rich in
general effect, is crude ; for the technique of the craftsman had gradually declined, and was at a
low ebb during this period. Enrichments were incised on mouldings in low relief, and the acanthus
ornament, although still copied from the antique, became more conventional in form.
• G. Ornament.—The introduction of colour gave richness and glimmering mystery to interiors. The
mosaics which lined the domed apses generally represented Christ surrounded by apostles and
saints with all those symbolic emblems which now entered largely into decoration . The " arch of
triumph," separating the nave from the bema, was ornamented with appropriate subjects ; long
friezes of figures line the wall above nave arcades , and the wall spaces between the clear-story
windows often had mosaics illustrating Christian history or doctrine. The figures are treated in
strong colours on a gold back-ground in a bold and simple design, and an earnest and solemn
expression, fitting well the position they occupy, characterises the groups. The method of
execution is coarse and bold, and no attempt was made at neatness of joint or regularity of
bedding of the mosaic cubes. The coloured pavements were largely formed of slices from old
Roman porphyry or marble columns, worked into designs by connecting bands of geometrical
inlay on a field of white marble, and they greatly added to the general decorative effect. The glass
mosaics used for the High Altar, ambones, screens, Easter candlesticks, and episcopal chairs; as
in the fittings of the Church of S. Clemente, Rome, was of a finer and more delicate description.
Fonts, as from the Venice Museum , and well-heads, as that from the Cloisters of S. Giovanni in
Laterano, Rome , were subjects upon which much skilful carving was expended. The sculptured
sarcophagi of the Early Christians belonging to the great families of Rome, though of small artistic
merit, have carved bas-reliefs in the quaint and crude craftsmanship of the period , and it is not
unusual to find, crowded together on one and the same sarcophagus, such various incidents as
Adam and Eve in the Garden, Moses striking the rock, Daniel in the lions' den, the Virgin and
Child