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NAME: EMAN FATIMA

SECTION: C

ROLL NO: 082

SUBMITTED TO:ZANAIB
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WHAT IS EARLY CHRISTINE?

Early Christians used the same artistic media as the surrounding pagan culture. These media
included frescos, mosaics, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts. Early Christians used the
Late Classical style and adapted Roman motifs and gave new meanings to what had been pagan
symbols.

The main theme of early Christian art

Death and Resurrection

Brief of Early Christian Art

260-525 AD

Christianity, in its infancy, was a religion followed by the lower classes of society. As such, its
art was not prolific as it was likely unfunded, the number of Christians was small, and there may
have been an adherence to the strict Old Testament forbiddance of graven images.

When they did produce art, it may have been purchased pagan art that they altered to have
Christian symbolism and meaning.

The original art that they created during this art movement period used the same media as those
of the secular and pagan artists of the cultures in which they lived, including frescoes, mosaics,
and sculpture in Romantic classical styles, changing the meanings of Roman motifs and pagan
symbolism, such as grapevines, peacocks, and shepherds. They also introduced their own
symbols such as the fish.

Christianity was legalized in the year 313; therefore, scholars divide Early Christian art into two
periods: Pre-Constantan or Ante-Nicene, and the period of the First Seven Ecumenical Councils.

Art historians, therefore, give the period of “early” Christianity a longer timeline than do
theologians and religious historians.
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Early Christian Art Origins and Historical Importance:

“What makes art Christian art? Is it simply Christian artists painting biblical subjects like
Jeremiah? Or, by attaching a halo, does that suddenly make something Christian art? Must the
artist’s subject be religious to be Christian? I don’t think so. There is a certain sense in which art
is its own justification. If art is good art, if it is true art, if it is beautiful art, then it is bearing
witness to the Author of the good, the true, and the beautiful.

 Many early Christians converted from Hellenistic Judaism, or from the pagan Greek and
Roman traditions. These groups were not as restrictive as the Jews of Judea and were
from backgrounds and areas in which art and imagery were common. For this and other
reasons, the earliest Christian art resembles Classical Greek art.

The earliest Christians relied on secretive symbolism that was only decipherable by the initiated,
but in the change to a greater circle of followers, the imagery began to be recognizable by all.

The earliest sculptures stuck to the motifs of classical art, in part to disguise Christian figures as
classical ones.

 Christianity was made an official state religion in 380, and its emergence into the open
and subsequent rise in popularity necessitated buildings for meeting and worship.
As pagan temples were abandoned, they were not suitable for repurposing as churches.
Constantine looked to the style of the basilica as an option. Pagan temples had been
windowless because most of the worship took place outside, but Christianity saw a rise in
the use of windows for both practical purposes and to inspire awe.

 More space allowed for artists to complete narratives in both fresco and relief. Some of
these were very extensive in scale and detail. The apses of the basilicas used their large
space to house figures of Christ or the Virgin Mary, or sometimes iconic frescos or
mosaics.
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Early Christian Art Key Highlights

Early Christian also created some metallic pieces, with a focus on silver chalices and other
vessels, and also reliquary.

Christ is not exactly portrayed as himself; he is usually in the guise of The Good Shepard or a
lawgiver.

Many works depict Old Testament scenes rather than the New Testament and are some of the
first images of those stories, as Judaism opposed graven images.

To represent the mysteries of the crucifixion and resurrection, these themes were often
symbolically hinted at in the substitution of Old Testament stories that were similar in nature,
such as Jonah and The Whale.

Gold sandwich glass roundels were beautiful round pieces of glass that had between their layers
a scene created with gold leaf. These were often pressed into the mortar of grave markers or
sarcophagi.

Early Christian Art Top Works

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus 359 AD

Dome mosaic at the Church of Sant’Apollinare in Closse

Ravenna Mosaics

Moses Striking the Rock

Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace – Catacomb of Priscilla

Adoration of the Magi on third-century catacomb cover

Noah Praying in the Ark – Roman Catacombs

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