Late Antiquity:

Early Christian Art

Lecture by Ivy C. Dally

South Suburban College

South Holland, IL

Map of the Late Antique World of the Tetrarchs

What is Late Antiquity? • Late Antiquity is the historical period that saw:

▫ the downfall of the city of Rome.

▫ the rise of the new capital at Constantinople.

▫ the rise of many new and competing religions,

many of which promised salvation to the faithful, and a belief in good vs. evil.

▫ the flourishing of monotheism and the Christian faith in particular, and the eventual demise of paganism/polytheism.

▫ The Pope in Rome stepping up to fill in the power vacuum in western Europe.

• The Late Antique period is a bridge between the height of Rome and the Middle Ages.

Diptych of the Nicomachi and Symmachi

New Religion, Old Subject Matter until the Edict of Milan in 313

Early Christian Art of Rome

• The earliest surviving Christian art dates to the 200’s…centuries after the death of Christ, years before this “cult” was legalized.

• In order to maintain secrecy, pagan subjects were adapted for Christian use. Old subjects, new content.

• After the period of recognition, more overt Christian symbols were utilized, but pagan motifs do not entirely disappear.

Christ in the Guise of the Sun God

(Sol Invictius), beneath the Vatican

Catacomb of

St. Calixtus, Rome

• Catacombs means “in the hollows” spaces for burying the dead.

• Used for burying the dead and celebrating Christian rites from the 2nd to 4th centuries.

• Galleries (passages) run for an estimated 60-90 miles underground. Lined by loculi (hollowed out niches) and cubiculum (rooms used as chapels).

The Good Sheppard

(center), the story of Jonah

(lunettes), and Orants

(compartments between

lunettes) , in a Cubiculum

in the Catacombs, Rome,

early 4th century.

Christ or Faithful Pagan?

Mosaic from the ambulatory of Santa Costanza,

Rome, ca. 337-351.

Early Christian Art and Architecture in Italy from 313

The Invention Church

Architecture

• The original Christian Churches provided a place where baptized Christians could meet and participate in the worshiping of their God.

• Because this was often illegal until 313, worship was conducted in private homes or in the catacombs.

• When Christianity becomes legal, a more public form of architecture is needed.

• Constantine built the first Christian Churches based on the Roman basilica.

San Vitale, ROME, ca 400’s.

Why a basilica?

• Churches should not be related to pagan temples in form or function.

• Amphitheaters associated with “un-Christian” activities.

• Roman basilicas built to accommodate large crowds in all weather.

• Addition of the transept turns the building into a Cross.

Reconstruction of the Basilica

Ulpia, built by Trajan, 1st century

Interior of Sta. Sabina, as it

appears today, Figure 11-10

Old St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, begun ca. 320.

Artist’s rendering of Old St. Peters before it was demolished

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, marble, 359.

Top: detail of Apollo…the

influence for a beardless Christ?

Bottom: Christ as judge, flanked

by Sts. Peter and Paul.

Christ as the Good Sheppard, From the (so-called) Mausoleum of Galla

Placidia, ca. 425.

Arch mosaics from the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, ca. 432.

Detail showing the Annunciation to

the Virgin Mary following the

recognition of Mary as the “Mother

of God”.

The Life and Ministry of Jesus is the most popular subject

of Early Christian mosaics…pictorial Bibles.

Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes,

mosaic from Sant’Apollinare Nuovo,

ca. 504 CE.

Baptism of Jesus, Arian Bapistery in

Ravenna, ca. early 500’s.

Christ in Majesty • The most popular scene visible

in the apse of many early Christian churches was called Christ in Majesty.

• The figure of Christ is shown triumphant, in heaven, surrounded by a number of holy figures. May be on a throne.

• On occasion political figures of the day also appeared in these scenes.

• These Emperor or Zeus-like, bearded, haloed images of Christ have remained popular to the modern day.

Apse of Sta. Prassade in Rome

Apse Mosaic of Sta. Pudenziana in Rome, early 600’s.

Ganymedes serving Zeus Ambrosia. Attributed

to the Eucharides Painter, ca 490 - 480 BC Statue of Zeus at the Getty

Museum in Malibu, CA.

After this lecture you should be able

to…

• Explain the iconographic characteristics and media of Early Christian art.

• Identify the sources of Early Christian architecture.

• Describe the plan of a Latin cross church.

• Explain the function of the catacombs.

• Describe the persistence of “pagan” forms in Christian art.