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THE ART OF LATE ANTIQUITY |
| At Dura-Europas, a Roman legion out-post in Syria, at the "ends of the empire," seventeen different religious places of worship were found, from Temples to Mithras and Zoroastrianism, to a Synogogue for Jewish worship and a Church for Christians. The art in every one of these locations was similar in style (although not in content). It was the style seen in the catacombs -- sketchy, impressionistic, lack of concern for real space and depth. In all cases the art seemed more concerned with spiritual matters than with the "verism" seen in Roman sculpture. For a different view of Dura-Europos below, see Page 290* in the Gardner text. |
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| The images presented above are from Synogogues (Greek word for assembly or meeting place). To the left from Dura-Europos in Syria c.244-245 is the wall with the Torah Niche, tempera on plaster, and reconstructed in the National Museum at Damascus. To the right, in Rome at the Villa Torlonia, c.3rd Century, the wall painting depicts the "Menorah and the Ark of the Covenant." |
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To the left is the "Catacomb of Callixtus," c.2nd Century
ce, tunneled under Rome. Christians and Jews used catacombs, tunneled
in tufa (volcanic rock) under Rome and other cities of the Roman Empire,
as burial locations since both were forbidden to own property and both preferred
their own holy burial places to the Roman pagan cemetaries.
From the time of Moses (c.1200 bce) faithful ancient Hebrews followed the ban on image making ("no false gods"), the second of the ten commandments written on the tablets. Christianity, coming from Judaism, followed that same ban initially. |
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| A "Romanized" Christ is shown as the Good Shepherd, from a catacomb in Rome. | Possibly a "Last Supper" image, the above fresco is from a Roman catacomb. In the West, until the Middle Ages, Jesus was portrayed clean-shaven, since in the Roman Empire, a beard was a sign of a barbarian. | Art in the catacombs also illustrated scenes from the Old Testament, such as the three above in the fiery furnace. |
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| Carved book cover from the 5th Century, with ornate Christian symbolism and gospel scenes. | Relief panel, c.420, showing Christ crucified and Judas hanging. To the early Christians, crucifixion was a disgrace, and it was several hundred years afterward that the crucifixion was shown in Christian art. | 5th Century book cover, with semi-precious stones. |
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| Jesus, above, is shown dressed as a Roman soldier but wearing royal purple and gold. He is "trampling" the devil (snake) as well as Rome (the lion), and is holding the scriptures which read "I am the way, the truth and the life." By the 5th Century, such a claim would have been acceptable. |
| Although Early Christians stayed away from making statues, and the skills required for Roman-style wall painting seem to have been lost, artists explored the visual potential of mosaics, especially glass mosaics which became the Christian and Byzantine artists chief material. Small, brightly colored pieces of glass were set at slight angles into thin layers of plaster to create a dazzling effect with the reflection of sunlight and candlelight. Gold and gold leaf were also used extensively in the mosaic art. Gold represented an "other worldly" quality, a permanence of the spiritual world in contrast to the temporary material world (gold neither tarnishes nor rusts). |
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The Parting of Lot and Abraham," c.432-40,
a mosaic in the nave arcade of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.
See Gardner text, Page 301.
Some of the three-dimensional quality of Roman art can still be seen in this mosaic (in the shading of the robes, for example) but the strong outline and lack of spatial depth contribute to a greater flattening of the picture plane. What depth there is is shown with typical Early Christian devices -- the "head cluster" to suggest a large number of people, the landscape elements rather than true landscape, the sketchy parts of buildings to suggest cities. The sizes of human and animal figures are altered without regard to reality. |
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| "Christ as the Good Shepherd," mosaic from the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, c.425-450. Some devices of Roman illusionism are still being used -- shadows, tonality of forms, spatial depth. See Page 302 in the Gardner text and the detail below. |
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The mosaic to the left, the "Miracle
of the Loaves and the Fishes," from the Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.
c.504. Compare the stylistic change from Galla Placidia -- Jesus
wears the Imperial purple robe; the dimension is more shallow; the gold background
appears as a 'screen'; and there are fewer references to the physical world. See page 304 in the Gardner text. |
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To the right is "Priestess celebrating
the rites of Bacchus," c. 400.
The style referred to as "Early Christian" is also called "Late Roman" or "Late Antique" or "Late Pagan." Whatever it is called, clearly the style is different from the Roman or Greek art which emphasized the real world. The art began to "dematerialize," to eliminate ground lines and real space, to reduce forms to flat two-dimensional planes, to present sketchy, shorthand marks. |
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| Whether the changes in art were the result of religions which emphasized the spiritual world, a reaction to the pagan and material wealth seeking Roman Empire, or the result of lost skills and training may never be known. Even greater changes -- greater dematerialization -- to the point where figures no longer even cast shadows -- are seen in the art of the Byzantine world. |
| *Page numbers refer to Gardner 13th
edition. Page Updated 9/02/08 |
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Copyright M. Hoover and San Antonio College, September, 2001. All rights reserved. |