Early Europe and Colonial Americas

Late Antiquity and Early Christian Art

Historical Background• Early Christianity illegal and was literally an

underground religion.

• Legalized by Constantine in 312 CE eventually becoming the state religion after his victory at the Milvian Bridge. Constantine also favored Christians for political positions.

• Christians given restitution through state confiscated property with the Edict of Milan in 313 CE.

• Most Christians were poor—society’s underclass.

• Artists mimicked Roman works but those creating art in the catacombs were often untrained and led to unsophisticated work. Once Christianity became the dominant religion, artists were commissioned to create grand, public displays of art.

• When Christianity was made state religion in 380 CE under Theodosius, representations of Christ as the Good Shepard changed to a more imperial imagery wearing a purple and gold robe, holding crook, crowned with a halo. The Good Shepherd, The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, 425 C.E.,

mosaic, Ravenna, Italy

Early Christians

• Liturgy=work of the people; “liturgical” (e.g., Catholic, Episcopalian) or “non-liturgical” (e.g., Baptist, Pentecostal); scripted liturgy; order of church service

• Early worship included a creed, hymns, prayers, the reading of the Hebrew Bible, teaching, meals, and baptism.

• In homes, grave sites of saints and loved ones, and outdoors.

• Roman basilica/no pagan associations. Isometric rendering of the Christian building

at Dura-Europos (c. 240 C.E.), by Henry Pearson, 1932-34

Standard Scenes

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, c. 1438-47, fresco, 230 x 321 cm (Convent of San Marco, Florence)

The Visitation - Domenico Ghirlandaio

Duccio, The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekial, 1308-11 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.) Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau,

Adoration of the Magi, Walters Manuscript W.174, fol. 19v detail (The Walters Art Museum)

The Presentation in the Temple - Raphael

Duccio, The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain, 1308-11, tempera on poplar panel, 17 x 18 1/8 inches / 43.2 x 46 cm (The Frick Collection)

The Healing of the Blind Man and the Raising of Lazarus, 1120-40, fresco, made in Castile-León, Spain, 65 x 134 inches/ 165.1 x 340.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Giotto, The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, c. 1305, fresco, 200 x 185 cm (Arena Chapel, Padua)

Da Vinci, The Last Supper

Agony in the Garden by El Greco

The Kiss of Judas, early 16th century, ink and pigments on parchment (The Walters Art Museum)

Christ Before Pilate

Single leaf and fragment with Crucifixion and colophon, Crucifixion, Walters Manuscript W.732, fol. W.732Ar (The Walters Art Museum)

Book of Hours, Deposition, Walters Manuscript W.246, fol. 25v (The Walters Art Museum)

Peter von Cornelius - The Three Marys at the Tomb

Homilary, The Resurrection, Walters Manuscript W.148, fol. 23v (The Walters Art Museum)

Noli me tangere

The Ascension of Christ - Pietro Perugino

The Last Judgment

48. Catacomb of PriscillaRome, ItalyLate Antique Europec. 200-400 CEExcavated tufa and fresco

• Roman catacombs extend 100 miles and contain 4 million burial sites, including 7 popes.

• Where earliest Christians are buried.

• 5 miles

• In some places 3 stories deep

• 40k + tombs

• Bodies wrapped in shrouds, place on a “shelf”, covered over with terra cotta or marble, plastered and then painted.

• Grave robbing and relic hunting.

• No Christian art before 3rd century.

• Beginnings of Christian iconography

Greek Chapel:

• Named for Greek inscriptions on right niche (“Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior”)

• Decorated in Roman 1st style paneling (Pompeiian)

• Old and New Testament Scenes, specifically of miracles Christ performed

Link in notes

*Greek Chapel

Cubiculum of the Veil:

-same woman

-married, orant, nursing

1st representation of Madonna and Child?

*Orant fresco, Cubiculum of the Veil

*Good Shepard fresco

• Contrapposto• Christ will care you others, as he did his flock • (goats and doves)• Peacocks-eternal life• Quail-earth/walking on earth.• Christ in between earthly and heavenly• Stories of old testament in lunettes (Jonah and the

Whale=Christ’s resurrection).

Medieval Christians

• Expansion on architectural elements for liturgy.

• Added transept.

• Altars became more elaborate.

• Reliquaries

• Narthex (world)), nave (Kingdom of God), sanctuary (heaven).

• Sanctuary off limits to non clergy.

49. Santa SabinaRome, ItalyLate Antique Europec. 422-432 CEBrick and stone, wooden roof

• Aventine Hill

• Borrow style from the Roman basilica/3 aisles with no transept; practical; plan lends focus to one point (altar)

• Old St. Peter’s

• Includes spolia from Temple of Juno in Rome (columns); erected on this site=triumph of Christianity over paganism.

• Windows made of selenite (gypsum); flat, wooden roof with coffered ceiling; thin walls; bare exterior with decorated interior=resembles a Christian who made have rough exterior but is beautiful in their soul.

• Men stood in main aisle, women stood in side aisles with a partial view (follows Jewish tradition.

*Plan

View of the aisle, Basilica of Santa Sabina, c. 432 C.E., Rome

Wooden Doors from Santa Sabina, Crucifixion Scene?