Early Christian art developed from the 1st to 5th centuries AD. Key events that influenced its development included the spread of Christianity by St. Paul and its acceptance by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century. Art forms included frescoes, mosaics using small cubes called tesserae, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts with illustrations and ornamental borders. Mosaics became more advanced and were used to decorate walls and vaults of churches. Illuminated manuscripts were decorated gospel books that were costly to produce. Ivory carvings were made into luxury religious objects like boxes and diptychs. The era saw the rise of early Christian basilica churches that set the architectural template for future churches.

1. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

2. Early Christian Art:
earliest period-350/525 AD

3. 250 AD. Time of Decian Persecution

4. Middle stage: AD250 - AD406

5. AD406: Christianity at the time of Gothic
and Germanic invasions

6. Key Events
Two important moments
played a critical role in the
development of early
Christianity:
1. The decision of the Apostle
Paul to spread Christianity
beyond the Jewish
communities of Palestine
into the Greco-Roman
world.
St. Paul Preaching in Athens
By Raphael, 1515

7. Key Events
• 2. When the Emperor
Constantine accepted
Christianity and became
its patron at the
beginning of the fourth
century
Baptism of Emperor the Great
In 337 AD

8. Timeline
29 AD, Crucifixion of Christ
249-251, Persecution,
Trajan Decius
303-305, Persecution,
Diocletian
313, Edict of Milan
380, Christianity proclaimed
State religion of Roman
Empire

9. Edict of Milan
• Refers to the February 313 agreement to treat Christians
benevolently within the Roman Empire.
• Western Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius, who
controlled the Balkans, met in Milan, and agreed to
change policies towards Christians.
• Early Christian art: Pre-Constantinian
• Period of the First 7 Ecumenical
Churches
• First Council of Nicea (325 AD): ecumenical assembly of
Christian bishops

10. Key Points
• Under Constantine, Christianity became an imperially
sponsored religion.
• Constantinian shift
Colossal marble head of Emperor
Constantine the Great, Roman, 4th AD

11. • Supported the church financially.
• Had a large number of basilicas built.
• Granted privileges (tax exemptions) to clergy.
San Giovanni
Laterano, Italy

12. Old St. Peter’s Basilica, 319-333 AD

13. • Promoted Christians to high-ranking offices.
• Returned properties confiscated during the Great
Persecution of Diocletian.
• Endowed the Church with land and other wealth.
Hagia Eirene, the first
church commissioned
by Constantine in
Constantinople.

14. Other Legacies:
• Abolished Crucifixion for reasons of Christian piety
• Declared Sunday as the official rest day.
• Publicly displayed gladiatorial games were ordered to
be eliminated in 325 AD.

15. Key Points
• Christian themes became a staple of many of the
greatest works of Western art.
Leonardo da Vinci
The Last Supper
1495-1498
tempera on gesso

16. Caravaggio
The Conversion on the Way
to Damascus
Oil on canvas
1601

17. Fra Angelico
Annunciation 6
1450

18. Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
Christian Virgins Exposed to the Public
oil on canvas
1884

19. Key Points
• Early Christian basilican churches stood as the
template for future shrines up to the present.

21. Basilica de Santa Sabina
Rome, Italy
422-432
Interior of Santa Sabina

22. Santa Constanza, Rome, 337-351

23. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART FORMS

24. Early Christian Art Forms/Motifs
• Frescoes
• Mosaics
• Sculptures
• Illuminated manuscripts
Adaptation of Roman pagan motifs
• Peacock
• Grapevine
• Good Shepherd
• Fish (ikhtus)

25. Mosaics
• Simple beginnings
• Invented to provide simple
and inexpensive flooring
• Pebble mosaics of
geometric shapes
Gordium floor mosaics,
The oldest extant tile mosaic
Western Turkey
8th century BC

26. Mosaics
• 3rd BC
• Invention of a new kind of
mosaic
• Used “tesserae” (Latin for
cubes or dice)
• Used to decorate walls and
vaults
The parting of Lot and Abraham
Mosaic in nave of Santa Maria
Magiorre
Rome, Italy

27. Mosaics
Christ as the Good Shepherd, mosaic
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, 423 AD

28. Mosaics
• Tesserae were made of glass
so as to reflect light and
make the surface sparkle
Miracle of the loaves and fishes
Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo
Ravenna, Italy, ca 504

29. Illuminated Manuscripts
• Manuscript in which the text is
supplemented by the addition
of decorations
• Time consuming and costly to
produce
• Borders
• Marginalia
• Miniature illustrations
• From Latin, “illuminare” –to
light upSinope Gospels
Illuminated Greek Gospel
book

30. Illuminated Manuscripts
• Gold or silver
• Illuminators were humble
craftsmen
• Painter’s guild or book trade
guild
• Earliest preserved
illuminated book that
contains illustrations of the
New TestamentChrist before Pilate
Rossano Gospels, folio 8
6th century

31. Illuminated Manuscripts
• Oldest, well-preserved ,
surviving, illustrated biblical
codex
• Probable origin, Syria
• First half of the 6th century
• Written on purple dyed
vellum
Vienna Genesis, folio 7
6th century

32. Ivory Carvings
• Ivory carving – luxury art
much admired in the Early
Christian period
• Book covers, boxes,
chests
Suicide of Judas and
Crucifixion of Christ
Plaque from a box
Unknown Roman sculptor
420 AD

33. Ivory Carvings
• Ice Age European
mammoths
• India
• Africa
• Carved ivories
• Mesopotamian
• Egyptian sites Carved ivory plaque from Nimrud showing a
winged sphinx with apron and crown in the
Egyptian style. 8th – 7th century BC.
Phoenician style

34. Ivory Carvings
Statuette of a camel
and rider Mesopotamia
or the Levant,
8th or 9th century;
ivory, carved, with some
traces of black pigment,
25 x 23.5 x 12 cm

35. Ivory Carvings
• Nimrud ivories
• Carved ivory plaques and
figures
• 9-7th centuries BC
• Nimrud, Assyria (now,
Ninawa, Iraq)
• 2011, British Museum, UK
• Iraqi institutions
Ivory plaque with traces of paint and
original gold leaf
9th-7th century BC, Neo-Assyrian
Nimrud

36. Ivory Carvings
• Origins: Levant or Egypt
• Motifs typical of the region
• Sir Austen Henry Layard
• 1845
• Decoration for high status
items like furniture
One of the Nimrud ivories,
made in Egypt, depicting
two Egyptians facing each
other

37. Ivory Carvings
The Nicomachi and Symmachi diptych
Ivory relief
Rome, 388-401
depict female figures engaged in
religious ritual before sacrificial altars
Nicomachi –Paris
Symmachi – London
References two important senatorial
families
Was commissioned by the family of
Q. Aurelius Symmachus

38. Ivory Carvings
Diptychs fashioned out of
ivory:
• Ceremonial and official
purposes
• Announce election of consul
• Marriage between 2
wealthy families
• Commemorate death of an
important citizen
The London panel

39. Key Terms
• Constantinian shift
• Apse
• Nave
• Aisle
• Narthex
• Transept
• Mosaic
• Tessarae
• Nimrud ivories
• Illuminated manuscripts
• Diptych