EARLY CHRISTIAN

ARCHITECTURE


Early Christian art and architecture(or

Paleochristian art) is the art produced byChristiansor

under Christian patronage from the earliest period of
Christianity to, depending on the definition used,
sometime between 260 to 525. In practice identifiably
Christian art only survives from the 2nd century
onwards.After 550 at the latest, Christian art is
classified asByzantine, or of some other regional type.

Prior to 100, Christians may have been constrained by

their position as a persecuted group from producing
durable works of art. Since Christianity was largely
areligionof the lower classes in this period, the lack of
surviving art may reflect a lack of funds forpatronage,
and simply small numbers of followers.

 TheOld Testamentrestrictions against the production

of graven (an idol or fetish carved in wood or stone)

imagesmay also haveconstrained Christians from
producing art. Christians may have made or purchased
art withpaganiconography, but given it Christian
meanings, as they later did. If this happened,
"Christian" art would not be immediately recognizable
as such.
Early christians uses artistic medias like
fresco,mosaics,sculpture, andmanuscript
illumination. Early Christian art not only used Roman
forms, it also used Roman styles.
Early Christians adapted Roman motifs and gave new
meanings to what had been pagan symbols. Among the
motifs adopted were thepeacock,grapevines, and the
"Good Shepherd". Early Christians also developed their
owniconography, for example, such symbols as the fish
(ikhthus), were not borrowed from pagan iconography.

Early Christian art is generally divided into

two periods by scholars: before and after

either theEdict of Milanof 313, bringing the
so-calledTriumph of the
ChurchunderConstantine, or theFirst Council
of Niceain 325. The earlier period being called
the Pre-Constantinian orAnte-Nicene
Periodand after being the period of theFirst
seven Ecumenical Councils. he end of the
period of Early Christian art, which is typically
defined by art historians as being in the 5th7th centuries, is thus a good deal later than
the end of the period of Early Christianity as
typically defined by theologians and church
historians, which is more often considered to
end under Constantine, around 313-325.

SYMBOLS
the end of the period of Early Christian art, which is

typically defined by art historians as being in the 5th7th centuries, is thus a good deal later than the end of
the period of Early Christianity as typically defined by
theologians and church historians, which is more often
considered to end under Constantine, around 313325. he end of the period of Early Christian art, which
is typically defined by art historians as being in the
5th-7th centuries, is thus a good deal later than the
end of the period of Early Christianity as typically
defined by theologians and church historians, which is
more often considered to end under Constantine,
around 313-325.

Initially Jesus was represented indirectly

bypictogramsymbols such as
theIchthys(fish),peacock,Lamb of God, or an
anchor (theLabarumorChi-Rhowas a later
development). Later personified symbols were
used, includingJonah, whose three days in the
belly of the whale pre-figured the interval
between the death andresurrection of
Jesus,Danielin the lion's den, orOrpheus'
charming the animals.
The image of "The Good Shepherd", a
beardless youth inpastoralscenes
collectingsheep, was the most common of
these images, and was probably not
understood as a portrait of the historical Jesus.

Good Shepherdfrom
theCatacomb of Priscilla, 250300

The Cross, symbolizing Jesus'

crucifixion on a cross, was not
represented explicitly for several
centuries, possibly because crucifixion
was a punishment meted out to
common criminals, but also because
literary sources noted that it was a
symbol recognised as specifically
Christian, as thesign of the crosswas
made by Christians from very early on.
The inexplicit symbolic nature of many
early Christian visual motifs may have
had a function of discretion in other
contexts, but on tombs they probably
reflect a lack of any other repertoire of
Christian iconography.
The dove is a symbol of peace and
purity. It can be found with a halo or
celestial light It is flying above
anempty thronerepresenting God, in
the throne are achlamys(cloak)
anddiademrepresenting the Son.
TheChi-Rhomonogram, XP, apparently

CHRISTIAN ART BEFORE 313

A general assumption thatEarly Christianity was

generally aniconic, opposed to religious imagery

in both theory and practice until about 200, has
been challenged by Paul Corby Finney's analysis
of Early Christian writing and material remains
(1994). This distinguishes three different sources
of attitudes affecting Early Christians on the
issue: "first that humans could have a direct
vision of God; second that they could not; and,
third, that although humans could see God they
were best advised not to look, and were strictly
forbidden to represent what they had seen".

The truth is simple and mundane: Christians lacked land and

capital. Art requires both. As soon as they began to acquire

land and capital, Christians began to experiment with their
own distinctive forms of art".
In theDura-Europos church, of about 230-256, which of the
very early churches surviving is in the best condition, there
are frescos of biblical scenes including a figure of Jesus, as
well as Christ as theGood Shepherd. The building was a
normal house apparently converted to use as a church. The
earliest Christian paintings in theCatacombs of Rome are
from a few decades before, and these represent the largest
body of examples of Christian art from the pre-Constantinian
period, with hundreds of examples decorating tombs or
family tomb-chambers. Many are simple symbols, but there
are numerous figure paintings either showingorants or
female praying figures, usually representing the deceased
person, or figures or shorthand scenes from the bible or
Christian history.

The house church of dura europos

The style of the catacomb

paintings, and the entirety of
many decorative elements,
are effectively identical to
those of the catacombs of
other religious groups,
whether conventional pagans
followingAncient Roman
religion, or Jews or followers
of theRoman mystery
religions. The quality of the
painting is low compared to
the large houses of the rich,
which provide the other
maincorpusof painting
surviving from the period,
but the shorthand depiction
of figures can have an
expressive charm.
Biblical scenes of figures
rescued from mortal danger
were very popular; these
represented both

 Jonah and the whale theSacrifice of

Isaac,Noahpraying in the Ark (represented as an

orant in a large box, perhaps with a dove carrying
a branch),Mosesstriking the rock,Daniel in the
lion's denand theThree Youths in the Fiery
Furnace([Daniel 3:10-30]) were all favourites, that could
be easily depicted.

TheThree Youths in the

Fiery Furnace([Daniel 3:1030]
),catacomb of Priscilla

Moses striking the rock in the

desert, a prototype of baptism

Catacomb chamber with

(from top): Orants, Jonah
and the Whale, Moses
striking the rock (left), Noah
praying in the ark,
Adoration of the Magi. 200250

3rd century cover for catacomb burial,

engraved with theAdoration of the
Magi(cast shown)

Early Christian sarcophagi were a much more expensive

option, made of marble and often heavily decorated with

scenes in veryhigh relief, worked with drills. Freestanding statues that are unmistakably Christian are very
rare, and never very large, as more common subjects
such as theGood Shepherdwere symbols appealing to
several religious and philosophical groups, including
Christians, and without context no affiliation can be given
to them.
One exceptional group that seems clearly Christian is
known as the Cleveland Statuettes of Jonah and the
Whale,and consists of a group of small statuettes of
about 270, including two busts of a young and
fashionably dressed couple, from an unknown find-spot,
possibly in modern Turkey. The other figures tell the story
of Jonah in four pieces, with a Good Shepherd; how they
were displayed remains mysterious.

Thedepiction of Jesuswas well-developed by

the end of the pre-Constantinian period. He

was typically shown in narrative scenes, with a
preference forNew Testamentmiracles, and
few of scenes from his Passion.
in the earliest images as many show a stocky
and short-haired beardless figure in a short
tunic, who can only be identified by his
context. In many images of miracles Jesus
carries a stick or wand, which he points at the
subject of the miracle rather like a modern
stage magician (though the wand is a good
deal larger).

CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
AFTER 313
In the 4th century, the rapidly growing

Christian population, now supported by the

state, needed to build larger and grander
public buildings for worship than the mostly
discreet meeting places they had been using,
which were typically in or among domestic
buildings. Pagan temples remained in use for
their original purposes for some time and, at
least in Rome, even when deserted were
shunned by Christians until the 6th or 7th
centuries, when some were converted to
churches.

Architectural formulas for temples were unsuitable, not

simply for their pagan associations, but because pagan

cult and sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open
sky in the sight of the gods, with the temple, housing
the cult figures and the treasury, as a windowless
backdrop.
The usable model at hand, whenEmperor Constantine
Iwanted to memorialize his imperial piety, was the
familiar conventional architecture of thebasilica. There
were several variations of the basic plan of the secular
basilica, always some kind of rectangular hall, but the
one usually followed for churches had a center nave
with one aisle at each side, and anapseat one end
opposite to the main door at the other.
, the apse was a raised platform, where the altar was
placed and the clergy officiated.

Apse

 In secular buildings this plan was more typically

used for the smaller audience halls of the

emperors, governors, and the very rich than for the
great public basilicas functioning as law courts and
other public purposes.
This was the normal pattern used for Roman
churches, and generally in the Western Empire, but
the Eastern Empire, and Roman Africa, were more
adventurous, and their models were sometimes
copied in the West, for example inMilan. All
variations allowed natural light from windows high
in the walls, a departure from the windowless
sanctuaries of the temples of most previous
religions, and this has remained a consistent
feature of Christian church architecture. Formulas
giving churches with a large central area were to
become preferred inByzantine architecture, which

A particular and short-lived type of building,

using the same basilican form, was

thefunerary hall, which was not a normal
church, though the surviving examples long
ago became regular churches, and they always
offered funeral and memorial services, but a
building erected in the Constantinian period as
an indoor cemetery on a site connected with
early Christian martyrs, such as a catacomb.
The six examples built by Constantine outside
the walls of Rome are:Old Saint Peter's
Basilica, the older basilica dedicated toSaint
Agnesof whichSanta Costanzais now the only
remaining element,San Sebastiano fuori le
mura,San Lorenzo fuori le Mura,Santi
Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano, and one in the

Old St. Peters Basilica

St. Agnes

Interior of St. Agnes

St. Costanza

Amartyriumwas a building erected on a spot

with particular significance, often over the

burial of a martyr. No particular architectural
form was associated with the type, and they
were often small. Many became churches, or
chapels in larger churches erected adjoining
them. With baptistries and mausolea, their
often smaller size and different function made
martyria suitable for architectural
experimentation.