Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/800

* CHRISTIAN ART. tury, as is shown by the liberal use of the trepan, the loss of finish, and of good proportions. The museum of the Lateran contains the largest col- leclion, hut there are many in Aries. In fact, throughout the Roman world a similar style prevailed. The sarcophagi in Ravenna show the stillness and limitations of the latest sar- Eophagi — those of the Fifth and Sixth centuries. To this time probably belongs the last colossal statue of anti(]uity — the bronze emperor found at Barletfa. hard in its style, showing the loss of ability since the time of the famous bronze statue of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( Kiflli Cen- tury) . After the Sixth Century no attempt was made at monumental sciiljiture, the religious scruples of the Iconoclasts hastening the total downfall, which Mas complete both for the East and the West. The eclii)se was to last about six centuries. Painting and ^Iosaics. The painted ornamen- tation of the earliest crypts in the Roman cata- combs, such as those of Domitilla and Priscilla, show that not until the miildle of the Second Century was there enough that was significantly Christian to be called Christian painting. The technique is exactly the same as in contemporary pagan monuments ; bul, a system of symbolism to express Christian faith is in process of forma- tion. (See TcoNOGKAPiiY; a more general de- scription is given under Catacombs.) Everything that could be reuardcd as a symbol of the resur- rection and of salvation was represented, whether in the form of animate and inanimate symbols, such as the phccnix, the fish, or the bread; or of s}^nbolic scenes, such as Noah, Daniel, or the three children in the furnace. In its limitation and simplicity this art was very direct, and ap- pealed alike to learned and imlearned. After the time of Constantine, the historic, descriptive, genre, and dogmatic elements were added to di- versify the art, while tlie delerioraticm of tech- nique detracted from its appeal. The catacombs continue threnighout the Fourth Century to fur- nish practically the entire material for study, be- cause the churches of this period still in existence have partly or entirely lost their paintings. The art of mosaic painting now entered the field of figured composition, and rapidly displaced fresco painting in the larger and riclicr churches. The mausnlcuni of Constantia and the Church of Santa Pudentiana in Rome jncscivc works of this century of very dilferent character — the former, in its semi-pagan decoration, harking back to the early catacombs, while the latter, with its ordered scene of Christ enthroned teaching the apostles and establishing the Church of the Jews and of the Gentiles, shows the new dogmatic and didactic tendency. While painting had been rather sentimental and free, it became now more systematically a religious handmaid. (See looxodRAPiiY.) The desire to tell the people all the main facts of religious history led to the in- vention of a .series of chronological illustrations of the events of the Old and New Testaments which, originating as early as the Fifth Century, were handed down, almost unchanged, for about a thousand years. The mosaics of Santa ^laria Maggiore in Rome, with their scenes from Genesis (c.430), show the early phase of the style be- fore its historic exuberance had been pruned to the selection of fewer types. The historic scries soon became subordinate to the dogmatic, as in the later mosaics (c.500) in San ApoUinare 70-2 CHRISTIAN ART. Nuovo, in Ravenna, portraying the life of Clirist. This was due to the inlluence of the East and of Greece. Although nearly all the preserved works of painting and mosaic earlier than a.d. SOO are found in the West, there are abundant proofs that the change from the symbolic to the dog- matico-historic style was due to the Orient. One of these proofs is the .series of Greek illuminated manuscri|)ts of the Fifth and Sixth centuries, in which this style is fully developed, and which may have served as models to the Western paint- er — such were the ^'ie.nna and Colton tienesis, Rossano Gospels, etc. The (Oriental love of color also dictated the replacing of the thinner, colder fresco by the richer, warmer mosaics. The two typical Italian schools are Rome and Ravenna, the former representing the Latin, the latter the Oriental-Hellenic current. In Rome the mosaics of Santa Sabina (Fifth Century) and San Cos- mas and Damian (c.530) are the finest of their class — genuinely Roman; but the invasion of Byzantine methods is shown a little later in San Teodoro, and even more in San 'cnanzio. The Ravenna series is richer in the Fifth and Sixth centuries, with its two churches of San A])ollinare, San Vitale', the two baptisteries, the archiepisco- pal palace, and the tomb of (JaHa Phicidia, filled with mosaics by the best artists of the Greek school. The use of the gold ground, which they made popular, revolutionized mosaic painting and made its figures as clean-cut as those of a Greek frieze. The period closes with the su- premacy of the East in painting. Minor Arts. The smaller branches of art ap- l)eared to feel the decadence the least. This was especially true of ivory-carving (q.v.) and metal sculpture. One branch, that of illuminated manuscripts (q.v.), may even be said to have been created at this time. The subjects por- trayed were the same as in the larger arts. Cer- tain branches were especially popular in special localities. Figured «ovcn stull's were worn in the Orient, especially in Egypt, Saint Asterius commenting on the personages who carried all the Old and New Testaments on their garments. -Iany such textiles have been found in the Fayum. Then there was the special industry of figures delicately outlined in gold on glass", as in so many cups found in the Roman catacombs. The eartlienware and bronze lamps also were decorated with religious scenes. But the choice est remaining examples are the ivories and il- luminations. The scenes carved on the diplychs were necessarily limited in character to the fig- ures and functions of the consuls; but a greater variety appears in the boxes (pyxes), the book- covers, ami other ol)iccts of ecclesiastical use, carved with great skill tliroughoiit this period, but especially between tlu' h'tinrth and the close of the Sixth Century, which is also the Golden Age for ilhuninations. Symbolism ano Iconoorapiiy. All early Chris- tian figured art expressed or taught some reli- gious truth, and was not produced primarily for aesthetic reasons. Therefore, the study of its subjects is even more interesting than that of its style. This will be treated under the title Ico- nography, as well as under Symboli-sm; Alle- gory; etc. BinLioGRAPin-. Besides the authorities re- ferred to imder Catacombs and IconogRvVPHY, such as Garrucci. Peratf'. De Rossi, etc., consult: Klaus, Gesrhichle dcr christlichen Kunst ( Frei-