Late Antiquity
LATE ANTIQUITY
Key Vocabulary
Late Antique style
mosaic
hieratic
Santa Costanza
nave
apse
Old Saint Peter’s Basilica
Dura-Europas
basilican churches
catacombs
non-naturalistic
manuscript illumination
central plan
atrium
aisles
sarcophagus
transept
narthex
Key Ideas
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The Christian art is similar to that of the pagan Late Roman empire and is
indistinguishable from Roman art of the fourth and fifth centuries except for its
Christian religious theme.
o Late Antique (or Medieval) style: perfect for depicting spiritual themes
rather than worldly ones (like classical style)
o Not worse than classical style – different aims.
o Mosaics good medium for this type of non-naturalistic depiction.
Style of narrative in art in late antique tells story in simplest way; figures are flat
and silhouetted; sky is blank; perspective absent; only necessary details are
included. e.g. Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well
Constantine legalized Christianity
Patronage:
o Constantine as first Christian emperor was major patron of Christian art.
o Galla Placidia was the sister of the Roman Emperor Honorius, who built
the mausoleum named for her.
Slides
Interior of synagogue, Dura-Europos, Syria, ca. 245 – 256
 Pompeii of the Desert
 Surprise because it was assumed Jews did not have figurative art in synagogues
because of commandment not to make graven images.
 Treatment somewhat like Pompeii 4th style.
Samuel anoints David
 Tempera on Plaster
 Used hierarchy of scale
 Stories conveyed through stylized gestures
 Expressionless
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Late Antiquity
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Lack of volume and shadow
Disembodied spiritual presences
Stand in frontal rows
Distinguish David by purple robe (Roman imperial color)
Cutaway view of Christian community house, Dura-Europos, Syria, ca. 240 – 256
 Converted from residence; combined rooms
 Modest, could not get Roman approval to build house of worship.
 Why did Romans hate/fear Christians?
o Refused to pay homage to state’s official gods (including dead emperors)
o Saw it as competition to waning imperial authority.
o Ended with Constantine issuing Edict of Milan; legalized Christianity.
The Good Shepherd, early 4th C. Rome catacomb
 Early Christian art starts in 3rd C.
 Christ as good shepherd. “I am a good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his
life for his sheep.”
 Surrounded by depictions of Old Testament characters: Prefiguration, prophetic
forerunner
 Orants = praying figures
 Found in catacombs
o Subterranean networks of galleries (passageways) and chambers for
burying Christian dead. Loculi = openings in walls for dead.
o Catacombs outside Rome were huge: 60 – 90 miles.
o Roman tradition to bury dead outside of city walls.
o Similar to Etruscan tradition of creating rock-cut chambers that formed
necropolis.
o After Christianity legalized churches built over catacombs so Christians
could still pray at burial sites of venerated saints and martyrs.
Sarcophagus with philosopher, orant, etc. ca. 270
 Tripartite: Left to Right: Jonah and Whale; Orant & Philosopher (with scroll);
Jesus, good shepherd, Jesus being baptized (anachronistically)
 Faces of Orant and Philosopher added when sold.
 Compare to Roman sarcophagus with philosopher, a sarcophagus for a pagan
Roman. Note the use of the tripartite composition in both sarcophagi.
Junius Bassus Sarcophogus, ca 359
 Pagan convert to Christianity
 Carved on 3 sides with 2 registers/side, 5 compartments/register, separated by
columns
 Deceased does not appear.
 Old and New Test. Stories illustrated
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Late Antiquity
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Christ gets center panel on both registers: enthroned like emperor and entering
Jerusalem
No depiction of Crucifixion. Rare in early Christian art. Emphasized divinity,
teachings, and miracles – not suffering at hands of Romans (no surprise really).
Shows Christ in front of Pilate, oblique reference to Crucifixion.
Statuette of Christ seated, ca. 350 – 375
 Monumental sculpture uncommon in 4th C. Mostly for Emperors and pagan
gods. Mindful of commandment against graven images.
 Recent converts from paganism may account for rare commissions in classical
vein (classical as in Roman pagan; we have already discussed the
transformation of Roman art from a classical Greek style to one that is heavily
influenced by the art of the underclasses).
 Note similarities to pose and treatment of fabric to 1st C. CE portrait of Livia. See
difference in squatter figure with bigger head.
Old Saint Peter’s, Rome, Italy, begun ca. 319
 Built by Constantine on site believed to be Peter’s burial place.
o Relics of Peter in the transept.
o Out of main part of town; did not irritate pagans
o Basilica structure with transept.
o Held 3K to 4K worshippers
o “Thou art Peter,and upon this rock I will build my church.”
o Needed a different structure from Greco-Roman temples for
congregations.
Interior of Santa Sabina, Rome, 422 – 432
 Basilican
 Corinthian columns create a nave arcade = a series of arches supported by
columns separating the nave from the aisles.
 Clerestory and timber roof
Santa Costanza, Rome, ca 337 – 351
 Central plan: Roman style building usually round or polygonal domed structures.
o Predecessors were Pantheon and mausoleums like Diocletians’s.
o Modified for an ambulatory: ring around center domed area blocked off by
a ring of columns.
 Severe brick exterior
o Emphasis was on inner beauty: contrast with Greek ideal of outer
appearance being so important.
 Originally, Santa Costanza was the mausoleum of Constantina and Helene, the
two daughters of Constantine. Later, it was transformed into a baptistery, and in
the 8th century into a church. The mausoleum dates from 350 AD and is perfectly
preserved. In 1254 it was transformed into a church. (http://www.romaonline.com/rome/visit.rome/informations-rome.php?id=88, 12/11/12)
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Late Antiquity
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Mosaics: Old and New Test. Scenes with common Roman motifs like Putti
harvesting grapes: Wine associated with Bacchus (pagan) but also Christ
(Eucharist).
The parting of Abraham and Lot, nave of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 432 – 440.
 1st church dedicated to Mary (Council of Ephesus)
 Mosaic: Lot to Sodom (evil) Abraham to Canaan (good)
 Cleavage emphasized with “head clusters.”
 Wide eyes, emphatic gestures
 Simplified motion and landscape typical of late empire art.
 Figures modeled with mass and cast shadows: classical influence.
Mausoleum of Galla Placida, RAVENNA, Italy, ca. 425.
 Ravenna was capital of Western Empire and then became outpost of Byzantine
Empire. Has best preserved mosaics from Byzantine civilization.
 Small cruciform shape with barrel-vaulted arms and tower at crossing.
 Fusion of two Late Antique plans, the basilica (longitudinal plan) and the centralplan which was mostly used for mausoleums and baptisteries.
 Mosaics cover entire interior surface.
o Decorative medallions
Ceiling of Galla Placidia
 Filled with stars to represent the heavens
 Interesting to compare Galla Placidia with the sky in Van
Gogh’s Starry Night
o Christ as the Good Shepherd: Classical treatment; Christ’s body twists;
sits in landscape; has weight; regal
 Doesn’t carry lamb as before (Catacomb of St. Peter’s and
Marcelinus), (see Archaic Greek “Calf bearer”) – sits among sheep.
 Halo and purple robe.
 Christ is surrounded by 6 sheep, one of which he caresses lightly
under the chin
 His shepherd’s crook has been replaced by the martyr’s cruciform
staff which alludes to his own death by crucifixion
 Christ’s robe of purple and gold is a sign of his future as the King of
Heaven
 He sits on a rock which is divided into 3 steps which evokes the
Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
 Still retains classical interest in naturalism
Note: Christian mosaics usually did not have detail of Roman tesserae: Needed to be
bolder design to be seen from a greater distance on ceiling.
Interior of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, RAVENNA, Italy, dedicated 504
 3 aisle basilica dedicated to Savior
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Late Antiquity
Miracle of the loves and fishes, mosaic, Sant’Appolinare Nuovo
 Compare to Galla Placida “Good Shepherd.”
o Jesus faces directly out
o Blue sky now gold
o No attempt to provide details of event
o Miracle removes it from world of time
o Like Samuel and David painting in Dura-Europos
 Late Antiquity abstraction vs. classical naturalism
Luxury Arts (Minor Arts): Not unimportant, just small
Jewelry, carved ivory, cameos, illuminated manuscripts (Codex vs. scroll)
Parchment = lambskin
Vellum = calfskin
The old farmer Corycus of Vergil, Tempera on parchment, ca 400 – 420
 Example of the survival of traditional Roman iconography and classical style after
all pagan cults were banned.
Rebecca and Eliezer at the well, early 6th C. on vellum
 Only the most necessary things shown to get across narrative. City depicted
from above like Roman representations.
Christ before Pilate, early 6th C., Vellum
 Diverse sources for illuminated manuscripts; from church apse due to
composition?
Ivory Carving
Suicide of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ, ca. 420
 Notice how Christ floats – divine, almost nude, heroic; Judas hangs – limp – truly
dead.
Woman sacrificing at an altar, Ivory, ca. 400
 Even when paganism was banned some high-status families continued to
practice paganism. Why?
 Has classical treatment like from Ara Pacis or Parthenon.
 Why would a high-status family chose to commission art in this style rather than
the Suicide of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ?
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