Early Christian Art (AD 200+/- to 800)
•
The Apostolic & early Christian age
– Little visual arts for 2 reasons (150-200 years)
• Biblical prohibitions… 2nd Commandment prohibition of ‘graven
images’
• Second Coming soon… anticipation of the apocalypse meant no
need for art
– Gradual Roman influence & use of imagery gained acceptance
– Earliest extant church - Dura Europas-256 AD
– Early images: Jesus is young & beardless; emphasis on miracles, not
cross
– Sources of images on the web:
• Dura Europas
• Catacombs of Rome
•
Constantine to Iconoclasm (313-723)
– Development of vocabulary of symbolism to express the numinous
– Christ as philosopher becomes Christ Panocrator (All Ruler); emphasis
on majesty of Christ
– Late Roman stylistic change to short, less naturalistic figures
– Many new churches, often decorated with mosaics
– Sources of images on the web
• Old St Peter’s, St Paul’s Outside the Walls, Santa Maria
Maggiore, Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo, San
Vitale, Hagia Sophia
•
Iconoclastic Controversy (730-842)
– Eastern Church ban on images. This was an imperial ban, not initiated by
theologians but supported by some eastern theologians. Many lovers of
icons fled to the Western Church.
– Sources of images on the web
• St Catherine’s Sinai, houses icons from before this period & later
Byzantine icons
Head of Christ, Catacomb of Comodilla, late 4th century
Medieval Period (AD 800 +/- to 1400)
•
Celtic, Carolingian & Ottonian periods (AD 800+1000)
– Reemergence of classicism & learning fluctuated with influences of
barbarian invaders
– Rich tradition of illuminated manuscripts
– Sources of images on the web
• Book of Kells, Lindisfarne Gospel
• Palace & chapel at Aachen (Aix-la-chapelle)
• Manuscript illuminations
•
Byzantine in the East (AD 800-1450, Russia continued until 1917)
– The trauma of the Iconoclastic Controversy tended to encourage
conservatism in religious art
– Sources of images on the web
• Katholikon of Hosios Lukas, Greece
• Church of the Dormition, Daphni (near Athens)
• Andrei Rublev
•
Romanesque & Gothic in the West (AD 1000-1400)
– Continued development of symbolic language with special emphasis on
Mary and the saints; art is vital in teaching to the masses
– Engineering advances promoted the artistic expression of church
architecture, especially its emphasis on light, ‘soaring space’ & ‘reaching
to Heaven’; stained glass, sculpture & frescoes used to enhance space
– Late Gothic improvement in anatomy, techniques of light & shadow &
finally, perspective allowed artists to create more convincing space
– Sources of images on the web
• Cathedrals including Chartres, Notre Dame Paris, Amiens,
Santiogo de Compostela,
• Nicola Pisano, Pietro Lorenzetti, Cimabue
• Arena Chapel, Padua, Giotto
Adoration of the Magi from the Arena
Chapel by Giotto, 1305
Modern Era (1400+/- to present)
•
Renaissance & Baroque (AD 1400+/- to 1750)
– Skills accomplished, artistic freedom begins to develop
– Classical subjects more common, religious subjects still dominate
– Oil painting is developed, frescoes still common, tempera painting less
common
– Northern Europe becomes more detail & domestic oriented; Protestant
Europe went through a period of iconoclasm
– Counter (or Catholic) Reformation reaffirmed Catholic tradition
– Sources of images on the web
• Vatican & Uffizi Galleries
• Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Durer,
Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, Rubens
•
Neoclassical & Romantic (AD 1750 +/- to 1850)
– Secular subjects, including historical/political, overtake religious… in
some cases making political martyrs into saints (Death of Marat)
– Volume of religious art dwindles, especially among top artists
– Sources of images on the web
• William Blake
•
Modern (1850-present
– Secular subjects dominate; faith subjects from a highly personal
perspective
– Some top artists hostile to faith
– Other artists fill the void with a wide range of quality.
– Remember: Any artist who is still alive or has not been dead 75 years or
more remains under active copyright. Always give full references to artists
in a classroom setting. Never reproduce for church publications or other
reasons without the permission of the artist.
– Sources of images on the web
• Christians in the Visual Arts (association)
• Michael McGrath, Robert Lentz
• Georges Rouault, a few Van Gogh & Gauguin works, Maurice
Denis, Henry Osawa Tanner, Salvadore Dali, Georgia O’Keefe
(exposed to Catholicism in childhood, she became close to the
faith before her death)
God appearing to Job by William Blake, from
the Book of Job, published 1826