Important Concepts You MUST Know About Section 7:
The Shift From ‘Realism’ to ‘Religion’
After the Fall of the Western (Roman Empire), the style of art
changed dramatically. Creating ideals proportions took a backseat
to teaching the narratives and symbolism of Christianity.
The Parts of the Christian Churches
The terminology of the churches is used throughout the AP Test.
Know all of the terms associated with this presentation.
Central Plan vs. Basilica Plan
Originally, there were two basic types of Christian Church plans.
Knowing these plans (and why they were designed as such) should aid
you in learning how the needs of Christianity affected these layouts.
Quick Timeline
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
330 - Constantine moved his capital to Byzantium and renamed it
CONSTANTINOPLE. Most pieces of Jewish Art were destroyed, and the
Jewish people often faced special taxes, restrictions and even persecution.
395 - The Roman Empire split permanently by Emperor Theodosius I into
two parts:
The WESTERN EMPIRE (Roman)
The EASTERN EMPIRE (Byzantine)
410 - Rome is sacked by the Visigoths.
476 - Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor, is deposed
by the German Odoacer.
527 - Justinian becomes Eastern Roman emperor. Constantinople covers
eight square miles (Manhattan covers twenty-two square miles) with at least
500,000 inhabitants.
53237 - Justinian builds the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
726 - Byzantine Emperor Leo III orders all icons in the Byzantine Empire
destroyed.
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Jewish synagogues contained
almost no representational
sculpture because Jewish law
forbade praying to images or
idols. Decorative paintings and
mosaics were displayed on walls
to denote religious concepts.
Synagogue Floor, from Maon, Jerusalem. c 530.
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
BASILICA-PLAN CHURCH (West)
See Santa Sabina, p.170.
Narthex
Side Aisles
Clerestory
Nave
Apse
Triforium
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
CENTRAL-PLAN CHURCH (East)
See Hagia Sophia, p.174.
Narthex
Side Aisles
Naos
Apse
Exedrae
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Santa Sabina, Rome, c422-432 AD EARLY CHRISTIAN
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Santa Sabina, Rome, c422-432 AD EARLY CHRISTIAN
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Santa Sabina, Rome, c422-432 AD EARLY CHRISTIAN
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, c425-26 AD EARLY CHRISTIAN
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, c425-26 AD EARLY CHRISTIAN
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, c425-26 AD EARLY CHRISTIAN
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Map showing collapse of Western Empire and Justinian’s reign
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
When Emperor Justinian decide to
build a church in Constantinople
(the greatest city in the world for 400
years), he wanted to make it as
grand as his empire.
He assigned the task to two
mathematicians, Anthemius and
Isidorus. They created the
Hagia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom”)
Nearly 3 football fields long, and the
dome is 180 in diameter! This
architectural feat was accomplished
with the use of pendentives.
Hagia Sophia, 532-537, Istanbul, Turkey. Byzantine
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Hagia Sophia, 532-537, Istanbul, Turkey. Byzantine
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Large, decorated
pendentives inside the
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia, 532-537
Istanbul, Turkey. Byzantine
Suleyman Mosque
Mosque of Selim II
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
San Vitale
Commissioned by Bishop
Ecclesius when Italy was still
under Ostrogothic rule, but only
completed after Justinian’s
conquest of Ravenna.
Octagonal-shaped building with
exedrae that extend out from
the building.
Most notable is the interior…
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, c547.
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, c547.
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Emperor Justinian and his Attendants, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, c547.
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Empress Theodora and her Attendants, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, c547.
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Rebecca at the Well, from the Book of Genesis, Gold and Tempera on Purple-Dyed Vellum. Early 6th Century
Late Antiquity / Early Christian
Icons were items used as vehicles for
prayer to God. Among some of the finest
were images of Virgin Mary, known as
Theotokos (bearer of God). She was also
known as the Seat of Wisdom, often
holding a baby Jesus in her lap.
During the iconoclasm of the 8th century,
most icons like this were destroyed, but a
few like this in Mount Sinai, Egypt,
survived.
Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels,
icon, Late 6th Century.
Early Christian
Sculpture
Jesus is represented by two figures on the right,
the small child being baptized and the Shepherd to
his left.
The future ministry of Jesus is represented by the
turned head of the young boy to the Shepherd and
by the placement of his hand on one of the sheep.
Sarcophagus with philosopher,
Rome, Italy, ca 270
This is Jesus as a child receiving a baptism in the River
Jordan even though he was baptized at age thirty.
Baptism was significant in the early centuries of Christianity
because so many adults were converted to the new faith in
this manner.
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, c 359. EARLY MEDIEVAL
Two registers, 10 panels of OLD and NEW Testament scenes…
Christ is depicted in center with Roman themes.
Miracle of the loaves and fishes, Mosaic from the top register of the nave wall (above
the clerestory windows) or St’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, c504. Early Christian
Ivory Carving
Suicide of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ,
plaque from a casket, ivory, ca 420
The narrative on the box begins with Pilate washing
his hands, Jesus carrying the cross on the road to
Calvary, and the denial of Peter, all compressed
into a single panel.
The plaque that is illustrated here is the next in the
sequence and shows, at the left, Judas hanging
from a tree with his open bag of silver dumped on
the ground beneath his feet. the Crucifixion is at the
right. The Virgin Mary and Joseph are to the left of
the cross.
On the other side Longinus thrusts his spear into
the side of the "King of the Jews."
The two remaining panels show two Marys and two
soldiers at the open doors of a tomb with an empty
coffin and the doubting Thomas touching the
wound of the risen Christ.
The contrast of Jesus whose body remains strong on the cross
contrasts with the body of his betrayer, Judas, hanging from a
The figure of Christ does not appear to be in pain
tree with a limp body and a snapped neck. Visually and
because he is displayed on the cross, rather than
symbolically, this image was meant to show Jesus as a strong
hung from it, as though he has conquered death
leader and not prone to pain or complete death.
and does not suffer.