Roman Art:

Alan Petersen: The Art of Rome

Gardner Art History

Etruscan Art (800 – 600 BCE)

Etruria was a confederacy of twelve states. They traded with the Greeks, and in that way Greek ideas, art and design concepts were incorporated into their culture with interesting variations. Livy and Virgil say that the Etruscans emigrated from Troy following it's fall. (see The Aeneid.) They may have been indigenous to the region or made up of migrating people who moved into the area.

By 200 BCE Etruscan culture was regarded as legendary by the Roman people.

Temples for the Etruscan Gods:

Model of a typical Etruscan temple of the sixth century B.C., as described by Vitruvius. Istituto di Etruscologia e di Antichita Italiche, Universita di

Roma, Rome.

An Epic Contest on a Rooftop:

One example of these rooftop statues is the life-size image of Apulu from a temple in the Portonaccio sanctuary at Veii.

This Apollo originally decorated the roof of a temple a type of architectural sculpture called an acroterion.

Apulu (Apollo), from the roof of the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, ca. 510–500 B.C. Painted terracotta, approx.

5' 11" high. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome.

Dining in the Afterlife:

Sarcophagus with reclining couple, from Cerveteri, ca. 520 B.C. Painted terracotta, approx. 3' 9" high. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome.

A sarcophagus made of terracotta was shaped into a life-sized banqueting couch on which recline a man and woman. These figures, a loving, married couple, lie together on banquet couch. They look as if they will carry on their party into the afterlife in the company of the friends and family who may share their tomb or reside in a nearby tomb

Necropolis at Cerveteri:

The Etruscans built large necropoli, sometimes with hundreds of tombs.These were located outside of the cities of the living.The tombs are beneath a mound of earth called a tumulus and were carved from the tufa (soft, volcanic rock) that underlies much of the region. Many are large and complex. They are arranged in a very orderly manner

Necropolis at Cerveteri 7th - 2nd c. BC

Houses for the Dead:

Banditaccia Necropolis, Cerveteri, seventh to second centuries B.C.

Tomb of the Relief:

c. 300, BCE, rock cut The interiors are highly painted and decorated depicting scenes of everyday life and banquets and partying. There are also depictions of tools and objects from everyday life. They give us a

good look at Etruscan life.

Etruscan Dreamscapes:

Diving and fishing, detail of mural paintings in the Tomb of

Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia, ca. 530–520 B.C.

Tombs were for the whole family and its servants. A single tomb may have served many generations of a family. The sarcophagi would have lined the raised platforms. Here the gathered generations eating and drinking together were linked forever. Look at how lively and animated this scene is.

A Tomb Guarded by Painted Leopards:

Banqueters and musicians, detail of mural paintings in the Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia, ca. 480-470 B.C.

The paintings in The Tomb of the Leopards at Tarquinia are characteristic of such Etruscan tomb paintings.

Mythical Etruscan Animals:

Capitoline Wolf, ca. 500–480 B.C. Bronze, approx. 2' 7 1/2“ high. Palazzo dei Caonservatori, Rome.

Mythical Etruscan Animals:

Chimera of Arezzo, first half of fourth century B.C. Bronze, approx. 2' 7 1/2" high. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence

The Mighty Empire Of Rome:

The village founded by Romulus on April 21, 753 BC. grew over a period of 900 years to become the capital of the greatest empire the world has ever known.

When Athens was at her zenith in the 5th century BC, Rome was still developing as a political and military power.

A republic was established in Rome following the expulsion of the Etruscan kings in 509 BC. Power was vested mainly in a senate and in two elected consuls. The Republican Period begins with the dominance of the growing city state of Rome over the Etruscans. It ends nearly five hundred years later with the ascendancy of Octavian Caesar (Augustus) as Emperor after thirteen years of civil war and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra in 27 BC.

At its greatest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from Mesopotamia in the east to Spain in the west, and from North Africa in the south to Britain in the

north. The Roman Empire was a "multicultural" entity.

The Craze for Greek Art:During the period of the Republic, the Romans developed a special interest in and taste for Greek art. Roman Temple architecture shows a blending of Etruscan and Greek features, and emphasizes the front of the building. Concrete was heavily used by Roman architects and engineers allowing for large, open, interior spaces. Rather than creating masses, such as the Parthenon, Roman architecture encloses space.

Temple of "Fortuna Virilis" (Temple of Portunus), Rome,

Italy, ca. 75 B.C.

The Romans vs. The Greeks:The achievements of the Greeks were in the arts, sciences and philosophy. Their achievements had been cerebral and intellectual.

The achievements of the Romans were in worldly affairs: in politics, government, law and city planning. They admired the Greeks but dismissed them as impractical. The Romans had a gift for running and maintaining the empire they created. Today we still have many Roman institutions in our culture, law, rituals, and language.

Roman leaders and artists looked at Greek art and architecture as a model for an art that would serve their leaders, their large urban centers and their far-flung empire.

Aulus Mettelus 1st c. BCE bronze, 5'7" h.

A Round Temple on a Cliff:

The form of the Temple of "the Sibyl" is derived from the Greek round or tholos temple type.

Temple of "the Sibyl" or of "Vesta," Tivoli, Italy,

early first century B.C

Sculpture of the Republic: The Social Context of Portraits:

Roman Republican sculpture is noted for its patrician portraits employing a hyper-realism derived from the patrician cult of ancestors and the practice of making likenesses of the deceased from wax death-masks. In the funerary relief, figures are shown bust-length (cut off at the base of the chest) in the Etruscan tradition.

Funerary relief with portraits of the Gessii, from Rome (?), Italy, ca. 30 B.C. Marble, approx. 2' 11/2"

highCourtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Head of a Roman

Patrician:

from Otricoli, Italy, c.80 B.C. Marble, approx. 14" high. Museo Torlonia, Rome.

Unlike the idealization of Greek sculpture, Roman sculpture is very realistic, trying to capture the essence of the subject. It is based in the tradition of making busts from death masks. The portraits are almost painfully accurate, described as veristic - or super realistic.

Busts such as this would be kept in the home in a special alcove called the tablinum. Just as in the Etruscan tombs, the contemporary generation would always be in close touch with those of earlier ones.

Patrician With Busts of His Ancestors

Patricians were land owning members of the Roman upper class. Portrait bust and full figures such as this one illustrate the Roman reverence for age and wisdom.

An Old Man's Head on a Young Man's Body:

It was also the practice in sculpture during the Republican period to place portrait heads on youthful, heroic bodies.

Portrait of a Roman general, from the Sanctuary of Hercules, Tivoli, Italy, ca. 75–50 B.C. Marble, approx. 6' 2" high.

Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

Pompeii And The Cities Of Vesuvius

Buried by a Volcano:

Pompeii was destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. So much of the city has been preserved that it has been called a

"living city of the dead."

Eyewitness Description of the Eruption:

Pliny Letter VI.16 Pliny Letter VI.20

The Heart of Pompeii:

The typical Roman town was planned originally with a centrally located public square or civic center (forum) located at the intersection of the main north-south street, the cardo, and the main east-west street, the decumanus.

Aerial view of the forum, Pompeii, Italy, second century B.C. and later.

Street in Herculaneum:

Plan of Roman House

A domus, or single-family house, had a plain exterior; the focus was on the interior spaces. Once the visitor was inside the first entry, they would be faced with a much more ornate, grandiose entry designed to impress them with their hosts’ wealth and power. Around the street-side perimeter of the home, there are shops that would be rented out. This served two important functions: - to buffer noise from the street and to provide rental income.

The House of Vetti:

Many owners of homes like these were vineyard owners and exporters. They would have offices in their homes and would have used the peristyle for impressing their customers and other business associates. You can see that the peristyle court would be a very pleasant place to spend a hot summer day. There are potted plants and gardens with pools and fountains.

Atrium of the House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy, rebuilt A.D. 62–79.

The Atrium of the

House of the Vettii

This view is from the atrium through the tablinum and into the peristyle court. In this view you can clearly see the impluvium below the atrium opening.

Upper class Roman homes like this were very practical and designed with close attention to the climate and environment.

 

A Home for Gladiators:

Pompeii also had an amphitheater.

The amphitheater, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 80 B.C.

Brawl in the Pompeii Amphitheater

Brawl in the Pompeii amphitheater.

wall painting from House I,3,23,

Pompeii, Italy, ca. A.D. 60–79. Approx. 5' 7" X 6' 1". Museo Nazionale, Naples.

Painted Walls Everywhere

The First Style and Greek Mural Painting:

First Style wall painting in the fauces of the Samnite House, Herculaneum, Italy, late second century B.C.

Paintings of the First Style enhance the flatness of the wall with painted panels that imitate masonry. Walls are divided into flat panels. Surfaces are painted to imitate marble and other expensive stone veneers that might actually be applied in upper classes homes.  Roman artists and patrons may have adopted the style from Greek wall paintings. This is one of many ways that Roman artists and patrons indicated their love for Greek art and architecture.

The Second Style and the

Triumph of Illusionism Second Style paintings are illusionistic and naturalistic. The paintings create the illusion of space, as if the viewer were looking through a window outdoors or through an opening into another room. 

Scenes may be life-sized and make very effective use of light and shade.  Painters developed a form of linear perspective, but, it is not as consistent as the mathematical model for perspective developed by Brunelleschi in the 15th c.  "Sacral - Idyllic Landscape"  From Pompeii, c.

62- 79 CE.  

Odysseus in the Underworld

Perspective Painting in Antiquity

The Second Style painting in Cubiculum M of the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor shows "picture-window" vistas with illusionistic architecture on side and back walls. The buildings are piled one above the other and painted in pastel colors. The vistas of colonnades and temples appear on the rear wall.

Perspective Painting in Antiquity:

Sacred precincts with images of Diana-Lucina (goddess of the moon) and Hecate (ruler of the night), each flanked by picturesque architectural vistas, appear near the room's entrance.

An Empress's Painted Garden:

The Second Style wall painting from the Villa of Livia, Primaporta, shows a continuous illusionistic gardenscape on all four walls.

Gardenscape, Second Style wall painting from the Villa of Livia, Primaporta, Italy, ca. 30–20 B.C. Approx. 6' 7" high. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

Dionysiac Mysteries at a Pompeian Villa:

This room in the "Villa of the Mysteries" with it's expansive fresco program may have been used for private celebrations of the rites of the Greek god Dionysus. The Dionysiac Mysteries are celebrated in a continuous frieze running round all four walls of the room. The life-size figures appear as if on a shallow ledge against a backdrop of painted panels.

Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, c. 60 - 50 B.C.E. 

The Third Style: Elegance and Fantasy:

The Third Style shows delicate linear fantasies against monochrome backgrounds. Cubiculum 15 of the Villa of Agrippa Postumus is decorated with elegantly attenuated architectural forms that frame small, floating landscapes. The painting from the Vatican Virgil shows framed panels with atmospheric landscapes.

Detail of a Third Style wall painting from Cubiculum 15

of the Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase,

Italy, ca. 10 B.C. Approx. 7' 8" high. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, New York.

On the Eve of the Eruption:

In Fourth Style wall paintings, the lower zone (dado) has geometric panels. The middle section has larger panels with architectural views in perspective. Monochrome panels are decorated with delicate floral borders with figures of maenads and satyrs floating in the center. Figurative panels with mythological scenes, and elaborate architectural scenes in perspective appear at frieze level.

Fourth Style wall paintings in the Ixion Room (Triclinium P) of the

House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy ca. A.D. 70–79.

Greek Myths on Roman Walls:

The panel of Neptune and Amphitrite is framed by a scalloped pattern of sea shells. Different hues of blue set the main tone. The figures of Neptune and Amphitrite stand in a pentagonal panel of gold tesserae under a shell-like canopy. Neptune stands with a blue cloak draped over his left shoulder and right arm holding a golden trident; he has a tanned and youthful body but white hair and beard. His pose is inspired by Greek statues of Poseidon. Amphitrite, his consort, leans on a pillar. She raises her blue cloak with her right hand while holding a scepter in her left hand. Her pose imitates a Greek statue of Venus.

Neptune and Amphitrite, wall mosaic in the summer triclinium of the House of

Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy, ca. A.D. 62–79.

Private Portraits:

The house in which the portrait of a husband and wife was found was first thought to have been owned by Paquius Proculus, a baker. Later (in 1926) the owner was identified as Terentius Neus, a lawyer.

Portrait of a husband and wife, wall painting from House VII,2,6, Pompeii, Italy, ca. A.D. 70–79. Approx. 23" X 201/2". Museo Nazionale, Naples.

Painting the Inanimate:This detail of a larger fourth style painting is a nice example of Roman artists' intense desire to accurately describe their world. The painting shows a keen sense of the observation of the different qualities of light and how they affect forms

Still life with peaches, detail of a Fourth Style wall

painting from Herculaneum, Italy, ca. A.D. 62–79.

Approx. 14" X 131/2". Museo Nazionale, Naples.

The Early Empire

Antony and Cleopatra Vanquished:

In 31 B.C., Octavian defeated Mark Antony in the Battle of Actium and became the undisputed master of the Roman world as the emperor Augustus. The battle signaled the end of the absorption of the Hellenistic kingdoms into the Roman Empire. The old Roman Republic ended in 27 B.C. when the Senate conferred on Octavian the title of Augustus.

Pax Romana:

The peace and prosperity Augustus brought to the Mediterranean world and which prevailed for two centuries is known as the Pax Romana. During this time a number of public works were commissioned throughout the empire.

Roman Empire in 64 AD

Augustus: The Son of a God Rules Rome:

(27 B.C.–A.D. 68)This youthful, vibrant, description of the emperor indicates a new style for depicting Roman rulers. It is quite different from the contemporary veristic depictions of elders that sought to elicit respect for age and wisdom. In fact, portraits of Augustus and Livia show no signs of their aging over the course of their lifetimes. The youthful image of Augustus is very much based upon Classical Greek sculpture.

Augustus as general, from Primaporta, Italy, ca. 20 B.C. Marble, 6' 8" high.

Vatican Museums, Rome

IMAGES of THE EMPERORS

Augustusportrait bust

Julius Caesarportrait bust

A Never-Aging Empress:

                     

The idealized portrait of Livia is derived from images of Classical Greek goddesses. Unlike the earlier Roman portrait tradition that honored age and painful realism, portraits of Augustus (and his lovely wife Livia - to the right here) always portray them as in the peak of youth and health. Augustus's first marriage ended in divorce. He had one daughter, Julia, from that marriage and never was able to have a male heir.

In 38 BCE he took Livia as his second wife. She was one of the most powerful women in the history of Rome and served as an advisor to Augustus.

Portrait bust of Livia, from Faiyum, Egypt, early first century A.D. Marble, approx. 131/2" high. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,

Copenhagen.

The Augustan Peace Commemorated:

Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome, Italy, 13–9 B.C. (view from the southwest).

                                                                           

Procession: Imperial Family

Tellus

                                                    

panel from the east façade of the Ara Pacis, Rome, Italy,13–9 B.C. Marble, approx. 5' 3" high.

Rome Transformed Into a Marble City:

Augustus boasted that he had found Rome a city of brick and transformed it into a city of marble.

An Augustan Temple Inspires Thomas Jefferson: The classicizing style of the so-called Maison Carrée was admired by Thomas Jefferson, who used it as the model for his design of the State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia.

Maison Carrée, Nîmes, France, ca. A.D. 1–10

Marcus Aurelius:

This equestrian statue is one of only a few surviving examples of this type of imperial portrait. It was thought to be of Constantine by early Christians, so it was spared destruction.

Marcus Aurelius is presented as a commander reviewing his troops and blessing the crowd.

His face is calm. He calmly controls the powerful, impatient horse with one hand.He is in control and can maintain control of the situation with little effort - a powerful leader.

175, bronze, 11'6" h., (not including base)

The Fruits of the Pax Romana:The three-story aqueduct-bridge known today as the Pont-du-Gard demonstrates the skill of Rome's engineers. Roman aqueducts still stand in southern Europe, at least one of which still supplies water to it's city. Pont du Gard is one element of an aqueduct which carried water thirty miles to the city of Nimes. Public works such as the aqueduct were not only practical, but also propaganda symbols. Romans built extensive public works, especially water supply systems. They were gravity fed, some are as long as 57 miles. This one was over 30 miles long and provided over 100 gallons per day per person. Pont-du-Gard, Nîmes, France, ca. 16 B.C.

A Triumph of Roman Engineering:

The Colosseum was built using concrete. The oval seating area is supported by a complex system of concrete barrel vaults. The exterior, made of travertine, is divided into four bands. The large arched openings that pierce the lower three are framed by engaged columns with Tuscan Doric capitals at the bottom, then Ionic capitals, and Corinthian capitals on the third level. The huge amphitheater in Rome known as the Colosseum was begun by Vespasian and completed by Titus in A.D. 80.

Colosseum, Rome, Italy, ca. A.D.

70–80. view from the south

The Colosseum:

Called the "Colosseum" because it was built near the former site of a colossal statue of Nero, it is made primarily of concrete, faced with stone. The Colosseum stands 160 feet high; it was originally covered with an awning to provide shade!

The facade is made up of three superimposed orders: - Doric - Ionic - Corinthian - Corinthian pilasters

The Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater) AD 70 stone and concrete

It's almost like a contemporary sports arena. It seated 50,000!The seats are terraced on arches. The structure had 76 numbered entrances. It is held up by the heavier outer rings which buttress the structure’s outward thrust. Below the floor was a large service area which contained cages for animals, a plumbing and drainage system for mock naval battles, and lifts for getting contestants and equipment up to the stage floor.

Gladiatorial events featured professional fighters, slaves, prisoners, Christians, and animals. The spectacles entertained the public and helped keep them subdued.

The Colosseum:

Roman Engineering:

Barrel Vaults and Groin Vaults:

Roman engineers took the basic round arch and developed a range of structural systems from it. These structural systems all allowed for larger, stronger structures able to carry far more mass than earlier structures based on the post and lintel system.

- Barrel Vault - Barrel vaults are essentially extended arches- Groin Vaults are barrel vaults that intersect at a right angle. Groin vaults used in series and supported by buttresses allow for immense interior spaces.

The Pantheon, Temple for All Gods:

The Pantheon, a huge temple dedicated to all the gods, is one of the best-preserved buildings of antiquity. It is the single most influential Roman building on later architects and one of the most influential buildings of history. It serves as a model for all later buildings incorporating a dome - St. Peter's, Monticello, many state and national capitals, etc.

Pantheon, exterior view, Rome, Italy, A.D. 118–125.

Pantheon (Interior) The Pantheon was a temple dedicated to all of the Roman deities. Structurally, it is a cylinder intersected by a hemisphere - a dome sitting on a drum. It is made almost entirely of cast concrete. The cylindrical drum enclosing the interior space is topped by a concrete hemispherical dome pierced in the center by an oculus. The 27 foot diameter opening is called the occulus - or "eye". Light moves around the interior during the day like stars move through the night sky .

A New Arch for a New God:A triumphal arch was erected by Titus' younger brother after Titus died after only two years as emperor. It is located on the Via Sacra (the Sacred Way) at the main entrance to the Forum Romanum, the forum at the heart of the city of Rome. Triumphal arches were erected to commemorate special events. The inscription on the attic (the large entablature) dedicates the arch to the god Titus, son of the God Vespasian. Upon their deaths emperors were deified.

Arch of Titus, Rome, Italy, after A.D. 81.

Triumph of Titus

                                                    

relief panel from the Arch of Titus, Rome, Italy, after A.D. 81. Marble, approx. 7' 10" high.

The Spoils of Jerusalem:

                                               

relief panel from the Arch of Titus, Rome, Italy, after A.D. 81. Marble, approx. 7' 10" high.

Two large, deeply carved relief panels on the inside of the passageway show the triumphal parade of Titus down the Sacred Way after his return from the conquest of Judaea at the

end of the Jewish Wars in A.D. 70.

Rome's Greatest Forum:

The huge Forum of Trajan in Rome includes a triumphal arch, a colonnaded open square, a basilica, a temple, two libraries, and a giant commemorative column with a

tomb at its base.

Forums: Plan The Forum of Trajan dedicated in AD 112, and the Column of Trajan commemorate his military victories as well as providing public buildings for meeting, shopping, and conducting business. It was the most comprehensive forum yet built by an emperor in a tradition that suggested that emperors should continue to develop the grandeur and functionality of the heart of their capital city while also enhancing their own image. Huge building projects like this spoke equally of Rome's glory and the emperor's.

Shopping in Imperial Rome:

The Markets of Trajan, built as a multilevel complex on the slope of the Quirinal hill, house

both shops and administrative offices.

Apollodorus of Damascus , Markets of Trajan, Rome, Italy, ca. A.D. 100–112,

reconstruction drawing.

Trajan’s Column:

The colossal freestanding column is decorated with a continuous spiral narrative frieze depicting Trajan's two successful campaigns against the Dacians.

Column of Trajan, Rome, Italy, dedicated A.D. 112.

Trajan Addressing His Troops

                                                   

The Crowded Life of the City:

Ostia

Insulae are multi-story apartment blocks with exposed brick façades in which shops occupied the ground floor and families lived in apartments on the upper floors.

Model of an insula, Ostia, Italy, second century A.D. Museo della Civiltà Romana, Rome.

A Gigantic Roman Health Spa:

The huge Baths of Caracalla in Rome were built with brick-faced concrete.

The bathing, swimming, and exercise areas were surrounded by landscaped gardens, lecture halls, and other rooms, all enclosed within a great concrete perimeter wall.

The central section of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy, A.D. 212–216.

Painted Vaults and Mosaic Pavements:

Some of the finer apartments had mosaic floors and painted walls and ceilings.

Neptune and creatures of the sea, floor mosaic in the Baths of Neptune, Ostia, Italy, ca. early third

century A.D

Basilica Ulpia

Basilica Ulpia, plan A.D. 112

Basilicas are multipurpose public halls that served as meeting places: a place to transact business, administrative offices, and as courts of law. The semi-circular apses at either end held statues of deities.

Basilica Ulpia: Reconstruction Drawing

Roman basilicas are large interior spaces, meant to be experienced as one would the exterior of a Greek building - entered from the side - two apses, with altars - a clerestory provided light

Roman basilicas, such as the Basilica Ulpia, served as models forearly Christian basilicas.

Basilica Nova

Reconstruction drawing of the Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine), Rome, Italy, ca. A.D. 306–312.

A Colossus in a Colossal Basilica:The colossal marble head of Constantine shows a face with enormous eyes carved in broad and simple planes. The huge Basilica Nova in Rome, where the complete seated statue was originally placed, was a brick-faced concrete structure with a high groin-vaulted central nave and aisles with coffered barrel vaults.

Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, Italy, ca. A.D. 315–330. Marble, approx. 8' 6" high.

Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.

The World of Late Antiquity

The new monotheistic religion of Christianity that grew out of Judaism during the Roman Imperial period adapted imagery and architectural forms from other religious cults and secular sources as its adherents sought ways to express and practice their religious

beliefs in visual terms and in suitable architectural spaces.

Biblical Paintings on Synagogue Walls:

The synagogue at Dura-Europos is remarkable not only for its very existence in a Roman garrison town but also for its extensive cycle of mural paintings.

Interior of the synagogue at Dura-Europos with wall-paintings of Old Testament themes, ca.

245–256.. Tempera on plaster. National

Museum, Damascus.

Baptism in a Secondhand House:

The Christian community house at Dura-Europos was also a remodeled private residence with a central courtyard.

11-2 Reconstruction of the Christian community house at Dura-Europos, Syria, ca. 240–256.

The Catacombs

The Christian "Hollows" of Rome: Christians in Rome buried their dead in subterranean networks of galleries and chambers called catacombs. Openings were cut into the walls to hold the dead.

The Catacombs and Early Christian Funerary Art

Chambers that served as mortuary chapels adjoining the galleries in catacombs were sometimes painted with Christian symbols and motifs, praying figures (orants), and biblical scenes suitable to a funerary context.

The Good Shepherd, the story of Jonah, early fourth century. Painted ceiling of a cubiculum in the Catacomb

of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, Rome, Italy.

The Good Shepherd

A Youthful Christ and His Sheep: Prior to Constantine,

artists almost always depicted Christ either as the Good

Shepherd or as a young teacher.

The Late Empire is the time of the blossoming of Christianity.Early Christian art is really " Roman" art. It differs from the earlier art of Rome only in subject matter. All early Christians were Romans, or Roman subjects.

Marble Coffins for the Christian Faithful:

Wealthy Christians continued to favor the sarcophagus for burial but had them carved with Christian themes and biblical subject matter. Free-standing Christian statues are rare at this time.

Sarcophagus with philosopher, orant, and Old and New Testament scenes, ca. 270. Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome, Italy. Marble, 1' 11 1/4" x 7' 2".

A Converted Christian's Sarcophagus:

The Old Testament scenes on the Junius Bassus sarcophagus were chosen for their significance in the early Christian Church.

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, ca. 359. Marble, 3' 10 1/2" Museo Storico del Tesoro della Basilica di San Pietro, Rome.

An "Idol" of Christ:

Early Christians associated freestanding statues with the worship of false gods by the pagans.

11-6 Christ enthroned, ca. 350–375. Marble, approx. 2' 4 1/2" high. Museo Nazionale

Romano, Rome.

Basilicas Become Churches:

The Fruits of Imperial Patronage: Christian architecture adapted the Roman basilica and audience hall for use as a church following a design that includes a nave, flanking aisles, transept, and apse. Also adopted was the central-plan building for use as mausoleums, baptisteries, and private chapels. Byzantine architects used the central plan design also for churches. The interior surfaces were decorated with mosaics.

Early Christian church architects embraced the Roman basilica as ideally suited for gatherings of large numbers of people.

While the exteriors of basilicas were austere, the interiors were adorned with mosaics, frescoes, and marble columns.

From Mausoleum to Church:

Early Christian architects also adopted the central-plan building for churches. The building is called central-plan because the buildings' parts are of equal dimensions around the center.

Interior of Santa Costanza, Rome, Italy, ca. 337–

351.

A Portrait in a Mosaic Vineyard:

Mosaics played an important part in Early Christian buildings, advertising the new faith in all its diverse aspects.

Detail of vault mosaic in the ambulatory of Santa

Costanza, Rome, Italy, ca. 337–351.

Christ as Sun God:The earliest known mosaic of explicitly Christian content depicts Christ in the guise of a familiar pagan deity, Sol Invictus.

Christ as Sol Invictus, detail of a vault mosaic in the Mausoleum of

the Julii, Rome, Italy, late third century.

Abraham and Lot in a Church Nave:

The Old Testament theme of the parting of Lot and Abraham is depicted in mosaics in the nave of

Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

The parting of Lot and Abraham, mosaic in the nave of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome,

Italy, 432–440.

Ravenna: New Capitals for a Crumbling Empire:

In 404, the ancient Roman city of Ravenna was established as the capital of the Visigoths. In 476 it passed briefly into the hands of the Germanic king Odoacer and in 493, under Theodoric, it became the capital of the Ostrogoths.

An Empress's Mosaic-Clad Mausoleum: Religious architecture includes a small cruciform building with barrel-vaulted arms and a dome-covered crossing, and a larger basilican plan church. The interiors are adorned with mosaics.

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 425.

Christ as the Good Shepherd

mosaic from the entrance wall of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 425.

Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Miracle of the loaves and fishes, mosaic from top register of nave wall (above clerestory windows) of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504.

Saints Standing in a City Not of This World:

The formality of the poses of the Thessaloniki figures, as well as the ethereal golden background, became prominent features of Byzantine art.

Saints Onesiphorus and Porphyrius, detail of dome mosaic, Church of Saint George, Thessaloniki, Greece, ca. 390–

450.

Theodoric's Palace-Church:

Interior of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, dedicated 504.

In the ninth century, the three-aisled basilica in Ravenna was rededicated Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.