The Development of Christian Art in the Roman Empire
The start of the third century and the close of the second century are key dates for the development of a recognizable Christian art. When taking into account the Old Testament's restrictions against grave images, it is imperative to think carefully about the initial motivations behind the development of Christian art. When examining the Roman Empire, it is evident that it was very varied in terms of ethnicity, race, religion, linguistics, and various social backgrounds. (Jensen).
Religious and Linguistic Challenges
For instance, Roman Empire greatly resulted to long natural history society which leads to the formation of communities of that are clearly established. Under linguistics, Roman Empire prompted to the uniting of people with different languages into groups and families that can relate to each other with a common language. When it comes to the religion, Roman Empire was a great threat to the Christianity religion while on the other hand, Christianity posed separate threats to the empire whereby they both refused to take part in the worship of the other which led to conflicts. The argument here is that, why was it happening like this considering the fact that religions aim at uniting different people with a common ground of beliefs instead of causing conflicts? There are a number of cultural features of the roman art which were greatly copied by different Christian artists. For instance, Christians employed the use of festive meal to indicate celebrations which were initially being used by the Romans. Also, Christians adopted the motif to assist in illustrating different bible stories which were a strategy used by the Romans (Jensen). The question here is that why did the Christians had to borrow different characteristics of art and they still had to refuse to participate in other religion worship?
The Appearance of the First Christian Artworks
When it comes to the appearance of the first Christian artworks, some changes were noted after the decline of the Roman Empire. There were a number of cultural features of the individuals in the early Christian works as well as the freedom of taking part in the independent religion. On the other hand, there were a variety of similarities and differences that existed between the roman and the Christian art. To mention some of these cultures, they comprised of using images and forms when it comes to both the Romans and the Christian arts. As a result of having these cultures, there was an effect on the artistic works of the Christians which were prompted by the Greco-Roman culture (Levine, 35). The point here is that roman art influenced the Christian art through the Greco-Roman culture in terms of the images and form of the art used by the Christians.
Body
The Christian art can be identified and traced in the second as well as the third century.
Prohibition of the Usage of Graven Images
To start with, there is the prohibition of the usage of graven images for the Christians as it is stated in the Old Testament. It is stated in the ten commandments that an individual is shall never make for themselves a graven image or anything else that resembles something that is in heaven, in the earth, in the water under the earth and also one should never bow down to them or even serve them (Nestingen, 27). This only appears to apply for the Protestants who greatly condemn graven images in sanctuaries. However, for the Catholics who are also Christians, they greatly support the idea of graven images yet they follow the same bible. The big question here is that, why is it that Catholics allows graven images which are against what is written in the bible? However, the use of images has always been a continuous issue which has always been experienced in the entire history of the Christians. This can be related to the development of Christianity as with times, it keeps being transformed where being in the third century Christianity has evolved such that it has its own sacred books, its own rituals, and ideas. However, this is the great age of confrontation with the Roman Empire. The point here is that Christianity cannot be compared in the second century and the third century as things are very different in the two centuries.
Influence of Greco-Roman Culture
To give the best explanation to the fact that use of images will remain to be a continuing issue when it comes to the history of Christianity is that, for the emergence of Christian art particularly in the early church is as a result of the significant role images played when it comes to the Greco-Roman culture (Nestingen, 31). Here, the Greco-Roman culture had a critical effect towards informing the Christians on how to engage themselves in the artistic works. To mention some of the effects, they constitute of the change in the burial practices whereby Christians moved from cremation to inhumation. The question here is that, why did they change? Was the same bible that is being used today the same bible that was being used in those days? The point being drawn here is that Christian art can greatly be traced back to the beginning of the third century which was the time that the Christians started using images despite them being prohibited in the bible.
Adoption of New Cultural Practices
The surrounding culture of art influenced the ability of the Christians to change their way of life and also adopt new cultural practices.
As the Christianity continued to gain more converts, the new Christians were initially brought up on the value of images when it comes to their previous cultural experiences whereby they greatly wanted to go on with their Christian experience. Moreover, the Christian art greatly reflected and also embraced different cultural influences that were surrounding them whereby they moved ahead and built on them with an objective of having some new levels they would use in expressing the values as well as for purposes associated with the Christian art (Johnson, Larry, et al.). Also, due to the fact that a variety of the early community of the Christians constituted of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds whereby some were Jews and others being pagans who were greatly rooted in the Greco-Roman world, the culture of the Christians was changed. For example, Christians started taking foods that the Jewish were taking and yet initially Christians could not take them as they considered them unclean. The question here is that, why did they change? Were they not firm to what they believed?
The point here is that, as people joined Christianity, some were required to decline their cultural practices with the other carrying the same into their new acquired lives as Christians. As a result, this led to a new art that comprised of a mixture of cultures of people from different backgrounds.
The Influence of Arts Linked to the Early Emperors
Arts linked to the early emperors greatly supported the diffusion of the Roman and Christian culture.
This is evident from Emperor Constantine whereby Maxentius were highly defeated at the milvian bridge battle. It can be greatly attributed to the fact that the Christians that were in the Roman Empire happened to be persecuted by several roman emperors which happened in the first, second and the third centuries. Also, Christians were seen to assume the aura of the imperial Rome at the time of Constantine’s reign which was the time Rome became Christian (Garnsey, Peter, and Richard). In addition, for a number of centuries, emperors was highly engaged in the construction of different temples when it comes to the whole of the Roman Empire. The point here is that emperors in Rome were not restricted from toleration of religious which lead to a mixture of cultures whereby people from different religious backgrounds interacted and also shared their perspective on art.
The Birth of the Christian Church as a New Power Source
The Christian church was born as a new power source greatly linked with a variety of Christian arts in the wake of the Roman Empire.
This was evident in different places that were initially occupied by the emperors from Rome were seen to be occupied by the popes who greatly changed different arts that were already there and introduced their own. Also, amendments and introduction of different arts took place after the legalization of the Christianity after the signing of the Edict of Milan in the 13AD. The early Christian artists failed to have a strong interest when it comes to the strength, grace as well as the beauty of the human body which was greatly valued among the Greek and Roman artists. As a result of the end of the Roman Empire significantly gave rise to Christianity in the 13AD which was the time people focused towards using what they had seen from the Romans as a way to help create artistic works in a more advanced way and techniques (Johnson, Larry, et al.).
Early Christian Art and Cultural Communication
The early Christians embraced a similar artistic communication media as the one that surrounded the pagan culture in the depiction of their views when it comes to the life on earth such as forgiveness of some sins.
When it comes to the early Christians, they never had any knowledge of artwork as the striking aspect of the Christian art of the third century is clearly the lack of imagery that will dominate Christian art later. The early Christian art that they were using, it greatly used the style of the Romans in a variety of their artworks. In addition, the classical style is also seen in the Romans catacombs and also in the Christian frescos. Why did the early Christian consider embracing the artistic communication media? However, the point here is that the early Christian art lacked its own style and form which helped in the process of adopting as well as embracing what had already been used in the roman culture.
The Influence of the Byzantine Empire
The growth of the Byzantine Empire added value to the Christian art as it had a very specific artistic expression, for instance, the emperors and art.
Constantine greatly initiated the Constantinople city which developed in terms of wealth and seizes leading to falling of Rome. Due to the division of the western and the eastern empire, it greatly facilitated easy governing of the empire though later on the two halves happened to drift apart. However, the eastern empire greatly advanced in terms of wealth and security which lead the Christian to take advantage of the situation with the objective of developing its culture more and more effectively. When it comes to the Byzantine style, it was significantly adopted in the process of establishing new structures in the society (Garnsey, Peter, and Richard). This was evident from the fact that the Byzantine Christianity happened to be closely tied to the government to an extent that the emperors were titled caesaropapist. Some of the new structures that were established constituted of education and health facilities. This was as a result of the different achievements by the Romans taking for example of architecture, and engineering technology. In addition, in Constantinople, the Christians artists greatly focused towards what was being done by the Romans whereby they developed their structures from the same principles of artwork. This can all be traced to Constantine who is the ruler who initiated the moving of the Rome capital and also approved Christianity (Nestingen, 35).
The point being drawn here is that the development of Byzantine Empire initiated a great opportunity for the Christian art to be able to fuse with the roman art when it comes to the establishment of different new structures which comprised of churches.
Conclusion
Early Christian art was greatly influenced by the roman art as the Roman Empire was very diverse in terms of social, religious, linguistics, racial as well as ethnic backgrounds. It is during the Roman Empire that the Christians happened to be highly accepted in the society. However, they greatly observed and also practiced art in a manner that is hidden as Christianity was illegal at the moment. The Christian culture did not have a firm stand as the culture of art that was surrounding them highly influenced their ability to change their way of life whereby they ended up adopting the new cultural practices by the Romans. When it comes to the arts that were associated to the early emperors, they happened to highly support the diffusion of the Roman and Christian culture. In the wake of the Roman Empire, it happened that the Christian church was born as a new power source that was highly linked to a variety of Christian arts. Despite the firm believe that the early Christians had, they embraced the culture that is similar to that of the pagans in term of life on earth which is very questionable considering that the bible serves as their guide. Lastly, the rise of the Byzantine Empire happened to greatly add value to the Christian art as a result of having a specific artistic expression.
Works Cited
Garnsey, Peter, and Richard P. Saller. The Roman Empire: economy, society and culture. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. Print
Jensen, Robin Margaret. Understanding early Christian art. Routledge, 2013. Print
Johnson, Larry, et al. The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Museum Edition. New Media Consortium. 6101 West Courtyard Drive Building One Suite 100, Austin, TX 78730, 2015. Print
Levine, Adam. "(Re-) imagining encounters between Late Antique viewers and Early Christian art." postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies 7.1 (2016): 29-42. Print
Nestingen, James Arne. "Graven images and Christian freedom." Lutheran Theological Journal 49.1 (2015): 27. Print
