“The to why Christian art developed in

“The beginnings of Christian art can be traced to the end of the second century and the beginning of the third century.” Considering the Old Testament prohibitions against graven images, it is important to why Christian art developed in the first place, you still see it today everywhere and in churches. The best explanation for the emergence of Christian art in the early church is the important role images played in Greco Roman culture.

Christian art has become very famous over the years, more like thousands of years. In 313, after three centuries of existence, Christianity was finally allowed to exist. Once it started people believed that it was more of a cult than a religion.

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In this year 313, the Roman Emperors, Constantine and Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christian worship, at first people didnt believe in christianity. Then Christianity’s future was guaranteed when Emperor Theodosius I, the last Roman Emperor to rule over all the empire, declared, henceforth, it was the empire’s sole authorized religion. The Roman Empire split to two halves, east and west. The eastern half, centered on Constantinople, gained the Eastern Orthodox Church, becoming famous for its painting, drawings and mosaics. The west half remained under Rome continued to follow the Roman Church. the west grew under Charlemagne and the Etonians, and reestablished itself with its building campaign of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals.

Later, in 1517, the Dutch pastor Luther started the religious revolution, known as the Reformation, culminating in the formation of a less hierarchical form of Christianity, known as Protestantism. “Since Luther’s Reformation, the Roman church has been referred to since when the Roman Church has been referred to as Roman Catholicism. Until the legalization of Christianity in 313 A.D., early Christian art was rare. It included fresco painting on the walls of some of the catacombs and in homes where “house-church” meetings were held.

A number of sarcophagi, (sarcophagus is a type of stone coffin) carved with many emblems or reliefs of Jesus, Mary and other biblical figures. In early times, when Christians were still being persecuted, most of the christian art was still not really around and if it was it was more of an underground art where people didn’t know about it. Christianity, formed a secret society so they could still be an underground group. Christian painting and early Christian sculpture used motifs from both Roman and Greek art. It took centuries for Christian iconography to be standardized, and to harmonize with biblical texts. Western Europe entered the Dark Ages (476 A.

D.), a period of uncertainty and cultural stagnation. The only possible force was Christianity, but with Rome. The Roman Church under pressure. But only in Ireland, a country cut off from the European mainland, did Christianity flourish.

In fact, Irish Monastic art and culture was critical in keeping alive the ideas of antiqueness (belonging in ancient times), as well as the message of the Bible. Early Medieval art in Ireland was dominated by the making of illuminated manuscripts. Ottonian architecture and culture overlap considerably with Romanesque art, a term which in practice describes a new European wide style of Christian architecture. The architecture was very important. They sculpture looked like kids when they weren’t supposed to look like that.

They are still very amazing. It was the first great church building campaign, initiated by Rome and by the new Christian Orders of monks, which included cathedrals, abbeys, and parish churches. Romanesque architecture was inspired largely by classical Roman designs, and was characterized by a new monumentality, marking the growing stability of the age and the renaissance of European Christian culture after four centuries of darkness.

When I looked up new monumentality that “Monumentality in Architecture may be defined as a quality, a spiritual quality inherent in a structure which conveys the feeling of its eternity, that it cannot be added to or changed. We feel that quality in the Parthenon, the recognized architectural symbol of Greek civilization” (Kahn, 1944 p.455) Gothic art was all about Christian architecture. It was indebted to a revival of science, math and Euclidian geometry. While the Romanesque was noted for its largeness of scale, thick walls, narrow windows and dim interiors, Gothic architecture was noted for its soaring vaults, huge stained-glass windows and spacious, well-lit interiors. Using pointed arches to spread the weight of the ceiling, and revolutionary flying buttresses to support the walls, it allowed architects to create a church, which fully reflected the glory of God. The glory of god is having the savior divine nature possesses all of the divine attributes.

The Gothic style first appeared in the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis (between 1240-1350), near Paris, and within less than a century had revolutionized cathedral design across Europe. Christian art of the 14th century, the pre-Renaissance era, was dominated by Giotto, he was known as a primitive, professional and religious person in the Gothic era. After this came the Early Renaissance in Florence, exemplified by the city’s duomo. If 15th century Christian art was dominated by Florence, the center of 16th century Christian art was Rome, where the greatest patrons were Pope Sixtus IV, Pope Julius II, Pope Leo X and Pope Paul III.

From about 1520, as the Northern Renaissance felt the impact of Luther’s revolt against the corrupt practices of the Roman Church, a new set of aesthetics took hold, in the form of Protestant Reformation Art, which reflected the Christian agenda of the Protestant movement, which rejected the humanist art and ideology of the High Renaissance, and celebrated a more austere religious experience with minimal decoration. As a result, the amount of religious art commissioned by Protestant Church authorities was hugely reduced, and artists in Protestant countries were forced to switch to secular forms of art like genre painting, portrait art, landscape painting, and still lives. Protestantism taught a personal form of worship that focused on the relationship between God and man, without making a fuss about go-betweens like Popes, Bishops and other church employees.

It also placed no importance on decorative or ceremonial aspects of religion. Because of this, Protestant art favored low-key moralistic depictions of ordinary day-to-day life, or simple narrative scenes from the Bible, rather than dramatic theological scenes involving the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Others included depictions of sinners forgiven by Christ, in line with the Protestant view that salvation is only possible through the grace of God. Protestant art also tended to be smaller-scale than Catholic art, reflecting a more modest, personal approach to religion. For the same reason, book illustration and prints became more popular, while Catholic paintings, drawings and sculptures became the object of physical attacks. But Protestant church authorities were equally aware of the power of art to educate and influence worshippers.

As a result, they made maximum use of various forms of printmaking, which allowed images to be made widely available to the public at a low cost. The Roman Catholic Church responded to the Protestant Reformation with the Counter Reformation. Catholic Counter Reformation Art was designed to communicate the distinctive tenets of the Catholic liturgy and faith so as to strengthen the popularity of Catholicism.

It was launched at the same time as Mannerist painting was taking hold in Italy, a highly expressive style that used distortion for effect, as exemplified in Parmigianino’s picture Madonna with the long neck. Concerned that Catholic art was attaching too much importance to decorative qualities, and not enough to religious values, the Catholic authorities decreed that biblical art should be direct and compelling in its narrative presentation, which itself should be accurate rather than fanciful. Nudity, and other inappropriate imagery were banned. Christian art is still around today, if you see a church with art it’s because of the A.D. period.

Looking up the art I have never realized that I would recognize the art work. Also, with looking this up I see how much the art does with the bible. That should be obvious but I never realized. Christian art has been around for ages and still going on today which is amazing.

The sculptures have really devolved. At the start they were proportional.

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