Summary: Authentic Improvement Of Christian Art

This paper will analyze the iconography of the mosaic, Good Shepherd (lunette, Oratory of Galla Placidia, c. 425-26, Ravenna, Italy), that is located on the lunette over the north doorway of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna. The iconography has been one of the most recognized and admired works of art since the 3rd century AD. In the mosaic, the artists present a depiction of Christ symbolic and traditional of Byzantine art during the conversion of Christianity in Roman provinces.

This paper will compare the themes found in the paintings "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and an Angel" by Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini (Puligo) and "Madonna Enthroned" by Giotto. Both paintings deal with fables from the Christian faith but were executed during different periods in art. The Giotto painting was created around 1310 and the Puglio painting was executed between 1518 – 1520. Here, these two paintings have similar themes both at the extreme beginnings and endings of the Italian Renaissance, and as such they serve to present an exceptional example of the developments in art that occurred within that time. This paper shall compare

The legal, cultural, and structural developments during the Roman Empire (753 BCE- 476 CE) have had an effect on Western civilization. Influenced by the ideals of the ancient Greeks, the empire lived through many worldwide transformations that changed the way in which emperors governed and ruled the Roman people, and these adaptations can be seen in the style of artwork in each Roman reign. One of the most notable changes in art style is in the Late Empire Period, during the third and fourth centuries, where the change in government, from imperial rule to the tetrarchy, led artists to focus on the message of the piece rather than the individual represented, and become more abstract and geometric rather than classical and individualistic.[footnoteRef:1] Another notable period of change was under Constantine I, who overthrew the tetrarchy, and was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity. [1: Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren, Art History. 4th ed., Vol 1 (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2011), 207.]

At first glance, Giovanni Paolo Pannini’s Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome (1757) reveals very little past the outsider-looking-in perspective we are given from Pannini’s perspective. In the center is the Duc de Choiseul surrounded by detailed views of Roman architecture including buildings, fountains, and monuments and several infamous sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries. While looking at the painting, it is hard to pinpoint one focal point within the composition when the walls of the gallery are filled with paintings from the floor to the ceiling. The focus becomes about the space Pannini has created and it does not focus on one specific object or figure. Each view of Rome seen in the imagined gallery adds to the illusion of Rome as an ideal city and to the idea of its beauty. By showing a space that reflects this beauty through the numerous paintings, sculptures, and architecture Pannini’s painting transforms into an allegory. Even though this painting was commissioned to commemorate Rome, he is able to portray the city and its architecture through a well respected and scholarly environment uncharacteristic of any known space or time. These characteristics cause the which allows it by creating a fictitious These allegorical characteristics do not become known unless you take a closer look at Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome (1757).

The increase in mosaics in churches in Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Era was largely due to the influence of the Roman Emperor Constantine (ruled from 306 to 337 AD). During his rule as emperor, Christianity became the major religion and there was a push for more buildings to house the followers of Christ. Along with the new buildings there was a need to decorate these places of worship accordingly and express the religion in a grandiose sort of way. Mosaics were generally the inexpensive and impressive answer that was used to convey the church’s message. Through mosaics, the people of the church could learn and be informed of the spiritual and cultural symbolism (Kleiner and Mamiya 313).

The Deposition from the Cross (Entombment of Christ) by Jacopo Pontormo was completed in 1528 and originally resided in the Florence Charterhouse as the main altarpiece. With it’s distinct iconography, the work was intended to show the public the raw suffering of Christ after his sacrifice and how those around him felt at the time of his death. It holds an uplifting and even hopeful tone with it’s “sour” color palette, a stable for the Mannerist movement.

In contrast to the noble figure of Augustus, the piece titled “The Good Shepard” (300-350 AD. Marble. Height: 39 inches) which resides as a wall painting in the Catacomb of Calixtus, is an early symbolic representation of Christ as a Shepard (Mueso, Rome Web 2014). Symbolic images like these were common for the period of Early Christian art. It compares nicley to the Greco-Roman sculpture ( 3rd Century b.c.e) piece of the same name. A similar depiction can also be found at Dura Europas(Ceiling piece, fresco painting-seen in image below), in an ancient Christian meeting house (Klein Fred S. pg 210). Christ the Good Shepherd of the Twenty-third Psalm was often depicted as a beardless youth derived from the pagan god Apollo and with other ties to many Mediterranean mythologies. It is significant to note that the style of this painting with its loose impressionistic style and suggestion of a landscape echoes a category of ancient painting called sacral-idyllic landscapes.

Constantine was buried as the thirteenth apostle together with tomb and remains of other twelve apostles in his mausoleum. Christianity had no past, therefore no spolia, the closest is the bones of it dead. The cult of relic is the adaptation of the culture of spolia.The Arch is Constantine’s own image among chosen imperial antecedents; the mausoleum is his body among a collection of Christianity ancestors. These two acts both have significant political and cultural impacts: The arch justify the rightful succession of a conqueror, and was fundamental to medieval art and successive refurbishment of the city Rome (original sculptures). The Mausoleum shows the emperor’s final position of Christianity and the application of antiquarianism of material objects to the excavation and display of saintly bodies (authentic

The number of people researching in the same field and quality of their results often depend on the amount of the project financing and complexity of the demand. In our case, the project was Renaissance, a complex cultural phenomenon of XV -XVIII centuries, flourished due to its extensive financing by the number of wealthy patrons from diverse religious and secular backgrounds. Another factor (out of the scope of today’s discussion task) was a specific political situation advantageous for the arts and science revolution.

This essay investigates the role of religion and the importance of Roman society and politics. It will show the origin of Roman Religion, such as the pantheon, origin myths and the effect of foreign influence on Rome. This paper will also go into immense study of how religion affected Roman society through the likes of cult worship and domestic religion. It will also show the importance of politics on Roman religion, such as, the Imperial Cult, Vestal Virgins but more or less will also expose the persecution of Christians that were in opposition to Roman paganism.

With such support from the state and the Emperor, the church was given a massive financial support, which was invested in the building of the Basilicas. They were used to perform rituals such as worship, baptism, prayers, scripture reading, preaching and recognition of the dead and the after life. The liturgy of the early churches was very plain. They were build on a rectangular classical floor plan. The Basilica floor plan was simple; consisting of a narthex (the outside building short end), apse, transept, and aisle such formation gives the idea of building resembling to the cross. The early Christians were inspiration to represent such building to the cross. Once more this is part of the spiritual journey of Christianity. The other model was the central plan which would consist of a dome in the middle of the church. Were all the activities would take place. Like the worship and the baptismal ritual. This center plan was more common in the Eastern-Orthodox churches. This shows the heritage of Roman Christian art from the early ancestors such as the Greeks and the Middle East. A great example is the San Vitale in Ravenna which was an important Byzantine outpost in Italy. San Vitale was constructed under the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 547. This church has a domed central core which

The present work is focused on undertaking an in-depth analysis of two famous religious paintings: The Virgin and Child by Barnaba da Modena, an Italian painter from the fourteenth century, and The Elevation of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens, a seventeenth century Flemish artist and diplomat. Following, by comparison, a thorough account of the two works' features, careful observation reveals more than one interpretation.

     Examples of Romanesque sculpture are dated back to the last decade of the eleventh century and then first decades of the twelfth. “The primary source of artistic patronage was provided by the monastic institutions, for whom sculptors executed large relief carvings for the decoration of church portals and richly ornate capitals for cloisters” (Cleaver 156)

St. Peter Claver was a humble looking church, without the towering spires or detailed architecture that some churches possess in order to fill you with worshipful awe. In fact, it would have been almost unrecognizable as a church if it were not for the relatively small silver cross that hung above the door, not even raised above the line of the roof. Walking into the church did not change the sense of humility that the outside professed. Dark wood lined the walls and floor, and made up the pews. It felt almost like stepping into a cabin that had been built in the 1970’s. Along the walls there were small portrait sized depictions of the fourteen stations of the cross. Unlike St. Agnes’s eye catching and baroque decorations, St. Peter Claver’s artwork almost blended into the background, and was not immediately visible. It appeared that the artwork mirrored the nature of the building itself, almost as if the church wanted to dispense with frivolity and maintain its focus on the practice of its faith.

First, we visit St. Peter’s Basilica and Adjoining Piazza in Rome. The beautiful structure still used today, initially was brought to fruition by Donato Bramante as a temple shaped like a Greek cross. Quickly Pope Paul V rejected the design, deeming the Greek cross to be pagan-like. He commissioned Carlo Maderno to make some changes to the floor plan, adjusting the look into a Latin cross. The florid baroque styles are seen entering the Apse and Alter, which “symbolized the power and richness of the church” (392). The sculptures throughout, specifically in the Apse, are dramatic and real, shunning classical styles.