Early Christian Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Early Christian?
Early Christian art, sometimes referred to as Paleochristian art, is a style of art that flourished from the 2nd to 8th century AD. Early Christian works were often heavily influenced by the styles and motifs of pagan Roman and Greco-Roman art. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, it began to incorporate traditional Roman styles such as those seen in Pompeii’s frescoes. Additionally, during this period new kinds of Christian iconography emerged, depicting stories from the Bible or Christ himself. This period also saw an increase in religious architecture with churches being built all over Europe.Early Christian paintings were often rich in symbolism and often used imagery associated with paganism such as vines, wreaths and other natural elements. They usually depicted scenes from the New Testament such as Christ’s baptism or miracles performed by Jesus. The use of symbols was important for conveying spiritual messages to viewers who may not have been able to read or understand Latin texts written about these events. These paintings also served an important role for reinforcing religious beliefs among Christians living at this time who had limited access to books telling Biblical stories due to cost or lack of literacy levels at that time. The public display of images featuring Jesus was controversial among many early Christians since it was believed that God should not be represented by physical forms. Images were mainly used in private settings where people could feel more comfortable worshipping without fear of judgment from others who might see them engaging in idolatry (the worshiping of idols).