EVOLUTION OF A MESSAGE
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202
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Arts Humanities
Date
Jan 9, 2024
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EVOLUTION OF A MESSAGE: Christian Art then and Now
Bianca Padilla Lopez
California Baptist University
ART202: Art Appreciation
Dr. Katherine Kaford
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EVOLUTION OF A MESSAGE: Christian Art then and Now
Christian art evolved through expressional and representational values that artists sought to
convey within religious worship contexts. Early Christian art relied on iconographic
representation to convey religious messages among newly converted followers. Images traceable
to the catacombs reveal the earliest forms of Christian art and religious beliefs that intertwined
with their Greco-Roman culture.
For
centuries,
Religion
was
the
most
prominent
theme
in
art.
There
have
beennumerous factors that have affected art throughout the millennia.
Evaluate why Christianartistry was formed in the first place, given the Old Testament
prohibitions regarding idolatryrepresentations. All across the history of the church, the use of
images has been a constantsource
of
contention.
The
prominence
of
Job’s
imagery
in
Anglo
tradition
is
the
mostcompelling
explanation for the early church's formation of
Christian artistry. As
Religionacquired
proselytes,
these
new
Christians
were
trained
on
the
value
of
imagery
in
theirprevious social experiences, and they were told that they
necessary to continue with this.Thompson
and
Gowland
(2016)
explain
that
in
the
Roman
world,
there
was
a
shift
inincarceration practices from cremation to inhumation.
Therefore, the themes of death andresurrection and early representation of Apostles and
Christians have all had a role in theevolution of Christian art and artists since the early
church.Death and ResurrectionThe lack of iconography that will characterize later Christian
handiwork is a notablefeature of Christian specialization in the third century. Images of the
Nativity, Death on thecross, and Crucifixion, for example, are not found in this early time. The
predicament withChristianity as an underground church best explains this lack of explicit images
of Christ'sexistence. The story of the Death and Resurrection would be crucial to the faction's
teachings(Lewittes et al., 2018). Despite the absence of these Christian doctrinal aspects, the idea
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ofcrucifixion was addressed through a series of images, most of which were drawn from theBible
and reinforced the themes. Apostles viewed Jonah's story as a hunch or response toChrist's death
and deliverance, as he was swallowed by a foreign fish and then spit out on dryland after three
days in the belly of the fish.
Early Representation of
ApostlesIn an early portrayal of Christ unearthed, an image of Christ is fringed by a collectionof
his disciples, as seen in the artwork below (Dijkstra et al., 2016). People familiar with
laterChristian images may misapprehend this for a painting of the Last Supper, although
thiscanvas has no story. Perhaps it implies that Christ is the one true instructor. Christ was clad
inauthentic
attire,
with
a
look
in
his
left
hand
and
his
right
hand
spread
out
in
the
clearadvancement locution sign. Christ's superiority is established by his attire, parchment,
andsign, and he is focused on his students' attention. As a result, Christ is treated as a
scholar,with his students surrounding him.Christ unearthed in the Catacomb of Domitilla.
Christianity was presented as a prominent religion in the same way that other ancientreligions
had been. A great proportion of the outstanding artworks were created with specificgoals in
mind. The greatest artistry in existence is undoubtedly the most well-known. TheLast Supper, the
dome of the Cysteine Chapel, and the Statue of David are just a few thatcome to mind. In any
case, Christianity was the driving force during the dark Ages. Indeed, the artwork was grim and
full of death and monsters, but it was also driven byreligious principles, primarily from the book
of Revelations. The theological art of Religionis filled with connotations, just like the art that
came before it.
References
Dijkstra, R. (2016). The Apostles in early Christian art and poetry. Brill.
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Thompson, T. J. U., Szigeti, J., Gowland, R. L., & Witcher, R. E. (2016). Death on the
frontier: military cremation practices in the north of Roman Britain. Journal of
Archaeological Science: Reports, 10, 828-836.