Early Christian Flashcards
Christianity had its birth in
Judea, Eastern province of
the Roman Empire, that move to Rome.
Early Christian Architecture was influenced by
the existing Roman Art.
The ruins of the Roman buildings provided a quarry where materials were obtained. This influenced the style for?
- -construction: decoration, for columns, and other architectural features,
- -Fine sculptures and mosaic from older buildings which were turned into basilican churches.
The fiercer the sun and hotter climate necessitated
small windows and other Eastern features.
spread out rapidly
Christianity
issued their celebrated edict
of Milan, giving Christianity equal rights with other religion.
-Constantine and Licinius
was the prime character but was not
proclaimed Emperor
-Constantine
-He removed his empire from Rome to Byzantium and
developed a new style of Architecture
-Constantine
-He declared Christianity to be the official religion
Constantine
The final phase of Roman Architecture from the 4th
to 6th century primarily in church buildings.
313AD - 800AD
Christianity required impressive settings and
ceremonies to reflect its new importance, that’s why it adapted such architectural supplies from Roman architecture as?
- Basilica,
- The atrium of the house,
- Baths,
- Tombs and mausoleums,
- Paintings and mosaics.
Early Christian structures are made of?
stone and brick with increasingly less use of concrete.
Interior walls are lavishly decorated with?
mosaics that depict
-religious scenes
-iconography and images of the Roman emperor
Early Christian buildings follow
basilica or centralized plan
allows for big interior spaces that could accommodate worshipers and rituals. To house the relics of saints and for more space they add transept, creating a cross plan, which is practical and symbolic of faith.
Adaptation of basilica with its nave, aisles, and apse
main symbol
cross
Symbols and Motifs
main symbol is cross, others
are fish, dove, and lamb.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
- Simplicity in Design
- Coarseness in Execution
Unlike Greeks and Romans temples which sheltered the gods, the purpose of the Christian church was to
shelter worshippers.
a rectangular hall, its interior divided
longitudinally into a central nave, flanked by two or four aisles.
The basilica
At one end of the hall of the Basilica, almost always the east, was a
projecting hemispherical apse