Early Christian and Byzantine Period

The art that emerged and developed during the early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic periods largely derived from these styles

• Classical Greek

• Roman

• Renaissance

• Baroque

began at the time when Christianity was still a persecuted religion and then flourished.

• Early Christian Art

• Byzantine Art

• Renaissance Art

• Gothic Art

earliest examples of Christian sculpture.

• sarcophagi

• mosaics

• illuminated manuscripts

• architecture

grand stone caskets whose production spread after Constantine legalized Christianity, when Christians gradually abandoned the rite of cremation in favor of inhumation (i.e., burying the dead) and when they started moving their burials above ground.

• sarcophagi

• mosaics

• illuminated manuscripts

• architecture

these filled the interiors of churches built by Emperor Constantine

• sarcophagi

• mosaics

• illuminated manuscripts

• architecture

these are Biblical texts decorated by illustrations, borders, or initials

• sarcophagi

• mosaics

• illuminated manuscripts

• architecture

the center of Byzantine art

• Constantinople

• Carthage

• Rome

• Vatican

The paintings and mosaic during this period used vibrant colors and represented figures that appeared stiff and flat.

• Christian

• Byzantine

These paintings and mosaics often portrayed religious stories as they created to teach religious lessons.

• Christian

• Byzantine

the crowning glory of Byzantine architecture.

• Hagia Sophia

• Basilica of Saint Sabina

• St. Peter's Basilica