I. In the One Hundreds: The catacombs
presented familiar forms of pagan decoration, features; as yet there existed
no distinctively Christian art. Conspicuously peculiar portrayal
of ideas was deliberately avoided during the time of persecution.
II. In the Two Hundreds: Numerous examples of primitive Christian
art discovered in the catacombs within the last one hundred years--assigned
to the third, and in even some cases to the third, and even in some cases,
to the second century-a large proportion are in the cemetery of St. Callistus,
which includes, well preserved papal crypt. Symbols which appear
are the anchor, the palm, the dove, the olive branch, and a praying female
(orant), representing the soul of the deceased; the Good Shepherd carrying
the lamb; the Fish; the Monogram of Christ; and representations of the
Eucharist. One of the oldest paintings, in the Cemetery Priscilla
shows the Virgin with the child on her lap and the Prophet Isaiah pointing
to the Star above, her head.
III. the Three Hundreds: Now free to carry on worship in public,
the Christians began to erect churches--some of them rectangular basilicas,
other round edifices, not unlike Roman tombs, and other octagonal buildings.
The basilica of St. John Latreran, possibly an enlargement of the great
hall of the palace of the Laterani family, was presented to the church
about 311 by Constantine, to whose wife, Fausta, it had belonged.
As the cathedral of Rome, it still carries its proud title, "Omnium Urbis
Ecclesia rum Mater et Caput".
In the Circus of Caligular, where martyrs had suffered under Nero, the
church of St. Peter was raised over his tomb in 323. Constantine
erected other basilicas outside the walls, built a church in Constantinople
on the site of the future Santa Sophia, and also put up churches at Trye,
Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.
Frescoes and mosaics were much employed as a medium of religious instruction.
Among the earliest Christian mosaics are those in the small Roman basilica
of the Santa Pidentiana--classical figures of Christ and the Apostles portrayed
against under an opalescent sky in which appear a jeweled cross and the
symbols of the evangelists.
IV. In the Four Hundreds: By this time there had developed a
distinctive style that was employed to illustrate Christian ideas and doctrines
in the new churches of the East and the West. Magnificent mosaics,
especially those in Rome and Ravenna, made this a notable period in the
history of art. Christian art had broken away from the old habit of caution
and secrecy and use was made of the Cross in public worship.
V. In the Five Hundreds: Churches, mosaics, diptychs,
illuminated manuscripts, record important developments
in Christian art--with Constantinople as center of the East and Ravenna
as center of the West. In his capital, Justinian built the churches of
St. Irene and of the Holy Apostles and Saint Sophia (Hagia Sophia).
About this time appear realistic images of the Crucifixion, with the
figure of Christ on the Cross replacing the more ancient symbolical representations--the
lamb at the foot of the anchor and the dolphin twined around the trident,
Beginning with the sixth century the crucificix is seen frequently in manuscripts
and on monuments both private and public. The use of the crucifix
(as distinguished from the cross) in public worship, however, was not yet
general.
VI. The Six Hundreds: The Arab conquests which checked the growth
of Christian art in Asia, indirectly affected its character in the West.
For, after the fall of Alexandria in 641, many of its artists took refuge
in Mediterranean cities and helped to infuse a Greek strain into developing
Latin culture.
VII. The Seven Hundreds: In the early Middle Ages, the
copying and illuminating of manuscripts took up the largest number of working
hours in the cloister; and the masterpieces thus produced became the chief
medium for the transmitting of styles and motifs from place to place in
a period when artists traveled very little.
Typical of Irish art at its best (and in the opinion of some, a sample
of the finest craftsmanship known)is the celebrated Book of Kells, otherwise
known as "The Great Gospel" of Columcille," which belongs to the early
eight or late seventh century. This manuscript (now in Trinity College,
Dublin) contains the four gospels, a fragment of Hebrew, and an ancient
collection of cannons. Of equal,
or almost equal beauty is the book known as the Lindisfarne Gospel
("St. Cuthbert's Gospels) written about the year 700, and containing the
earliest copy of the Gospels in English (preserved in the British Museum).
VIII. The Eight Hundreds:Both in the British Isles and on the
Continent monks and nuns produced richly illuminated manuscripts.
Much of this work was of the Celtic type. In the East artistic development
was temporarily restarted by the Iconoclasts, who destroyed religious images
and frescoes with whitewash. With the triumph of orthodoxy and devotional
traditional, however, Byzantine art revived, to become even more vigorous
than before. In Ireland, after burning of Iona by the Danes in 8-02,
the monks made Kells their headquarters and formed there a celebrated center
of the art and learning.
IX. The Nine Hundreds: In the East Byzantine art opened a new
Golden Age; and in the East Theophano, wife of Otto II, encouraged the
activity of emigrant Greek artist. In Rome itself, culture was at
low ebb; but in Lombardy and beyond the Alps, Romanesque churches were
rising. Germany made ivory carving an important feature of religious
art. Arab control of Egypt made the imprinting of parchment so difficult
that many classical manuscripts were used as palimpsests and thus destroyed.
X. The Ten Hundreds: New life stirred in the field of religious
art; and here indirectly Cluny exercised wide influence. Ecclesiastical
architecture reached a high level in Italy, Spain, Germany, Burgundy, Normandy,
England; bell towers and cloisters multiplied; Venice began the period
of the great mosaics; bronze work and enamel work developed in this period
exists in Augsburg, Hildesheim, and Tegernsee. Workmen from Normandy built
strikingly beautiful churches in England, exemplified by Durham Cathedral
and (with modifications) by Winchester, Hereford, Ely, and Gloucester.
In the East Byzantine art continued its luxuriant growth.
XI. The Eleven Hundreds: This era of beginning in so many fields
witnesses a quickening of artistic activity--due in part to the Crusades
which facilitated intercourse between the East and West and let to the
emigration of Greek artists into Italy. The decorating of St. Mark's
began about this time, was carried on for almost three hundred years.
In twelfth-century church of Sicily--Cefalu, the Cappella Palatina of Palermo,
and the Cathedral of Monreale--we possess masterpieces of surpassing beauty.
Frescoes, sometimes important, but of very unequal value, were produced
in Italy under Benedictine leadership. North of the Alps Gothic churches,
in order to reduce the amount of stonework needed, developed ribbed vaults
and an opportunity for the artists in stained glass to display his love
of allegory. Notable examples of twelfth-century glass are to be
found at Chartes and in other French churches, as well as at Canterbury
and York.
XII. The Twelve Hundreds: The religious spirit of the time expressed
itself in splendid Gothic edifices. In Notre Dame of Chartres (consecrated
in 1260); medieval art "reached a height of achievement which has never
been surpassed"; and the Cistercian tradition of building, introduced into
England, proved to be one "one of the direct ancestors of the most beautiful
Gothic."
The renaissance in painting was led by Giotto whose story of St. Francis
adorns the church of the Sain in Assisi. The new era in sculpture, which
began with the work of the brothers of Pisano, produced celebrated pulpits
at Pisa and Siena. Mosaics were used generously to ornament pulpits,
episcopal thrones, candlesticks, and the columns of cloisters.
XIII. The Thirteen Hundreds: The spirit of faith continued to
express itself in various artistic forms--the carved screens of Toledo,
the silverwork of Barcelona, the ivory and stained glass of France, the
woodcarving and ironwork of Germany; and the Gothic decorations of England,
especially in choir stalls and interior woodwork, reaches an extraordinary
perfection. Noble churches arose in many
places--Italian architecture turning away from the earlier Gothic style
and English buildings favoring Perpendicular. The lavish flamboyant style
appeared in France.
Byzantine artists were still busily engaged in Eastern Europe; but the
development of religious painting was to be a Western achievement.
Italy was vibrant with art. In Venice, Milan and throughout Umbria, architects,
painters, sculptors abounded. Florence, under the Medici was the
greatest center of all. Two celebrated schools arose: the Florentine, embodying
the spirit of Giotto and Fra Angelico; and the Sienese, following the Duccio
and Lorenzetti. Under the leadership of the Van Eycks, the Flemish school
made its influence felt throughout Europe. The minor arts reached their
highest level in France, where miniatures unexcelled in Europe were produced
at St. Denis and elsewhere.
XIV. The Fourteen Hundreds: This century, "the Quattro cento,"
was enriched with the work of many masters rarely equaled in the ability
to portray spiritual qualities; San Marco, Florence stand out as perhaps
the highest expression of mystical art. In Rome the popes began the restoration
of the Leoine City. Martin V rebuilt and decorated churches, awarding
the Golden Rose annually to worthy artists on Laetare Sunday; Eugene IV
brought Fra Angellico to the Vatican to decorate the Chapel of the Blessed
Sacrament; Nicholas V "the greatest Humanist" inaugurated a vast building
program; Sixtus IV engaged the services of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Perugino,
Pinturicchio, Melozzo da Forli, and other artists.
XV. The Fifteen Hundreds: Artistic activity centered largely
in Rome where the popes provided employment for many of the distinguished
artists of the time. But the greatly gifted painters of the Cinque
cento already showed a lowering of spiritual quality. Michelangelo has
been described as "a truly religious soul who by sheer genius forced the
dying Gothic content through the classic form"; Ghirlandaio and Leonardo
da Vinci displayed a tendency to Worldliness; Raphael sometimes painted
like a pagan; Perugino was charged with being at heart an atheist; Veronese
was twice hailed before the Inquisition for the use of irreverent detail;
Caravaggio (a pioneer in the field of naturalist art), striving for realism,
used a drowned woman as a model for his "Death of the Blessed Virgin,"
now at the Louvre. Albrecht Durer (d. 1528), not wholly free from Italian
influence, is nevertheless one of the best representatives of German religious
art.
XVI. The Sixteen Hundreds: In striking contrast with the Renaissance
painters. the artist of this period recall the Quattrocentists in their
fondness for the scenes of the Franciscan story, the episodes of the Gospels,
and the legends of the saints--as may be noted in pictures painted in the
Netherlands and in Spain, as well as in Italy. The new Baroque style, which
produced some fine architecture, decoration, and sculpture, often degenerated
into showiness and extravent straining after decorative effect --faults
that led to a general condemnation of the entire style and prevented recognition
of its undeniable merits.
XVII. The Seventeen Hundreds: The rococo style, which appeared
in France under Louis XV, spread to other European countries, notably Austria
and Germany, and became especially popular in Italy; in Mexico it combined
with the Aztec tradition--as may be seen in numerous churches. It died
out when interest in classical art was revived by the study of archaeology.
