We dive into early Christian art and architecture in Western Europe for the December 2023 Edition of “Through Different Eyes” Magazine.

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Mosaic Ceiling of the Baptistery of Neon (Battistero Neoniano), Ravenna, Italy, c. 458.

EARLY CHRISTIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN WESTERN EUROPE

The evolution of Christian art and architecture in Western Europe commenced in the year 313, when the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom and legalizing Christianity. The Roman State Religion, previously polytheistic and akin to ancient Greek beliefs, saw its end of its heydays with the conclusion of Christian persecutions in the declining Roman Empire, now split into Eastern and Western halves.

Ravenna, a small city in northern Italy, close to Bologna, took on a pivotal role in the 5th century as the new capital of the Western Roman Empire. Its strategically located port facilitated trade with Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Ravenna became a vital crossroad, where Roman, Greek, Barbarian, and Christian cultures converged. This intermingling of religious beliefs, ideas, knowledge, and techniques, especially influenced by the East, brought about a flourishing period lasting 250 years. Ravenna’s prominence waned when its harbor silted, leading trade and power to shift northward to Venice.

As the capital, Ravenna is home to the majority of early Christian monuments from the 5th and 6th centuries, recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage. The buildings are adorned with vividly colored mosaics made from thousands of ‘tesserae,’ colored glass elements. While the Romans initially crafted the oldest mosaics, their style gradually embraced the influence of religious Byzantine art from the East during the 5th century. Gold emerged as a prominent feature, offering a striking contrast to the more subdued, austere Roman tones.

The oldest monument in Ravenna, the Orthodox Baptistery, completed in 548, is an octagonal baptistery. This shape symbolizes the seven days of the week plus the day of judgment. The opulent decorations underscore the significance of the baptismal ritual, representing entry into the Christian community and the cleansing of the soul from sins. At the dome’s apex, a central medallion depicts the baptism of Jesus Christ, as narrated in the Gospels of Mark 1:9-11 and Matthew 3:13-17. John the Baptist, dressed in camel hair, baptizes Jesus in the Jordan. Above them is the dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, and to the right of Jesus, the personification of the Jordan River. Surrounding the medallion are the twelve apostles, while the lower decorative ring makes reference to the four Gospels.

The Hagia Sophia, Church of Holy Wisdom, stands in Constantinople, in the European part of modern-day Istanbul. It stands to this day as the largest monument of the Byzantine Empire. Commissioned in 532 by Emperor Justinian I, the Hagia Sophia was built on the foundations of earlier Roman churches. Designed to stand at the heart of the Orthodox Church, the Hagia Sophia boasts a dome 50 meters high and a diameter of over 32 meters, only rivalled by the Pantheon in Rome. Completed in just five years, it functioned as a Christian church for more than nine centuries until the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453. This marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and the dominance of Christianity as the primary religion in the East. Subsequently, the Hagia Sophia transformed into a mosque, preserving the Byzantine mosaics for admiration.

Author: Maria Hohmann, Art Historian

Sources:

[1] Kostoff, S. (1985). A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals. New York.
[2] Corvinus. (2018). Ravenna: Het Orthodoxe Baptisterium.
[3] Taylor, J. (2022). Ravenna Mosaics from the East.
[4] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Hagia Sophia.

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