Syndretizm and Abstraction in Early Christian and Roman Art
Syndretizm and Abstraction in Early Christian and Roman ArtWithin the 500 years of history from the introduction of Christian art around 200 CE until the ban on religious images in eighth century Byzantium,a continuity between the classical religious tradition and Christianity is evident. Syncretism, or the assimilation of images from other traditions, defined the Late Antique period's aesthetic transition into the first three centuries of Byzantine art creating a bridge between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. In late Rome, amidst a growing trend toward abstraction, classical forms and values were yielding to a symbolic realism in imperial secular art, setting the stage for later abstract spiritual values in Christian artworks. The late Roman world was experiencing a variety of problems.The rapid succession and violent overthrow of the imperial leaders, military disasters, growing inflation and taxation, along with the abandonment of traditional religion, opened the door for new trends in philosophy and religion that offered an escape from the realities of a harsh world.The Greek concept of a man-centered humanistic art was fading. Art shifted away from Hellenistic skills including foreshortening, atmostpheric perspective, and re-creating reality, toward a two dimensional symbolic approach with a more rigid style. "The contrast of light and shadow, the generation of natural forms, and the optical effects of classical art, gave way to newly abstracted forms with a concentration on sybolism played against the classical backdrop creating aesthic and emotional appeal. " (Byzantine Art in the Making, p.114) The Arch of Constantine and the statue group known as The Tetrarchs are examples of the collapse of the classical art forms in official works of late Roman art. Both exhibit "characters with stubby proportions, angular movements, and ordering of parts through symmetry and repetition " (Art History, p.283) Symbolic importance was stressed rather than laws of nature. Simplfied and stripped down to essentials, the images communicated forceful and direct messages. As the traditional Roman influence on art starts to decay, early Christian art continues the use of symbolism and demonstrates a continuity with the classical period by incorporating ancient symbols and ideas. Until Constantine the Great made Christianity one of the Roman Empire's state religions with the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, Christian art was restricted to the decoration of the hidden places of worship, such as catacombs and meeting houses."In imperial Rome, citizens had the legal right to bury their dead in underground rooms beside the Appian Way, the city's chief thoroughfare.By the late second century some of the tombs displayed Christian symbols and subjects, suggesting the increasing confidence of the new religion in an otherwise hostile Roman environment."(Western Humanities , p.149) Most of the early representations in Christian painting were derived from Roman art, stylized to fit into Christian beliefs."There are several reasons for this use of a common visual language; central to all of these reasons is the fact that adaptation to the surrounding culture was necessary for the survival of the new religion, and a primary cause of its triumph over...
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