Jesus in Catacomb Art
100AD-313AD
Early Christian art were found in the catacombs in Rome, Italy, Europe. The largest collection of christian art from the 1st to 4th century is found in the Catacombs of Rome. Most artworks were wall paintings. However some other types of art include mosaic, sculpture and manuscript illumination. Artists mainly used paints mixed with wet plaster as a medium for wall paintings called frescoes. This material is able to create long lasting artworks and is able to preserve these wall paintings for such a long time. All of the frescoes are very dull and the remaining plaster remaining today has earthy colours such as brown and green. Most if not all catacomb artworks recall stories from the bible. A large amount of wall paintings are based on stories about salvation from the Old Testament. These include the story about Jonah being saved from the whale, noah's ark, young people of Babylonia being saved from the flames of the furnace and Daniel escaping from the lions' den unharmed. The subject matter in many frescoes are of Jesus Christ as the Shepherd and multiple miracles that he performed. Art in the catacombs are very simple and symbolic. Some important symbols include ichthus, chi-rho, dove, Alpha and the Omega, anchor, phoenix and fish. Each symbol represents something meaningful to the christians.
During that period, the Roman Empire had rule over Rome. People who were discovered to be christian were persecuted, imprisoned or sentenced to death as practicing Christianity was banned in Rome. This forced the Christians to have secret meetings in the catacombs under Rome. The Christians at that time also had secret worships in the catacombs. Pagan communities in Rome cremated the bodies of the dead people before burying the dead. Early Christians did not support this belief/practice and preferred to bury their dead instead of cremating them. Instead of following the pagan practice, early christians entombed the dead christians in the catacombs as it was a cheap way to bury the dead.
Most of the frescoes and artworks in the catacombs had a theme of salvation. There were multiple wall paintings that showed Jesus performing miracles to help/save others. This gave them hope that one day they could practice christianity without being frowned upon or being persecuted. Jesus was commonly depicted as 'The Good Shepherd' taking care of the lambs (christians). Jesus was also represented through symbols. The main two were the fish, and the chi-rho. The fish was also accompanied by a greek word "IXTHYS" (ichtus). When placed vertically it forms an acrostic:
Iesus - Greek for Jesus
Christus - Greek for Christ
Theou - Greek for God
Uios - Greek for Son
Soter - Greek for Saviour
During that period, the Roman Empire had rule over Rome. People who were discovered to be christian were persecuted, imprisoned or sentenced to death as practicing Christianity was banned in Rome. This forced the Christians to have secret meetings in the catacombs under Rome. The Christians at that time also had secret worships in the catacombs. Pagan communities in Rome cremated the bodies of the dead people before burying the dead. Early Christians did not support this belief/practice and preferred to bury their dead instead of cremating them. Instead of following the pagan practice, early christians entombed the dead christians in the catacombs as it was a cheap way to bury the dead.
Most of the frescoes and artworks in the catacombs had a theme of salvation. There were multiple wall paintings that showed Jesus performing miracles to help/save others. This gave them hope that one day they could practice christianity without being frowned upon or being persecuted. Jesus was commonly depicted as 'The Good Shepherd' taking care of the lambs (christians). Jesus was also represented through symbols. The main two were the fish, and the chi-rho. The fish was also accompanied by a greek word "IXTHYS" (ichtus). When placed vertically it forms an acrostic:
Iesus - Greek for Jesus
Christus - Greek for Christ
Theou - Greek for God
Uios - Greek for Son
Soter - Greek for Saviour
The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd is a depiction of Jesus that was inspired by the parable of the lost sheep. It shows him carrying the lost lamb on his shoulders with two other lambs next to him. This fresco was painted in the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome, Italy and was created during the early 4th century. It depicts Christ without a beard because this artist depicted him as a young strong man. This image represents jesus as a loving protector/guardian of the sheep (christians). This ceiling painting is very dull as the colours from the plaster has been deteriorated due to the age of the artwork. Only earthy colours like brown, green and orange are still remaining on the artwork. This makes the artwork look very dull. Jesus was painted with roman attire because the artist was familiar with roman pastoral scenes. The way the artist painted Jesus' face was similar to the people in wall paintings during that period. Jesus was not drawn with a halo as christian art at that time did not add halos to the artwork to symbolise that the person was holy. Jesus was not depicted with a long white robe until later on.
The Good Shepherd is a depiction of Jesus that was inspired by the parable of the lost sheep. It shows him carrying the lost lamb on his shoulders with two other lambs next to him. This fresco was painted in the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome, Italy and was created during the early 4th century. It depicts Christ without a beard because this artist depicted him as a young strong man. This image represents jesus as a loving protector/guardian of the sheep (christians). This ceiling painting is very dull as the colours from the plaster has been deteriorated due to the age of the artwork. Only earthy colours like brown, green and orange are still remaining on the artwork. This makes the artwork look very dull. Jesus was painted with roman attire because the artist was familiar with roman pastoral scenes. The way the artist painted Jesus' face was similar to the people in wall paintings during that period. Jesus was not drawn with a halo as christian art at that time did not add halos to the artwork to symbolise that the person was holy. Jesus was not depicted with a long white robe until later on.