Art paléochrétien

The art paléochrétien , or art and Christian primitive architecture is an art produced by the Chrétiens or under a Christian patronage between the year 200 and the year 500. Before year 200, there do not remain artistic productions which can be qualified Christian women with certainty. After year 500, art paléochrétien opens the way with the Byzantine Art, and the Romanesque art.

Before 200, the absence of durable achievements artistic or architectural reflects the underprivileged and persecuted position social first Christians, which limited the patronage. In addition, the Old Testament, going against the production of Tomb S painted, can also explain this absence. Lastly, it is possible that the first Christians used pagan topics to express Christian topics. If such were well the case, this Christian art is not identifiable like such immediately.

The first Christians used the same artistic forms as those of the pagan Roman culture in which they evolved/moved: Fresco S, mosaic, Sculpture S, and handwritten enluminés. In their achievements, the first Christians did not only use the Roman artistic forms of Antiquity, but also the traditional style Roman late, present in the first Christian frescos, like those of the Catacombes of Rome.

The first Christians re-used Roman iconographic topics in their giving new significances. Among these traditional topics, one can quote the Paon S, the vine and the Raisin, and the shepherd. But the first Christians also developed their clean Iconographie, for example the representation of symbols like the fish (Ichtus), which were not borrowed from the pagan iconography.

The history of art paléochrétien includes two phases distinct, separated by the edict of Milan into 313.

Christian art before 313

Christian art after 313

  • Churches in the central plan

    • Church Holy-Constancy (Rome)

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