History of Art II. [antikvár]

Fig. 1. — Crypt of tlie Flavians, Catacombs of Domitilla. Rome. CHAPTER I THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN ART.-SYMBOLS AND FIGURES OF THE CATACOMBS. THE GOOD SHEPHERD.—-EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE.—-SARCOPHAGI. IT has generally been believed until recently that the first Christian art was that of the Roman catacombs and began during the persecutions of the early Christian church. We shall see in another chapter the part played by the Orient; the churches of Syria and especially Egypt were a most important factor in the colossal task of producing a complete artistic repertory suited to the needs of the new religion. To facilitate our study we shall, for the time being, accept provisionally the supposition that here in the bosom of the Roman Church, the pious sculptors and painters who decorated the early Christian cemeteries were the first to attempt a portrayal of the Evangelical themes, the symbolic figures which were later to represent the Saviour, the Virgin and the apostles and saints of the religious traditions. Even though we later come to recognize the fact that some of the painters of the catacombs were Orientals who had come to Rome with artistic ideas already formed, nevertheless these cemeteries will always be the principal source of the material for the study of the origin of the new art. The subterranean galleries of which the catacombs are composed are iong tortu- history of art. —v. ii. — 1.