![]() This was a move that did not impress Emperor Diocletian. Christianity dominated this region as the most prominent religion since it had many followers. This change in belief system resulted in the people believing in one God or the all-powerful God. The then Roman empire had influenced many people to believe in many gods (Kleiner, 32). The majority of people in the Roman Empire rejected the belief of many gods (polytheism) during the fourth and the third century. The luminous effects of mosaic could be felt on the walls and were well adapted in a way that it could express the specific Orthodox Christianity character. Cormack (56) notes that “the small cubes, or tesserae, that composed mosaics were made of colored glass or enamels or were overlaid with gold leaf”. The interior adornment of the Byzantine churches preferred the use of mosaic models. By the end of the 5th century, the sculpture was restricted to the use of ivory plaques. Mosaicists and painters tried as much as they could to avoid modeling figures that would suggest a tangible human creature. Due to the influence of Christianity, artists were inspired to make spiritual characters that had sacred figures. The free-standing statue was the most common art and it stressed the possibility of the physical presence of a tangible god. According to Lowdon (23), “early Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries had simply taken over the style and forms of classical paganism”. During this time, Christians modified the classic idiom so as to express the continued faith for the Orthodox faith. This heritage continued to be a source of inspiration to Christians. However, byzantine heritage was not completely lost to western culture after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire. Cormack (117) provides an example of such changes saying, “for example Byzantine silk textiles, often woven or embroidered with designs of both animal and human figures, the former often reflecting traditions originating much further east, were unexcelled in the Christian world until almost the end of the Empire”. These changes persisted until the end of the Byzantine Empire whereby byzantine art provide models of European rulers. The changes continued until byzantine art started to be influenced by western European art. Runciman, (47) supports this saying, “there was a notable revival of the classical style in works of 10th-century court art like the Paris Psalter, and throughout the period manuscript illumination shows parallel styles, often used by the same artist, for iconic figures in framed miniatures and more informal small scenes or figures added unframed in the margins of the text in a much more realist style”. Icon production returned in 1473 and by that time the byzantine art tradition adopted many changes which were attributed to the fall of the Empire. The byzantine art served many purposes including religious, cultural and conservative purposes although they still retained the Greek originality. This will be done by identifying specific pieces by establishing their titles, artists, date of creation, original location and the media. The purpose of this paper is to focus on Early Christian and Byzantine art, artifacts, and architecture. These images are used by Christians to have various cultural, religious and conservative meanings. However, these images have now been spread to many other parts of the world. Due to this destruction, only a few of these sacred icons exist and are mostly found in Italy, Egypt, or Mount Sinai. Among such activities was the destruction of many sacred images. During this period, also referred to as Byzantine iconoclasm (730-843), many notable activities happened. This splitting also affected Italy since some parts of Italy fell under Byzantine rule. This empire resulted from the division that occurred in the Roman Empire, splitting the empire into two halves the Eastern and the Western empire. Byzantine art refers to the art that originated from Byzantine Empire. ![]()
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