Early Christian Art Essay

The bear witness state of Christianity is completely different to its past. During the early years of Christianity, Christians were persecuted for their faith. Due to sinister persecution, early Christians had to use some kind of secret communication. This had given focussing to the birth of untimely Christian art. Due to the proximity in the timeline, ahead of time Christian art had shown much influence from Byzantine art. However, Early Christian art had to undergo change during the Late ancientness in the papistic Empire.Much of the early Christian Art in the Late Antiquity was influenced by the prevalence of wars and political instability (Spier 2007). Since there was no much need for secrecy, Early Christian art had become more concentrate on politics rather than the religion. During the early years of Christianity, storytelling was regarded as the more or less effective way of mass communication. Written language was still unavailable for the consumption of all, thus p eople had used Oral narratives to communicate and economise cultural ideas.One of the propagated stories was that of Christianity. On the other hand, symbols were used to avoid persecution from those against Christianity. finished storytelling and symbols, early Christian artists were able to continue their faith and avoid persecution at the same time. Perhaps two of the most common symbols in Early Christian art are the dove, lamb, and the lean. The dove was used as a symbol for purity and peace, something of high value to Christians. On the other hand, the fish was used as a symbol for Christ.The fish had become an dodgy symbol for Christ as it symbolizes the last supper and the water used for Christian baptism. And lastly, the lamb had become another symbol for Christ, particularly when he had bled during the crucifixion. In addition to that, the lamb could also serve as a symbolism for Christians wherein Christ is the good shepherd. Reference Spier, Jeffrey. (2007). Picturi ng the Bible the earliest Christian art. Connecticut Yale University Press