When the Roman Empire capital was moved to Byzantium, an eastern colony, the art depicted in the western culture mixed with that of the eastern side as witnessed in the Byzantine paintings and mosaics. The art produced during the periods of Early Christianity and the Byzantine was aimed at serving the interests of religion. Based on the fact that religion was meant to be spiritual while art was mystical, or abstract, this art ended up disregarding the natural scale relationships that existed between the figures. The art preferred to have flat ornate surfaces in place of mass and depth. The figures were stiff and endowed with faces looking like masks.
Comparison between an Iconic Art from Byzantine and one from Early Christian Period
Image 1: Byzantine: The Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels
Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Encaustic_Virgin.jpg
One Byzantine art material is the icon of the Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels. In the material, Mary is depicted as a go-between figure that worshippers need at times for them to be able to get to Jesus who is her divine Son (Folda, 2015) . In that piece of art, she is the imperial throne for the child Jesus.
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In this art, the holy figures have been portrayed with an illusionistic style and made to be more lifelike. The warrior-saints have been portrayed with more sense of style.
Image 2: Early Christian: The Good Shepherd
Available at: https://seeinggodinart.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/the-good-shepherd/
The above image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd tends to be more regal in appearance compared to the earlier ones (Stokstad & Cothren, 2018) . Christ has been adorned in glittering gold robes with an imperial purple mantle. The focus of the symmetry of the composition is on the golden cross. The twisted movement that Christ has made and his right arm lead the observer to picture the lamb and the cross. The imperial staff that has been joined to the cross stands in place of the Chi Rho monogram of the Constantinian times which symbolizes that the empires of heaven and earth have been combined.
References
Folda, J. (2015). Byzantine Art and Italian Panel Painting. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M. W. (2018). Art History. New York, NY: Pearson Education.
