The similarities and differences between Roman and Christian religious works of art

The Art of the Temple 

Serving as places of worship, synagogues, temples, and churches significantly impact artists and religious people. Although the earliest religious edified of Judaism and Christianity, they had a distinct art and ornamentation of their respective religions. Every religion required a specific type of art that was in line with their beliefs. There have been several art forms and evolutions over the years, but certain factors remain the same in both modern and ancient religious places of worship. The temples during the Roman Empire and churches in the Jewish, Byzantine and Christian eras had distinct similarities and differences.

Roman Art 

The Romans were open to non-Roman traditions, and this spirit of integration brought about a diverse world. Therefore, Romans worshipped a wide range of either indigenous or adapted gods from other cultures ( Davies et al., 2015) . Romans preferred to present their gods and goddesses in the form of statues. Their temples were also built for a solo god with the same god's statue at the centre. The most significant temple was the Temple of Jupiter, which was located at Capitoline Hill. Also, there was another temple for all Roman gods, The Pantheon. Unlike the Greek artists who strived to have a faultless portrait and idealize everything, Roman artists were pragmatic; they did not believe that physical perfection represented the divine. Romans detached from Greek and Etruscan roots by the 1 ST century, as they were attempting to create optical effects of shade and light for better pragmatism (Elsner,2018). With time their sculptures begun to be characterized by short of symmetrical heads distends, and some portraits were displayed as influences of Eastern art. Furthermore, the Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan art influenced Roman art. Roman art was made for local homes and the public sphere. Also, Romans’ art gods and goddesses’ presentations consisted of a broad spectrum of media such as painting, mosaic, gems, bronze, work and silver. In the churches, art was presented in the form of wall hanging and sculptural displays that were incorporated with small luxury items. The inspiration ranged from important ancestors, mythological and historical scenes as well as landscapes and still lives.

Jewish, Christian, Byzantine Art 

Early Jewish art was mostly in the form of frescoes, illuminated manuscripts, and elaborate floor mosaics. The frescoes included scenes of the Bible, such as Isaac's sacrifice and other genesis stories, while the mosaic in the Gaza synagogue was a symbolic representation in early Jewish art. However, the Jews, just like any other religions, were afraid of art being used to promote idolatry. This led to the formal expounding of the second commandment used to alienate religious art with given images ( Davies et al.,2015) . Some Christian and Jewish artists used textual and graphic art during the middle age, particularly the Kabalistic and Rabbinical texts. The art illuminated Haggadahs. Byzantine synagogues mostly contained mosaic floor tiles. The Christians used the ancient orthodox style and took up the Roman motifs, which gave new meaning. Early Christians were restricted from producing graven images, which limited their art during the early years. However, they had paintings that Byzantine Art influenced at an early age. In the Middle Ages, icons and mosaics were characterized by iconoclastic controversy where the use of images won and the use of the centralized cross-in-square plan . Christians, Jews, and Byzantine's believed in a supernatural being. Since their religion was abstract, they had to represent their God symbolically, such as in the form of a burning bush. For instance, Byzantine art is thoroughly in theology with abstraction, symbols, shapes, and colours that make a sacred reality visible. Early Christian churches were given a cruciform form, with had a central nave with an apse at one end an aisle on every side (Friedman,2018).

In the Byzantine Empire, churches were planned centrally with a middle dome and encircled by at least one ambulatory. An example is the church of San Vitale. Jewish synagogues had a mosaic reflects that depicted a fascinating blend of Jewish and Pagan beliefs. At the centre of the floor was the Zodiac wheel, with each zodiac wheel matching the Jewish month. There was also the sun god Helios at the centre of his chariot and strips alongside the mosaic.

Compare/Contrast 

Christianity started from the Jews, and with the progress of the first century, it went on to get converts from the Greco-Roman world. Neither of those groups gave up their artistic heritage, which brought about differences and similarities in their art. Christians used roman cultural forms, motifs and architecture to express their newfound faith by creating frescoes, carving relief sculptures and designing mosaics ( Davies et al.,2015) . While Christian churches were bare on the outside, the Roman temples were not. Jews also borrowed from the Romans by using mosaics to decorate tombs called the Jewish sarcophagi. Notably, the Jewish and Christian art focused on narrative and symbolic style with a more flattened space and no settings for figures.

In contrast, roman art portrayed more of an imaginary world than the early Christians and Jews with a three-dimensional look. Additionally, Byzantine-era began as a prolongation of the Roman Empire. However, it became separate through cultural changes. The Byzantine churches were very similar in style with the western Roman churches when they began. However, they shifted to centrally planned ( Friedman, 2018) . The neutral design of mosaic carpets in Byzantine synagogues was directly related to the Christians and Jews.

Conclusion 

Conclusively, there are several similarities between ancient roman art and other Jewish, Christian and Byzantine art, specifically in terms of temple décor. The terrestrial realm showing Abraham sacrificing Isaac's biblical story shows that Jews and Christians shared the late antique style, emphasizing ease of image-comprehension. The sarcophagi’s scenes from the Roman Visual symbol also illustrated the similarities between Roman religion and Christianity, while the Byzantine era was a continuation of the Roman period. Therefore, places of worship were similar in one way or another, although there were some differences.

References 

Davies, P. J., Hofrichter, F. F., Jacobs, J. F., Simon, D. L., Roberts, A. S., & Janson, F. T. (2015).  Janson's history of art: The Western tradition . Pearson. 

Elsner, J. (2018).  The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100-450 . Oxford University Press. 

Friedman, A. (2019).  Art and Architecture of the Synagogue in Byzantine Palaestina . Cambridge Scholars Publishing.