Catacombs
What years are attributed to this art period?
Catacombs began in the 2nd century AD.
Early Christian art were found in the Catacombs in Rome, Italy. The largest collection of christian art from the first to the fourth century were found in the Catacombs.
Early Christian art were found in the Catacombs in Rome, Italy. The largest collection of christian art from the first to the fourth century were found in the Catacombs.
What are the features of this art period?
Art from the Catacombs art period were carved through tufo, a rock, outside the walls of the city. The art of catacombs shows the concepts that are difficult to understand and show them in a simple way. Some symbols from the Catacombs art period mean eternal salvation, such as the dove, the palm, the peacock, the phoenix and the lamb. Many artists used paint mixed with wet plaster to get a lighter color for paintings called frescoes. Frescoes were able to last for a long time, up until now, the frescoes located in the catacombs are still visible. All artworks involved stories from the bible, many of the paintings were based on the salvation from the Old and New Testament.
What was happening historically and culturally during this period?
During the Catacombs period, the Roman Empire ruled Rome. People who were discovered to be Christian or who were practicing Christianity were imprisoned or sentenced to death, this forced Christians to perform religious acts in the Catacombs to hide from the Roman Empire.
Explain how this affected how Jesus is being portrayed during this period?
A fish was a indication to Jesus, a dove is to show the peace of heaven. In this period, Jesus was portrayed as God's son, shepherd, savior and as a hero because of the multiple miracles he performed in the New Testament.
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/4/1/29418771/3149768.jpg)
In this art work, Jesus is healing a bleeding woman. This shows and portrays God as a hero, artists imagined Jesus as hero because the miracles he performed. This art was done by artists who were Christian, making art like this on walls and rocks while hiding from the Roman Empire. The art is simple and easy to understand, you can easily tell Jesus is helping another person.