The greatest of the Roman art could be seen through its architecture. I will talk about the temples. The Romans believed in many gods and built temples for them using columns, similar to the Greek temples, but with only one entrance. In these temples, they would have an image of the person or saint to whom the temple is dedicated, and an altar on which to bring offerings. During public rituals and religious ceremonies, the people of Rome would start, or end at the temple where an offering will be brought on the altar marking either an end or the beginning of the ceremony.
Early Christians, on the other hand, believed in only one true God, and instead of building temples with an altar for their God, they built churches with a large open area for standing or sitting in which many people could gather to worship God.
The Christian Church of Santa Sabina (p. 226, Stokstad) was constructed by Bishop Peter of Illyria between 422 and 432. Its basic elements consist of a rectangular shape and "a nave lit by clerestory windows, flanked by single side aisles, and ending in a rounded apse." (p. 227) White decorations together with the light coming in from the windows create a very airy and open space. In contrast to its simple brickwork exterior, the interior of Santa Sabina displays a wealth of marble veneer and 24 fluted marble columns, which support the rounded arches, creating a nave arcade. The walls of such churches also displayed various paintings of Biblical scenes.
The Temple of Portunus (p. 173 Stokstad) which was built in c. 75 BCE in Rome, is dedicated to the god Portunus. It is similar to Santa Sabina because it is also rectangular in shape and contains columns supporting it. But the difference between the columns of the two buildings, is that the Church columns were there strictly for support, and the temple columns were supporting the porch roof, but most of them were free-standing (half) columns surrounding and decorating the exterior walls of the temple.
Early Christians, on the other hand, believed in only one true God, and instead of building temples with an altar for their God, they built churches with a large open area for standing or sitting in which many people could gather to worship God.
The Christian Church of Santa Sabina (p. 226, Stokstad) was constructed by Bishop Peter of Illyria between 422 and 432. Its basic elements consist of a rectangular shape and "a nave lit by clerestory windows, flanked by single side aisles, and ending in a rounded apse." (p. 227) White decorations together with the light coming in from the windows create a very airy and open space. In contrast to its simple brickwork exterior, the interior of Santa Sabina displays a wealth of marble veneer and 24 fluted marble columns, which support the rounded arches, creating a nave arcade. The walls of such churches also displayed various paintings of Biblical scenes.
The Temple of Portunus (p. 173 Stokstad) which was built in c. 75 BCE in Rome, is dedicated to the god Portunus. It is similar to Santa Sabina because it is also rectangular in shape and contains columns supporting it. But the difference between the columns of the two buildings, is that the Church columns were there strictly for support, and the temple columns were supporting the porch roof, but most of them were free-standing (half) columns surrounding and decorating the exterior walls of the temple.
I do not see many differences in your comparisons of Roman and Christian art, other than and open area for worship versus a shrine. The main difference in the religion of the two is that the Romans believed in many God's and the Christians just one, but how is that portrayed in their artwork? Are the temples and churches the most relevant examples describing the two? I ask this because I know nothing of the subject but think that it could be very interesting to study and learn about.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job showing the similarities and differences! Regardless of the many differences between the Temple of Portunus and Santa Sabina, both religions seems very devoted to their deity. I really like the fact that Santa Sabina is constructed in a way that it is inviting to others who might want to go in and worship. Through this article I can see how no matter how different people are, all seem to want to have a higher being to believe in. It's interesting to see how much humans desire the existence of a god.
ReplyDeleteSomething to keep in mind as well is the Roman technology of using concrete for their structures. This allowed the Romans to build very strong buildings and monuments on a large scale and it allowed them to use shapes and forms that hadn't been possible until that point. Since the technology of concrete is lost after the fall of Rome, Christian art and architecture will not be able to get the same scale using the same methods, thus this would have had an impact on the technique, materials, and appearance of Christian buildings and monuments
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