ART 2: The Middle Ages: Early Christian and Byzantine Art

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"Even before it was declared a lawful religion in 261 by the Emperor Gallienus, Christianity was rarely persecuted. It suffered chiefly under the tyrants Nero and Diocletian. In 309 Galerius, who succeeded Diocletian, issued an edict of toleration. Still, the new faith had little standing until the conversion of Constantine the Great in 312, despite the fact that by then nearly one-third of Rome was Christian.

We do not know when and where the first Christian works of art were produced. None of the surviving examples can be dated earlier than about 200 A.D. In fact, we know little about Christian Art before the reign of Constantine the Great, because little remains from the third century. The only Christian house found at Dura-Europos has murals that are far less extensive or developed than the synagogue frescoes. The painted decorations of the Roman catacombs, the underground burial places of the Christians, are the only sizeable body of material, but these are only one of several kinds of Christian art that may have existed."

Janson, H. W. and Anthony F. Janson. History of Art, 6th ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991.

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