Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

EARLY CHRISTIAN

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 389 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

EARLY See also:CHRISTIAN See also:ARCHITECTURE Of the earliest examples of the See also:housing of the Christian See also:church few remains exist, owing partly to their destruction from See also:time to time by imperial edicts, and partly to the fact that in most cases they were only oratories of a small and unpretending nature, which, immediately after the See also:Peace of the Church, were rebuilt of greater See also:size and with increased magnificence. In See also:Rome itself, the See also:principal religious centre was that which was found in the catacombs (q.v.), almost the only resort in times of persecution. In the houses of the wealthy See also:Romans who had been converted, rooms were set apart for the reception of the faithful, and these may have been increased in size by the addition of See also:side aisles. At all events, either in Rome or in the See also:East, where greater freedom of See also:worship was observed, the requirements of the religious had already resulted in a traditional type of See also:plan, which may See also:account for the similarity of all the See also:great churches built by See also:Constantine. It has often been assumed that the great See also:Roman basilicas, if not actually utilized by the Christians, were copied so far as their See also:design is concerned. This, however, is not See also:borne out by the facts, there being very little similarity between the first churches built and the two great Roman basilicas, the See also:Ulpian See also:basilica and that built by Constantine; the latter was roofed with an immense vault, an imperishable covering, not attempted till two centuries later in See also:Byzantium, and the former had its entrance in the centre of the longer side, and the tribunes at either end were divided off from the basilica by a See also:double See also:aisle of columns. The basilica plan was adopted because it was the simplest and most economical See also:building of large size which could be erected, having an immense central See also:area or See also:nave well lighted by See also:clerestory windows, and single or double aisles to See also:divide the two sexes, and further because the immense See also:supply of columns which could be taken from existing temples or porticoes enabled the architect to provide at small cost the colonnades or arcades between the nave and the aisles. On the other See also:hand, there is no doubt that the temples, for which there was no further use, were largely appropriated, not only in See also:Italy but in See also:Greece, See also:Sicily and elsewhere, and it is to this See also:appropriation that we owe the preservation of the See also:Parthenon, the See also:Erechtheum and the See also:temple of See also:Theseus at See also:Athens. There are some cases in which it is interesting to See also:note the changes which were made to convert the temple into a church. In the temple of See also:Athena at See also:Syracuse, walls were built in between the columns of the See also:peristyle, the See also:cella was appropriated for the nave, and arcades were cut through the cella walls to communicate with the peristyle, so as to constitute the aisles. In the temple of Aphrodisias, in See also:Asia See also:Minor, a further development occurred. The walls of the cella were taken down, a See also:wall was built outside the columns of the peristyle to See also:form aisles, and the columns of the east and See also:west end were taken down and placed in See also:line with the others, in See also:order to increase the length of the church.

The earliest Christian basilica built in Rome was the Lateran, which has, however, been so completely transformed in subsequent rebuildings as to have lost its See also:

original See also:character. The next in datewas that of the old St See also:Peter's, which was taken down in 1506, in consequence of its ruinous See also:condition, in order to make way for the See also:present See also:cathedral, begun by See also:Pope See also:Julius II. It was of considerable size, covering an area of 73,000 ft. Its plan consisted of an See also:atrium, or open See also:court, having a See also:fountain in the centre, and arcades See also:round; a nave, 275 ft. See also:long and 77 ft. wide, with double aisles on each side; a See also:transept, 270 ft. long by 54 ft. wide; and a semi-circular See also:apse or See also:tribune with a See also:radius of 27 ft.: the high See also:altar being in the centre of its See also:choir, and ranges of See also:marble seats and the papal See also:throne in the See also:middle, corresponding to the benches and the See also:judge's seat of the Roman tribune. The nave, therefore, with its double aisles, was similar to that of the Ulpian basilica, but the aisles were not returned across the east end, and at the west end, in their See also:place, was the great triumphal See also:arch opening into the transept. The monolith columns of the nave and their capitals (together 40 ft. high) were all taken from See also:ancient buildings, as also were those of the aisle arcades and in the atrium. The basilica of St See also:Paul, outside the walls, was originally of comparatively small dimensions, with its apse at the west end; in A.D. 386 the church was rebuilt on a plan similar to St Peter's, with nave and double aisles, divided by columns carrying See also:arches, transept and apse. In the Lateran basilica, StPeter's, See also:Santa Maria See also:Maggiore, and St See also:Lawrence (outside the walls), the columns of the nave were See also:close-set (i.e. with narrow intercolumniations) and supported architraves, but in St Paul (outside the walls) the columns of the second church (A.D. 386) were wider apart and carried arches. The same feature is found in the church of St See also:Agnes, founded A.D. 324, but rebuilt 620–640; here the See also:arcade is carried across the west end and there are galleries above, the arches being carried on See also:dosseret blocks above the capitals; these are also found in the galleries over the western end of St Lawrence, added by See also:Honorius (A.D.

620–640) ; the dosseret, a See also:

Byzantine feature, being derived either from See also:Ravenna or from the East. In the church of Santa Maria-in-Cosmedin (A.D. 772–795) another Byzantine feature appears in the triple apse at the east end, the earliest example in See also:Europe. In this church, as also in those of See also:San Clemente and San Prassede, piers are built at intervals to carry the arcades separating the nave and aisles. Those in the latter, however, were probably added when the great arches were thrown across the nave. The church of San Clemente was built in 1108, above a much older church dating from 385 and restored later; it is almost the only church in Rome which has pre-served its atrium intact; the See also:internal arrangement of the church also is different from that found elsewhere, the choir, enclosed with marble piers and screens removed from the See also:lower church and erected in front of the tribune, dating from A.D. 514–523. The mosaics executed in 1112 are in See also:fine preservation. Other early churches in Rome are those of Santa Pudenziana (35); San Pietro-in-Vincoli (442), with Doric columns in the nave; SS. Quattro Coronati (450) ; Santa Sabina (450), an interesting church on account of the marble inlaid decoration in the arch spandrils of the nave, which date from 824; San Prassede (817), with arches thrown across the nave later; San Vincenzo ed Anastasio alle Tre See also:Fontane (626) ; and Santa Maria in Domnica, where there are galleries over the aisles and across the east end as in St Agnes. Hitherto we have said little about the architectural design, the fact being that externally these churches had the See also:appearance of barns; it is only in a few cases, notably in St Peter's, that the principal fronts were decorated with mosaics. The magnificent materials employed internally, the monolith marble columns, the enrichment of the apse and the triumphal arch with mosaics, and probably the See also:painting and See also:gilding of the See also:ceiling or roof, gave to the early basilican churches in Rome that splendour which characterizes those in Byzantium and in Ravenna.

With the exception of the See also:

baptistery attached to St See also:John Lateran, and the so-called See also:tomb of Santa See also:Constantia, both erected by Constantine, the circular form of church was not adopted in Rome; there is one remarkable circular building of great size, San Stefano Rotondo, at one time thought to have been a Roman See also:market, but now known to have been erected by Pope See also:Simplicius (468–482). It consisted of a central circular nave, 44 ft. in See also:diameter, and double aisles round. In the arcade dividing the aisles the arches are carried on dosserets, the earliest known example of this feature in Rome. Although inferior in size, the two churches of S. Apollinare Nuovo, built by See also:Theodoric (493–525) and Sant' Apollinare-in-Classe (538-549), both in Ravenna, have the See also:special See also:advantage that they were constructed in new materials, there being no ancient Roman temples there to pull down. The See also:ordinary basilican plan was adhered to, but as the architects and workmen came from See also:Constantinople, they incorporated in the building various details of the Byzantine See also:style, with which they were best acquainted. Thus the See also:contour of the See also:mouldings, the carrying of the capitals and imposts, the dosseret above the See also:capital, and the See also:scheme of decoration of the interior with marble casing on the lower portion of the walls and See also:mosaic above, are all Byzantine. Externally the churches are extremely See also:plain, the wall surfaces of the nave and aisle walls being varied by See also:blind arcades. The earliest building in Ravenna is the tomb of Galla Placidia, built 450, a small cruciform structure with a See also:dome on pendentives over the centre, perhaps the earliest example known. The baptistery of St John, which was attached to the cathedral built by See also:Archbishop Ursus (38o), now destroyed, is a plain octagonal building, 40 ft. in diameter, originally with a See also:timber roof; when in 431 it was deter-See also:mined to replace this by a vault, in order to resist the thrust, the upper See also:part of the walls was brought forward on arches and corbels, and the interior richly decorated with paintings, See also:stucco reliefs and mosaics in the dome. The most interesting building in Ravenna, however, from many points of view, is the church of San Vitale (fig. 3o), built 539-547, its plan and design being based on the church of SS.

See also:

Sergius and Bacchus at Constantinople. The proportions of the interior of St Sergius are much finer than those in San Vitale, where the dome is raised too high; the timber See also:roofs also of San Vitale have deprived the church externally of that fine architectural effect found in Byzantine churches. In order to lighten the dome, its See also:shell was built with hollow pots, the end of one fitted into the mouth of the other. The interior of the church is of great beauty, owing to the alternating of the piers carrying the eight arches with the columns set back in apsidal recesses. Unfortunately the church has been much restored, but the magnificent mosaics in the choir and the variety of design shown in the capitals and dosserets render See also:Scale of Feet o ro 20 30 40 50 6o 7o 8o this church, though small, one of the most attractive in Italy. One other Ravenna building must be mentioned, though it would be difficult to know under what style to class it. The tomb of Theodoric, having a decagonal plan in two storeys, the lower one vaulted at the upper See also:storey, set back to allow of a " See also:terrace " round, once sheltered by a small arcade, and covered by a single See also:stone 35 ft. in diameter, belongs to no definite style; the mouldings of 'the upper portion have some resemblance to the mouldings of some of the See also:Etruscan tombs at See also:Castel d'Asso, which was probably known to Theodoric. As See also:Dalmatia and See also:Istria both formed part of Theodoric's See also:kingdom, we find there the same Byzantine See also:influence as that which was asserted in Ravenna, in both cases the See also:work being done by artists and masons from Constantinople. There is not much See also:left in Dalmatia, but in Istria are two important examples,—the churches at See also:Parenzo (535–543) and See also:Grado (571–586). Like the two churches in Ravenna, they are basilican in plan, with apses, semi-circular internally and polygonal externally, the latter being a characteristic found in all the churches in Europe which were influenced directly by Byzantine See also:custom. Although the monolith columns were derived from ancient Roman buildings, all the capitals were specially carved for the two churches, and they have the same variety of design and in many cases are identical with those in San Vitale, Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, Sant' Apollinare-in-Classe, and those brought over from Constantinople, which now decorate St See also:Mark's at See also:Venice internally as well as externally. The decoration of the lower part of the walls internally with marble slabs, and the upper portion and apsidal vaults with mosaic, follows on the same lines as those at Ravenna and Constantinople.

The church at Parenzo still retains its baptistery and atrium, from which fragments of the mosaics which originally decorated the west front can be seen. The church at See also:

Aquileia was rebuilt in the iith See also:century, and the Duomo of See also:Trieste has been so altered as to lose its original Byzantine character. (R. P.

End of Article: EARLY CHRISTIAN

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
EARLY ARMSTRONG GROOVE POLYGROOVE
[next]
EARLY CHRISTIAN WORK IN CENTRAL SYRIA