Late Antiquity: Art in Context by Jens Fleischer et al.chapters on mummy portraits and early icons, Late Antique Architecture, Constantine's use of spolia, the Iconography and Style of the Rothschild Cameo, Christian Lamps and Phocaean red slip ware. Online available.
Early Christian Art and Architecture: An Introduction by Guntram Kochan account of architecture sacred and profane, funerary art in catacombs and tombs and especially sarcophagi, the graphic arts and the various forms of art in miniature. illustrated with numerous line drawings and photographs, including ground plans and elevations of churches, actual and conjectural, and there are full descriptions of the art and architecture discussed against historical background. bibliographies.
Understanding Early Christian Art by Robin Margaret Jensenmakes the tools of art historians accessible to students of religion, to help them understand better the visual representations of Christianity. It will also aid art historians in comprehending the complex theology, history and context of Christian art.
by Kraig Binkowski
Last Updated May 2, 2023
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Christian Art Studies
Late Antique and Early Christian Gems by Jeffrey Spiergathers engraved gems of the late antique period and discusses their chronology, workshops, and iconographical significance. 1000 gems and cameos are described, most of which are illustrated. Online available.
Picturing the Bible: the earliest Christian art by Jeffrey Spierexplores the vast tradition of Christian art at its very beginnings in the third century A.D., revealing the story of how Christian art began through insights from recent discoveries. Online available.
Pseudepigraphical Images in Early Art by Massimo Bernabopseudepigrapha provided the textual basis for features in biblical representations in early art, especially writings expanding the stories of both the Genesis characters and Moses.
The Invisible God: the earliest Christians on art by Paul Corby Finneychallenges the received opinion that in its earliest manifestations Christianity was a form of religiosity opposed both on principle and in fact to the use of pictures. absence of Christian pictures before A.D. 200 is due to a complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors, and is not, as is commonly assumed, a result of an anti-image ideology. documents the origins of Christian art.
Coptic Art and Archaeology by Alexander Badawaystudy of the works of Coptic Egyptians starting in the early Christian period following the Antique and ending with the assimilation of Coptic art into that of Islam. extensive archaeological excavations and on researchers' accounts.
Coptic Monasteries: the art of the Christian Egyptians from the late antique to the Middle Ages by Gawdat Gabraa tour of the best preserved and most significant of these ancient religious centers, documenting in exhaustive detail the richness and the glory of the Coptic heritage. background information on the origins of the Coptic Church as well as its rites and ceremonies, sketches of some of monasticism's founding figures, and accounts of some of the difficulties they faced, from religious schism to nomadic attacks.