“ It has passed unrecognised,” he says, “ but
we have no doubt of its Christian origin.
we have no doubt of its Christian origin.
Cambridge Medieval History - v1 - Christian Roman Empire and Teutonic Kingdoms
" Similar pagan compositions
shew a Cupid or a Hercules between the husband and bride. The Jewish
glass with the golden candlestick also has the popular inscription
“Long Life. ” The vessels were evidently made use of largely as
memorial, anniversary, or wedding gifts, and some were specially made
with personal inscriptions. Volpel, in his thorough study of these objects,
has shewn that where the names of two saints occur on one piece, the
names also come together in the Calendar, as St Agnes and St Vincent
of Zaragoza (21 and 22 January). This goes to confirm the view that
they were prepared for special festivals.
In the British Museum there are also fragments of a larger glass
dish, or paten, decorated with small medallions of such gilded glass which
were made apart and fused into it. Glass patens were used in the Office
of the Mass during the fourth century. At South Kensington Museum
one little medallion, of Christ with the wand of power, is a replica of
## p. 607 (#637) ############################################
Lamps. Linens
607
one of those on the British Museum paten. With the latter may be
mentioned two beautiful plain blue glass chalices in the Slade Collection.
The Biblical subjects which appear on the Gilt Glasses resemble for the
most part those popular in the catacombs : Adam and Eve, Jongh and
the Whale, Daniel, and so on. Some of the fragments at the British
Museum may be restored by a comparison with other objects. One
interesting piece which shews two columns with a lattice between the
lower part, and a lamp hanging above, compared with a figure in Pératé's
Manual is seen to have been, when complete, a deceased person in the
attitude of prayer before the heavenly sanctuary. The inscription, IN
DEO, confirms this view. No. 615, which shews the golden candlestick
in the lower half, the upper being lost, must have had the Ark and the
Cherubim in the upper part like another figured by Garrucci. None of
these Gilt Glasses are known to have ever been found in Britain, but
fragments of engraved glass, almost certainly Christian, were found at
Silchester. The fashion for engraved glasses seems to have followed
that for those decorated in gold. Cologne was an important centre for
the production of this glass. The paten above mentioned, and another
ornate Gilt Glass, were found there. So also was the
So also was the cup with engraved
subjects, no. 625, in our national museum; and others like it are preserved
at Cologne.
The small terra-cotta lamps decorated with a cross, monogram, dove,
vine, or other symbol, can here be only mentioned. But a small shallow
bowl of glazed ware in the British Museum must be referred to as one
of the most important of Early Christian works of art. On it
Christ having a cruciform nimbus, and the face bearded, the earliest
example of the kind, which may be compared with heads of the more
youthful type on some of the Gilt Glasses in the same gallery. On the
bowl there are heads also of Constantine and Fausta on either hand of
the chief figure, they are named in an inscription around the rim and
shew that it must have been made before the death of Fausta in 326.
Following the analogy of the Gilt Glasses where a figure of Christ is
placed between the portraits of a husband and wife, may we not suppose
that this vessel was made for Constantine himself? Recently Wilpert
has argued against its authenticity, but Strzygowski, who formerly
doubted, is now entirely convinced. It is generally agreed that it was
of Egyptian origin. Most of the objects preserved in our museums shew
how freely the Early Christians of the time following the Peace of the
Church made use of various materials in ornamental art. A bishop
indeed, complained that the weavers rivalled painters in representing
animals, flowers, and figures on their stuffs. Of late years great stores
of early textiles have been found wonderfully preserved under the sands
of Egypt, and a fine collection has been brought together at South
Kensington. Some of the earliest figured linens seem to have been
printed. Two of these, at the Museum, are of the Annunciation, and
On it appears
CH. XXI.
## p. 608 (#638) ############################################
608
Architecture
another shews some scenes from the miracles of Christ, and also Moses
receiving the Law. These stained linen clothes were sometimes figured
with pagan subjects. On the staircase of the Egyptian section at the
Louvre there has recently been exhibited an important piece on which
is depicted the story of Dionysos. In this classical piece we have the
same characteristics of style: big eyes, flowing draperies, inscriptions
associated with the figures and even the large nimbuses.
We must now turn from these smaller objects to the beginnings of
Christian architecture. The first meeting-places of Christians were the
private houses where they came together for the breaking of bread. In
the Recognitions of Clement (second century) it is told that while
St Peter was at Antioch, Theophilus, a leading citizen, turned his house
into a basilica, that is, a place of assembly. Some of the early acts of
the martyrs tell how they left their houses to the Church, and so it came
about that certain churches were associated with the names of their
founders, as the churches of Clement, Pudens, and Cecilia in Rome.
Basilica was a word in very general use, very much like our word
Hall, and there is no direct relation between the basilicas of justice and
Christian churches. More true it is that the greater private houses had
triclinia and halls which were themselves called basilicas, and it is probable
that these were actually used for assemblies of Christians. It is possible,
further, that there may be some sympathetic relation between the
developed church plan and the basilica of justice, for the scene of the
Heavenly Temple in the Apocalypse appears to be cast into the form of
such a basilica.
The origins of church fabrics have been worked out in great detail
in regard to the possible prototypes found in private dwellings, but so
far as architectural arrangement goes it is looking for elaborate explana-
tion where but little is required. The “ basilican” type was the
appropriate and popular plan for any place of meeting. It is found in
temples as those of Apollo at Gortyna, which had an apse and internal
pillars. In the isle of Samothrace was the temple of the Cabiri ; this
was of rectangular plan, it had a portico with an atrium, the interior
was divided into three aisles and at the end was a semicircular niche.
In Rome itself the temples of Venus and Rome are of the same form
except that there is no subdivision of their interiors, and they were
surrounded entirely by the enclosure instead of having an atrium. The
temple at Jerusalem and many Hellenistic temples were in the same way
isolated in a court surrounded by a colonnade. Several of the Christian
churches built after the Peace of the Church were also surrounded by
similar colonnaded courts entered through an outer portico. Orientation
certainly derives from temple arrangement, and many of the earliest
churches were built with their entrances facing the East, as was Herod's
temple. Again, the foundations of several synagogues which have been
## p. 609 (#639) ############################################
Churches
609
а
discovered shew a division of the interior into three or five aisles with
three entrance doors in the façade. A description of the synagogue
at Alexandria calls it a basilica, and speaks of its colonnades ; it probably
had an apse as well.
The earliest special places of assembly were the holy sites and the
burial chapels of the martyrs. The subterranean chapels in the cata-
combs, already mentioned, belong to this class. Probably the first
specifically Christian buildings were Martyria—tomb chambers, usually
round, which were practically memorial churches. During the course of
the third century a large number of churches were built in Syria, Asia
Minor, Armenia and North Africa. An ancient church at Edessa is
said on good authority to have existed before 201; but Edessa was then
a Christian city. A document of 303 mentions“ the house where the
Christians assemble,” together with its library and triclinium, at Cirta in
North Africa. And another document of 305 says that, as the “basilicas”
had not been repaired, the bishops met in a private house. An episcopal
election, however, was held in area martyrum in casa majore.
An inscription from the tomb of Bishop Eugenius of Laodicea
Combusta has lately been published. He held the see immediately
after the cessation of Diocletian's persecution and speaks of re-building
the whole of his church from its foundations, together with the colon-
naded court which surrounded it. Eusebius speaks of such rebuilding as
general, but says that the new churches were larger and more splendid
than those that had been destroyed. Of the churches built after the
imperial adoption of Christianity only a few of the most famous can be
mentioned here. In and near Jerusalem three churches were built in
association with the sacred sites of the Holy Sepulchre, the Nativity, and
the Ascension. All three are mentioned in 333 as basilicas by a pilgrim
from Bordeaux. At the Holy Sepulchre there was a memorial above the
tomb called the Anastasis; and a basilica called the Great Church, or
Martyrium, both included in a precinct called New Jerusalem. According
to Eusebius Constantine first adorned the sacred cave, the chief point of
the whole, with choice columns and other works. The Great Church rose
high within a large court surrounded by porticoes. It was lined within
with marble, the ceiling was carved and gilt woodwork, the roof was
covered with lead. The body of the church was divided by rows of
columns into five aisles. It was entered from the east by three doors;
and opposite to these, continues Eusebius, was the Hemisphere, the
crown of the whole work, containing twelve columns bearing bowls
of silver (probably lamps). This “ Hemisphere” would seem to be the
dome-building over the tomb, which first was spoken of as the chief
point of the whole. That the anastasis and basilica were separate
buildings is made clear by the account of Etheria (formerly known as
St Sylvia) who, about 380, described the sacred sites. The churches
at Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives were, says Eusebius, built over
39
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. XXI.
## p. 610 (#640) ############################################
610
Churches. Jerusalem
.
two sacred caves, one church at the scene of the Saviour's birth, the
second on the mountain top in memory of His ascension; these two
beautiful edifices were dedicated at the two holy caves. At Bethlehem
a noble basilican church still exists which many hold to be the original
edifice, although there is some conflicting evidence that it was either
rebuilt or repaired by Justinian. It is 180 feet long, by 85 feet wide.
The head of the church over the grotto of the Nativity is cruciform,
and the nave is divided into five aisles. The columns are marble with
Corinthian capitals having crosses upon their abaci. The walls above
are carried by level beams instead of arches. To the west was an
extensive atrium. A point in favour of the antiquity of this great
church is that the historian Socrates says that the church at the grotto
of the Nativity was not inferior to that of the New Jerusalem. Con-
stantine's church on the Mount of Olives is generally understood to be
the circular edifice which is known from later descriptions and which
occupied the site of the present church. The pilgrim Etheria, however,
says that the church was at Eleona, “ on the Mount from which the
Lord ascended, and in which church is that cave (spelunca) in which
the Lord taught the apostles. ” From thence pilgrims ascended with hymns
to the Imbomon, the actual place from which the Lord ascended. Now
Eusebius, although he speaks of the church as on the summit, says that
in it was the cave where Christ taught His disciples the sacred mysteries.
St Eucharius, a later pilgrim, about 440, says that there were upon the
Mount of Olives two celebrated churches, one where Christ taught,
and the other on the site of the Ascension. The cave site is known
to be below the summit, and remains of buildings have been found there.
From this it seems that Constantine built a church at the cave, and
probably a memorial on the summit. He also built large churches as
martyr memorials at Constantinople, where that of the Apostles is
described as high, covered with marble, and adorned with gilding, and
situated in a court having porticoes all round and chambers opening
from them. It was completed about 337. As rebuilt by Justinian
it was a pronounced cross, and there seems to be no doubt that it had
this form from the first. Gregory of Nazianzus speaks of the earlier
building as “the splendid Church of the Apostles divided in the four
parts of the arms of a cross. ” The account of Eusebius, that it was
very high and was covered above with gilded brass which reflected
the sun to a distance, suggests a dome or a tower at the crossing. That
this church was cruciform in shape is confirmed by the fact that the
church of the Apostles built by St Ambrose in 382 at Milan was also
a cross. It has been rebuilt and is now St Nazario Grande, but it is still
cruciform. An existing building which may represent the whole series
is the little church of SS. Nazario and Celso, the Mausoleum of Galla
Placidia at Ravenna, which has four equal arms and a tower in the midst.
At Antioch Constantine rebuilt the metropolitan church, which Eusebius
a
## p. 611 (#641) ############################################
Other Churches
611
He
describes as unique in size and beauty, and built in the form of an
octagon. It was very high and decorated with a profusion of gold so
that it came to be called the golden church. Around it was an enclosure
of great extent. The great church of Tyre was also built within a large
walled enclosure (peribolos), having a great fore-gate (propylon), toward
the east. Within the atrium was a fountain, and the church was
entered through three doors, the centre one of bronze. The pavement
was marble, and it was roofed with cedar. The interior was divided into
aisles by rows of columns (stoai), the altar-place (thusiasterion) was
screened by lattice-work.
Other churches were erected at Nicomedia, and at Mamre. The
former is described as great and splendid. Such, says Eusebius, were
the most noble of the sacred buildings erected by the Emperor. He
only refers to those at the Holy Sites, at the Emperor's “own city” of
Nicomedia, and in the city “ which was called after his own name. "
does not mention even his own metropolitan church of Caesarea, nor
does he mention the churches in Rome, much less those that arose by
hundreds all over the Empire. One of these is that of Bishop Eugenius,
referred to above, and further evidence as to them is frequently being
brought to light. Wiegand has lately uncovered the foundations of
an early church at Miletus which may be of Constantine's time.
The Bishop of Rome built the great basilica of St Peter over the
tomb of the apostle. The interior had five avenues between colonnades
crossed at the end by a transept from which opened the apse raised high
above the crypt which contained the apostle's tomb. Screening the
apse were twelve most beautiful columns of spiral form carved on the
surface with amorini climbing amidst vines. In front of the entrances,
which were at the east, was the fine atrium with a fountain in the
centre. The outer gates and the façade, as well as the apse and the
triumphal arch of the interior, were subsequently adorned with mosaics.
The church of St Paul outside the walls was also of the Constantinian
age ; but the first church was not of the great scale of that one which
still exists in a restored condition to-day. Its foundations were exposed
in 1835. It was so small that the length of the church was almost
exactly the same as the width of the present transept. It had its
entrances towards the east and the atrium abutted on the Ostia road.
When the great basilica was built later its orientation was reversed,
but its altar, as is usually the case, yet stands over the site of the older one.
There are still three buildings in Rome which date from this early
period; the Lateran Baptistery, the basilica of Santa Agnese, and the
attached tomb-church of Santa Costanza. Santa Agnese is a most beautiful
type of church having arcaded galleries within, around the two sides and
the end opposite the apse. It is sunk into the ground to the level of
the catacombs in which the saint was buried, and these are entered from
a door in the side wall, the descent into the church being by a long flight
>
CH. XXI.
3942
## p. 612 (#642) ############################################
612
Mosaics
of steps. The church is nine bays long, and the columns are of marble.
The
apse is lined with marble and porphyry, and in the midst is the
bishop's throne. Above, in the conch, is a fine mosaic, but not so ancient.
Close by, but at the higher level of the natural ground, stands Santa
Costanza, built about 354. It is circular, with an inner ring of columns
which supported a dome. The diameter is about 76 feet, and the
columns are only about 18 feet high. They are mostly of grey granite.
The walls were sheeted with marble and the annular aisle has its vaults
covered with mosaic, chiefly of pattern-work, but in some places there
are vintage scenes with amorini gathering the grapes and making wine.
The most splendid feature of the early churches was the mosaic
work which from the Constantinian age adorned their vaults and
especially the conches of their apses. Such mosaics were generally formed
of small cubes of glass variously coloured and gilded. At the same time
mosaics of marble of the more ordinary Roman kind were used for floors.
The glass mosaics and even gilt tesserae had been employed under
the Roman Empire. Glass is found so far West as Cirencester where
small parts of a floor are of that material. Gold mosaic has been found
on the vaults of the Baths of Caracalla, and of the Palatine Palace; also
in North Africa. Quite recently a mosaic having gilt cubes has been
found at Pompeii. It is next to certain that, like the vessels of gilded
glass, this kind of mosaic came from the factories of Egypt. There is
in the British Museum a small glass plaque, decorated with a flowering
plant of several colours fused into its substance. This was found in
London, while similar pieces, now at South Kensington, have lately
been discovered at Behnésa in Egypt. The earliest existing Christian
mosaics are those of the vaults of the round church of Santa Costanza
in Rome. Besides the mosaics mentioned above there are two small,
much injured, conches which display figure subjects. In one of them
God the Father gives the ancient Law to Moses, and in the other
St Peter receives the new Law from the hand of Christ. The whole of
the central dome was once covered with mosaic, but of this only a slight
drawing is now preserved.
The next mosaic in point of date, but more interesting and beautiful
a work of art, fills the apse of the basilica of Santa Pudentiana.
This church, not far from the better known Santa Maria Maggiore, is
deeply sunk in the ground, itself a mark of a primitive foundation.
The apse mosaic forms part of a work undertaken about 390. On it
Christ sits enthroned in the midst of a semicircle of apostles, while
behind St Peter and St Paul stand two female figures robed in white
and holding crowns; these are interpreted as the Churches of the
Circumcision and of the Gentiles. Behind Christ on a mountain stands
a vast jewelled cross, and on the sky are the four symbolic beasts. This
noble work still retains much of classical grace, the fixity characteristic
of Byzantine art is entirely absent. The colour, also, is fair and
as
## p. 613 (#643) ############################################
Art in Britain
613
extremely beautiful, gold being used to illuminate the high lights of
the draperies and other parts, but not in broad fields as in the later
mosaics.
It is desirable to include here some account of Early Christian art in
Britain. The discovery, about twelve years ago, of the perfect plan of a
small early basilican church at Silchester makes more certain than any-
thing else had done the existence of recognised Christian communities
in British cities. The Silchester church occupied an important position
near the civil basilica, but in itself was quite small. It had a nave
about ten feet wide and aisles five feet; the length, including the apse,
which was at the west end, was about thirty feet. The aisles had a
small additional projection at the end next the apse, which made the whole
plan cruciform. At the east end was a narthex, and in front of that a
court with a fountain in the centre. The position of the altar in the
apse was marked by a square of pattern-work in the mosaic floor. This
pattern, of the chess-board type, is in quarters, what heralds call
quarterly. A very accurate model of this important relic is now in the
Reading Museum.
It is well known that the XP monogram appeared on a mosaic floor
found about a century ago at Frampton, and figured by Lysons. The
monogram occurred in the centre of a band of ornament which separated
а
an apse from a square compartment. Lysons thought that the general
style of the ornaments of the apse seemed“ inferior to that of the square
part," and spoke of the monogram as “inserted. ” The last writer on
Christian antiquities in Britain, in Cabrol's great Dictionary, says that
the monogram must have been “ inserted” at some time not earlier than
the middle of the fourth century. Lysons tried to suggest, being
interested in the Roman art point of view, that the pavement was pre-
Constantinian, but he himself remarked that the pattern on a neighbouring
area occurred also on the vault mosaics of Santa Costanza at Rome, a
work of the second half of the fourth century. This is, probably, the
date of the whole of the Frampton mosaics, and a consideration of the
sequence of the turns of the scroll ornament in the middle of which the
monogram was found shews that the scroll-work and the symbol certainly
formed part of one design. The only other subject figured on the floor
of the apse, excepting patterns, was a single vase or chalice in the
middle. At the Roman villa at Chedworth again the XP monogram
has been found cut in the foundation stones of some steps. In the
museum on the site there is also a small plain stone cross.
Mr Romilly Allen suggested that “two other Roman pavements
found in this country may possibly be Christian ";—that at Harpole
which has a circle in the middle divided into eight parts by radial lines
so as to resemble one form of the monogram of Christ, and that at
Horkstow which has 66 some small red crosses in the decoration. ” The
latter not only has the crosses, but at the centre is Orpheus playing
CH. XXI.
## p. 614 (#644) ############################################
614
Art in Britain
9
the lyre, a subject frequently found in Early Christian art. The writer
in Cabrol's Dictionary has independently come to the conclusion that
this mosaic is Christian.
“ It has passed unrecognised,” he says, “ but
we have no doubt of its Christian origin. ” Now, if this mosaic with
the catacomb subject of Orpheus and the beasts is Christian, is it
not probable that the several other British mosaics which display the
same subject are also works of Christian art ? All these mosaics
probably date from about 350, when the Church must have been a
recognised institution in every city, and it is difficult to think that the
subject, once Christianised, should have been employed in another sense.
An Orpheus pavement was found at Littlecote Park, Ramsbury, at the
centre of a triapsidal apartment resembling the Roman Christian burial
chapels. Yet another pavement, at Stourton, had a quartered design
practically identical with that of the altar space of the Silchester
basilica? The subject of Orpheus is known to have occurred four
times in the catacombs, but none of these appear to have been later
than the third century, and it has indeed been suggested that the
subject was taken over in profane art, especially in Gaul and Britain,
but this is unproven, and in any case we get the Christian influence.
Several British pavements are known in which ornamental cross-forms
appear. It has been said that these cannot be Christian, as the cross
symbol did not come into general use at so early a time. But the
instances which have now been found contradicting this view reopen
the question. With those Roman objects having crosses which have
been found in England may be mentioned the chain-bracelet with an
attached cross. A comparison with fig. 1606 in Cabrol's Dictionary
makes it almost certain that it is Christian. Perhaps the most
important Christian documents found in Britain are ingots of pewter
found in the Thames at Battersea which are stamped several times over
with the XP monogram surrounded by the words, Spes in Deo. These
look like official marks.
When a full history of Early Christian art in Britain is written it
will be seen that it shared in the great movement of the time, although
of course it was second to Gaul and third to Italy.
But the many
1 In a panel occurred the design of two beasts drinking from a vase, a motive
which also appears on the enamelled plate found in London. A similar group. of
two peacocks drinking formed part of the Orpheus pavement at Withington,
## p. 615 (#645) ############################################
615
BIBLIOGRAPHIES.
ABBREVIATIONS.
The following abbreviations are used :
AARAB. Annales de l'Académie royale d'archéologie de Belgique. Antwerp.
AB. Analecta Bollandiana. Brussels.
ABe. Archives belges. Liège.
AHR. American Historical Review. New York and London.
AKKR. Archiv für katholisches Kirchenrecht. Mainz.
AM. Annales du Midi. Toulouse.
AMur. Archivio Muratoriano. Rome.
ASAK. Anzeiger für schweizerische Alterthumskunde. Zurich.
AS Boll. Acta Sanctorum Bollandiana. Brussels. 1643–1894. 60 vols.
ASHF. Annuaire-Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire de France. Paris.
ASI. Archivio storico italiano. Florence.
ASL. Archivio storico Lombardo. Milan.
ASRSP. Archivio della Società romana di storia patria. Rome.
BCRH. Bulletins de la Commission royale d'histoire. Brussels.
BEC. Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartres.
BHisp. Bulletin hispanique. Bordeaux.
BRAH. Boletin de la R. Academia de la historia. Madrid.
BZ. Byzantinische Zeitschrift. Leipsic.
CQR. Church Quarterly Review. London.
CR. Classical Review. London.
CRSA. Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-
lettres. Paris.
CSEL. Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum. Vienna. 1866, in prog.
CSHB.
Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae. Bonn. 1828–97.
DCB. Dictionary of Christian Biography. Smith, W. and Wace, H. London.
1877-87. 4 vols.
DZKR. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht. Leipsic.
EHR. English Historical Review. London.
HJ.
Historisches Jahrbuch. Munich.
Hm. Hermes. Berlin.
HVIS. Historische Vierteljahrsschrift. Leipsic.
HZ. Historische Zeitschrift (von Sybel). Munich.
JA. Journal Asiatique. Paris.
JB. Jahresberichte der Geschichtswissenschaft im Auftrage der historischen
Gesellschaft zu Berlin, 1878 ff. Berlin.
JSG. Jahrbuch für schweizerische Geschichte. Zurich.
JTS. Journal of Theological Studies. London.
MA. Le moyen âge. Paris.
MGH. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Berlin. Pertz, G. H. 1902, in
progress.
MIOGF. Mittheilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung.
Innsbruck.
## p. 616 (#646) ############################################
616
Abbreviations
MPG. Migne, J. P. Patrologiae cursus completus. Series graeca. Paris.
1857.
MPL. Migue, J. P. Patrologiae cursus completus. Series latina.
NAGDG. Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde.
Hanover.
QFIA. Quellen und Forschungen aus italianischen Archiven und Bibliotheken.
Rome.
RA. Revue archéologique. Paris.
RBAB. Revue des bibliothèques et des archives de la Belgique. Brussels.
RBén. Revue bénédictine. Maredsous.
RCel. Revue celtique. Paris.
RCHL. Revue critique d'histoire et de littérature. Paris.
RE? . Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. Herzog
and Hauck. Leipsic.
RH. Revue historique. Paris.
RHD. Revue d'histoire diplomatique. Paris.
RHE. Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique. Louvain.
RN. Revue de numismatique. Paris.
ROC. Revue de l'Orient chrétien. Paris.
RQCA. Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchen-
geschichte. Rome.
RQH. Revue des questions historiques.
shew a Cupid or a Hercules between the husband and bride. The Jewish
glass with the golden candlestick also has the popular inscription
“Long Life. ” The vessels were evidently made use of largely as
memorial, anniversary, or wedding gifts, and some were specially made
with personal inscriptions. Volpel, in his thorough study of these objects,
has shewn that where the names of two saints occur on one piece, the
names also come together in the Calendar, as St Agnes and St Vincent
of Zaragoza (21 and 22 January). This goes to confirm the view that
they were prepared for special festivals.
In the British Museum there are also fragments of a larger glass
dish, or paten, decorated with small medallions of such gilded glass which
were made apart and fused into it. Glass patens were used in the Office
of the Mass during the fourth century. At South Kensington Museum
one little medallion, of Christ with the wand of power, is a replica of
## p. 607 (#637) ############################################
Lamps. Linens
607
one of those on the British Museum paten. With the latter may be
mentioned two beautiful plain blue glass chalices in the Slade Collection.
The Biblical subjects which appear on the Gilt Glasses resemble for the
most part those popular in the catacombs : Adam and Eve, Jongh and
the Whale, Daniel, and so on. Some of the fragments at the British
Museum may be restored by a comparison with other objects. One
interesting piece which shews two columns with a lattice between the
lower part, and a lamp hanging above, compared with a figure in Pératé's
Manual is seen to have been, when complete, a deceased person in the
attitude of prayer before the heavenly sanctuary. The inscription, IN
DEO, confirms this view. No. 615, which shews the golden candlestick
in the lower half, the upper being lost, must have had the Ark and the
Cherubim in the upper part like another figured by Garrucci. None of
these Gilt Glasses are known to have ever been found in Britain, but
fragments of engraved glass, almost certainly Christian, were found at
Silchester. The fashion for engraved glasses seems to have followed
that for those decorated in gold. Cologne was an important centre for
the production of this glass. The paten above mentioned, and another
ornate Gilt Glass, were found there. So also was the
So also was the cup with engraved
subjects, no. 625, in our national museum; and others like it are preserved
at Cologne.
The small terra-cotta lamps decorated with a cross, monogram, dove,
vine, or other symbol, can here be only mentioned. But a small shallow
bowl of glazed ware in the British Museum must be referred to as one
of the most important of Early Christian works of art. On it
Christ having a cruciform nimbus, and the face bearded, the earliest
example of the kind, which may be compared with heads of the more
youthful type on some of the Gilt Glasses in the same gallery. On the
bowl there are heads also of Constantine and Fausta on either hand of
the chief figure, they are named in an inscription around the rim and
shew that it must have been made before the death of Fausta in 326.
Following the analogy of the Gilt Glasses where a figure of Christ is
placed between the portraits of a husband and wife, may we not suppose
that this vessel was made for Constantine himself? Recently Wilpert
has argued against its authenticity, but Strzygowski, who formerly
doubted, is now entirely convinced. It is generally agreed that it was
of Egyptian origin. Most of the objects preserved in our museums shew
how freely the Early Christians of the time following the Peace of the
Church made use of various materials in ornamental art. A bishop
indeed, complained that the weavers rivalled painters in representing
animals, flowers, and figures on their stuffs. Of late years great stores
of early textiles have been found wonderfully preserved under the sands
of Egypt, and a fine collection has been brought together at South
Kensington. Some of the earliest figured linens seem to have been
printed. Two of these, at the Museum, are of the Annunciation, and
On it appears
CH. XXI.
## p. 608 (#638) ############################################
608
Architecture
another shews some scenes from the miracles of Christ, and also Moses
receiving the Law. These stained linen clothes were sometimes figured
with pagan subjects. On the staircase of the Egyptian section at the
Louvre there has recently been exhibited an important piece on which
is depicted the story of Dionysos. In this classical piece we have the
same characteristics of style: big eyes, flowing draperies, inscriptions
associated with the figures and even the large nimbuses.
We must now turn from these smaller objects to the beginnings of
Christian architecture. The first meeting-places of Christians were the
private houses where they came together for the breaking of bread. In
the Recognitions of Clement (second century) it is told that while
St Peter was at Antioch, Theophilus, a leading citizen, turned his house
into a basilica, that is, a place of assembly. Some of the early acts of
the martyrs tell how they left their houses to the Church, and so it came
about that certain churches were associated with the names of their
founders, as the churches of Clement, Pudens, and Cecilia in Rome.
Basilica was a word in very general use, very much like our word
Hall, and there is no direct relation between the basilicas of justice and
Christian churches. More true it is that the greater private houses had
triclinia and halls which were themselves called basilicas, and it is probable
that these were actually used for assemblies of Christians. It is possible,
further, that there may be some sympathetic relation between the
developed church plan and the basilica of justice, for the scene of the
Heavenly Temple in the Apocalypse appears to be cast into the form of
such a basilica.
The origins of church fabrics have been worked out in great detail
in regard to the possible prototypes found in private dwellings, but so
far as architectural arrangement goes it is looking for elaborate explana-
tion where but little is required. The “ basilican” type was the
appropriate and popular plan for any place of meeting. It is found in
temples as those of Apollo at Gortyna, which had an apse and internal
pillars. In the isle of Samothrace was the temple of the Cabiri ; this
was of rectangular plan, it had a portico with an atrium, the interior
was divided into three aisles and at the end was a semicircular niche.
In Rome itself the temples of Venus and Rome are of the same form
except that there is no subdivision of their interiors, and they were
surrounded entirely by the enclosure instead of having an atrium. The
temple at Jerusalem and many Hellenistic temples were in the same way
isolated in a court surrounded by a colonnade. Several of the Christian
churches built after the Peace of the Church were also surrounded by
similar colonnaded courts entered through an outer portico. Orientation
certainly derives from temple arrangement, and many of the earliest
churches were built with their entrances facing the East, as was Herod's
temple. Again, the foundations of several synagogues which have been
## p. 609 (#639) ############################################
Churches
609
а
discovered shew a division of the interior into three or five aisles with
three entrance doors in the façade. A description of the synagogue
at Alexandria calls it a basilica, and speaks of its colonnades ; it probably
had an apse as well.
The earliest special places of assembly were the holy sites and the
burial chapels of the martyrs. The subterranean chapels in the cata-
combs, already mentioned, belong to this class. Probably the first
specifically Christian buildings were Martyria—tomb chambers, usually
round, which were practically memorial churches. During the course of
the third century a large number of churches were built in Syria, Asia
Minor, Armenia and North Africa. An ancient church at Edessa is
said on good authority to have existed before 201; but Edessa was then
a Christian city. A document of 303 mentions“ the house where the
Christians assemble,” together with its library and triclinium, at Cirta in
North Africa. And another document of 305 says that, as the “basilicas”
had not been repaired, the bishops met in a private house. An episcopal
election, however, was held in area martyrum in casa majore.
An inscription from the tomb of Bishop Eugenius of Laodicea
Combusta has lately been published. He held the see immediately
after the cessation of Diocletian's persecution and speaks of re-building
the whole of his church from its foundations, together with the colon-
naded court which surrounded it. Eusebius speaks of such rebuilding as
general, but says that the new churches were larger and more splendid
than those that had been destroyed. Of the churches built after the
imperial adoption of Christianity only a few of the most famous can be
mentioned here. In and near Jerusalem three churches were built in
association with the sacred sites of the Holy Sepulchre, the Nativity, and
the Ascension. All three are mentioned in 333 as basilicas by a pilgrim
from Bordeaux. At the Holy Sepulchre there was a memorial above the
tomb called the Anastasis; and a basilica called the Great Church, or
Martyrium, both included in a precinct called New Jerusalem. According
to Eusebius Constantine first adorned the sacred cave, the chief point of
the whole, with choice columns and other works. The Great Church rose
high within a large court surrounded by porticoes. It was lined within
with marble, the ceiling was carved and gilt woodwork, the roof was
covered with lead. The body of the church was divided by rows of
columns into five aisles. It was entered from the east by three doors;
and opposite to these, continues Eusebius, was the Hemisphere, the
crown of the whole work, containing twelve columns bearing bowls
of silver (probably lamps). This “ Hemisphere” would seem to be the
dome-building over the tomb, which first was spoken of as the chief
point of the whole. That the anastasis and basilica were separate
buildings is made clear by the account of Etheria (formerly known as
St Sylvia) who, about 380, described the sacred sites. The churches
at Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives were, says Eusebius, built over
39
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. XXI.
## p. 610 (#640) ############################################
610
Churches. Jerusalem
.
two sacred caves, one church at the scene of the Saviour's birth, the
second on the mountain top in memory of His ascension; these two
beautiful edifices were dedicated at the two holy caves. At Bethlehem
a noble basilican church still exists which many hold to be the original
edifice, although there is some conflicting evidence that it was either
rebuilt or repaired by Justinian. It is 180 feet long, by 85 feet wide.
The head of the church over the grotto of the Nativity is cruciform,
and the nave is divided into five aisles. The columns are marble with
Corinthian capitals having crosses upon their abaci. The walls above
are carried by level beams instead of arches. To the west was an
extensive atrium. A point in favour of the antiquity of this great
church is that the historian Socrates says that the church at the grotto
of the Nativity was not inferior to that of the New Jerusalem. Con-
stantine's church on the Mount of Olives is generally understood to be
the circular edifice which is known from later descriptions and which
occupied the site of the present church. The pilgrim Etheria, however,
says that the church was at Eleona, “ on the Mount from which the
Lord ascended, and in which church is that cave (spelunca) in which
the Lord taught the apostles. ” From thence pilgrims ascended with hymns
to the Imbomon, the actual place from which the Lord ascended. Now
Eusebius, although he speaks of the church as on the summit, says that
in it was the cave where Christ taught His disciples the sacred mysteries.
St Eucharius, a later pilgrim, about 440, says that there were upon the
Mount of Olives two celebrated churches, one where Christ taught,
and the other on the site of the Ascension. The cave site is known
to be below the summit, and remains of buildings have been found there.
From this it seems that Constantine built a church at the cave, and
probably a memorial on the summit. He also built large churches as
martyr memorials at Constantinople, where that of the Apostles is
described as high, covered with marble, and adorned with gilding, and
situated in a court having porticoes all round and chambers opening
from them. It was completed about 337. As rebuilt by Justinian
it was a pronounced cross, and there seems to be no doubt that it had
this form from the first. Gregory of Nazianzus speaks of the earlier
building as “the splendid Church of the Apostles divided in the four
parts of the arms of a cross. ” The account of Eusebius, that it was
very high and was covered above with gilded brass which reflected
the sun to a distance, suggests a dome or a tower at the crossing. That
this church was cruciform in shape is confirmed by the fact that the
church of the Apostles built by St Ambrose in 382 at Milan was also
a cross. It has been rebuilt and is now St Nazario Grande, but it is still
cruciform. An existing building which may represent the whole series
is the little church of SS. Nazario and Celso, the Mausoleum of Galla
Placidia at Ravenna, which has four equal arms and a tower in the midst.
At Antioch Constantine rebuilt the metropolitan church, which Eusebius
a
## p. 611 (#641) ############################################
Other Churches
611
He
describes as unique in size and beauty, and built in the form of an
octagon. It was very high and decorated with a profusion of gold so
that it came to be called the golden church. Around it was an enclosure
of great extent. The great church of Tyre was also built within a large
walled enclosure (peribolos), having a great fore-gate (propylon), toward
the east. Within the atrium was a fountain, and the church was
entered through three doors, the centre one of bronze. The pavement
was marble, and it was roofed with cedar. The interior was divided into
aisles by rows of columns (stoai), the altar-place (thusiasterion) was
screened by lattice-work.
Other churches were erected at Nicomedia, and at Mamre. The
former is described as great and splendid. Such, says Eusebius, were
the most noble of the sacred buildings erected by the Emperor. He
only refers to those at the Holy Sites, at the Emperor's “own city” of
Nicomedia, and in the city “ which was called after his own name. "
does not mention even his own metropolitan church of Caesarea, nor
does he mention the churches in Rome, much less those that arose by
hundreds all over the Empire. One of these is that of Bishop Eugenius,
referred to above, and further evidence as to them is frequently being
brought to light. Wiegand has lately uncovered the foundations of
an early church at Miletus which may be of Constantine's time.
The Bishop of Rome built the great basilica of St Peter over the
tomb of the apostle. The interior had five avenues between colonnades
crossed at the end by a transept from which opened the apse raised high
above the crypt which contained the apostle's tomb. Screening the
apse were twelve most beautiful columns of spiral form carved on the
surface with amorini climbing amidst vines. In front of the entrances,
which were at the east, was the fine atrium with a fountain in the
centre. The outer gates and the façade, as well as the apse and the
triumphal arch of the interior, were subsequently adorned with mosaics.
The church of St Paul outside the walls was also of the Constantinian
age ; but the first church was not of the great scale of that one which
still exists in a restored condition to-day. Its foundations were exposed
in 1835. It was so small that the length of the church was almost
exactly the same as the width of the present transept. It had its
entrances towards the east and the atrium abutted on the Ostia road.
When the great basilica was built later its orientation was reversed,
but its altar, as is usually the case, yet stands over the site of the older one.
There are still three buildings in Rome which date from this early
period; the Lateran Baptistery, the basilica of Santa Agnese, and the
attached tomb-church of Santa Costanza. Santa Agnese is a most beautiful
type of church having arcaded galleries within, around the two sides and
the end opposite the apse. It is sunk into the ground to the level of
the catacombs in which the saint was buried, and these are entered from
a door in the side wall, the descent into the church being by a long flight
>
CH. XXI.
3942
## p. 612 (#642) ############################################
612
Mosaics
of steps. The church is nine bays long, and the columns are of marble.
The
apse is lined with marble and porphyry, and in the midst is the
bishop's throne. Above, in the conch, is a fine mosaic, but not so ancient.
Close by, but at the higher level of the natural ground, stands Santa
Costanza, built about 354. It is circular, with an inner ring of columns
which supported a dome. The diameter is about 76 feet, and the
columns are only about 18 feet high. They are mostly of grey granite.
The walls were sheeted with marble and the annular aisle has its vaults
covered with mosaic, chiefly of pattern-work, but in some places there
are vintage scenes with amorini gathering the grapes and making wine.
The most splendid feature of the early churches was the mosaic
work which from the Constantinian age adorned their vaults and
especially the conches of their apses. Such mosaics were generally formed
of small cubes of glass variously coloured and gilded. At the same time
mosaics of marble of the more ordinary Roman kind were used for floors.
The glass mosaics and even gilt tesserae had been employed under
the Roman Empire. Glass is found so far West as Cirencester where
small parts of a floor are of that material. Gold mosaic has been found
on the vaults of the Baths of Caracalla, and of the Palatine Palace; also
in North Africa. Quite recently a mosaic having gilt cubes has been
found at Pompeii. It is next to certain that, like the vessels of gilded
glass, this kind of mosaic came from the factories of Egypt. There is
in the British Museum a small glass plaque, decorated with a flowering
plant of several colours fused into its substance. This was found in
London, while similar pieces, now at South Kensington, have lately
been discovered at Behnésa in Egypt. The earliest existing Christian
mosaics are those of the vaults of the round church of Santa Costanza
in Rome. Besides the mosaics mentioned above there are two small,
much injured, conches which display figure subjects. In one of them
God the Father gives the ancient Law to Moses, and in the other
St Peter receives the new Law from the hand of Christ. The whole of
the central dome was once covered with mosaic, but of this only a slight
drawing is now preserved.
The next mosaic in point of date, but more interesting and beautiful
a work of art, fills the apse of the basilica of Santa Pudentiana.
This church, not far from the better known Santa Maria Maggiore, is
deeply sunk in the ground, itself a mark of a primitive foundation.
The apse mosaic forms part of a work undertaken about 390. On it
Christ sits enthroned in the midst of a semicircle of apostles, while
behind St Peter and St Paul stand two female figures robed in white
and holding crowns; these are interpreted as the Churches of the
Circumcision and of the Gentiles. Behind Christ on a mountain stands
a vast jewelled cross, and on the sky are the four symbolic beasts. This
noble work still retains much of classical grace, the fixity characteristic
of Byzantine art is entirely absent. The colour, also, is fair and
as
## p. 613 (#643) ############################################
Art in Britain
613
extremely beautiful, gold being used to illuminate the high lights of
the draperies and other parts, but not in broad fields as in the later
mosaics.
It is desirable to include here some account of Early Christian art in
Britain. The discovery, about twelve years ago, of the perfect plan of a
small early basilican church at Silchester makes more certain than any-
thing else had done the existence of recognised Christian communities
in British cities. The Silchester church occupied an important position
near the civil basilica, but in itself was quite small. It had a nave
about ten feet wide and aisles five feet; the length, including the apse,
which was at the west end, was about thirty feet. The aisles had a
small additional projection at the end next the apse, which made the whole
plan cruciform. At the east end was a narthex, and in front of that a
court with a fountain in the centre. The position of the altar in the
apse was marked by a square of pattern-work in the mosaic floor. This
pattern, of the chess-board type, is in quarters, what heralds call
quarterly. A very accurate model of this important relic is now in the
Reading Museum.
It is well known that the XP monogram appeared on a mosaic floor
found about a century ago at Frampton, and figured by Lysons. The
monogram occurred in the centre of a band of ornament which separated
а
an apse from a square compartment. Lysons thought that the general
style of the ornaments of the apse seemed“ inferior to that of the square
part," and spoke of the monogram as “inserted. ” The last writer on
Christian antiquities in Britain, in Cabrol's great Dictionary, says that
the monogram must have been “ inserted” at some time not earlier than
the middle of the fourth century. Lysons tried to suggest, being
interested in the Roman art point of view, that the pavement was pre-
Constantinian, but he himself remarked that the pattern on a neighbouring
area occurred also on the vault mosaics of Santa Costanza at Rome, a
work of the second half of the fourth century. This is, probably, the
date of the whole of the Frampton mosaics, and a consideration of the
sequence of the turns of the scroll ornament in the middle of which the
monogram was found shews that the scroll-work and the symbol certainly
formed part of one design. The only other subject figured on the floor
of the apse, excepting patterns, was a single vase or chalice in the
middle. At the Roman villa at Chedworth again the XP monogram
has been found cut in the foundation stones of some steps. In the
museum on the site there is also a small plain stone cross.
Mr Romilly Allen suggested that “two other Roman pavements
found in this country may possibly be Christian ";—that at Harpole
which has a circle in the middle divided into eight parts by radial lines
so as to resemble one form of the monogram of Christ, and that at
Horkstow which has 66 some small red crosses in the decoration. ” The
latter not only has the crosses, but at the centre is Orpheus playing
CH. XXI.
## p. 614 (#644) ############################################
614
Art in Britain
9
the lyre, a subject frequently found in Early Christian art. The writer
in Cabrol's Dictionary has independently come to the conclusion that
this mosaic is Christian.
“ It has passed unrecognised,” he says, “ but
we have no doubt of its Christian origin. ” Now, if this mosaic with
the catacomb subject of Orpheus and the beasts is Christian, is it
not probable that the several other British mosaics which display the
same subject are also works of Christian art ? All these mosaics
probably date from about 350, when the Church must have been a
recognised institution in every city, and it is difficult to think that the
subject, once Christianised, should have been employed in another sense.
An Orpheus pavement was found at Littlecote Park, Ramsbury, at the
centre of a triapsidal apartment resembling the Roman Christian burial
chapels. Yet another pavement, at Stourton, had a quartered design
practically identical with that of the altar space of the Silchester
basilica? The subject of Orpheus is known to have occurred four
times in the catacombs, but none of these appear to have been later
than the third century, and it has indeed been suggested that the
subject was taken over in profane art, especially in Gaul and Britain,
but this is unproven, and in any case we get the Christian influence.
Several British pavements are known in which ornamental cross-forms
appear. It has been said that these cannot be Christian, as the cross
symbol did not come into general use at so early a time. But the
instances which have now been found contradicting this view reopen
the question. With those Roman objects having crosses which have
been found in England may be mentioned the chain-bracelet with an
attached cross. A comparison with fig. 1606 in Cabrol's Dictionary
makes it almost certain that it is Christian. Perhaps the most
important Christian documents found in Britain are ingots of pewter
found in the Thames at Battersea which are stamped several times over
with the XP monogram surrounded by the words, Spes in Deo. These
look like official marks.
When a full history of Early Christian art in Britain is written it
will be seen that it shared in the great movement of the time, although
of course it was second to Gaul and third to Italy.
But the many
1 In a panel occurred the design of two beasts drinking from a vase, a motive
which also appears on the enamelled plate found in London. A similar group. of
two peacocks drinking formed part of the Orpheus pavement at Withington,
## p. 615 (#645) ############################################
615
BIBLIOGRAPHIES.
ABBREVIATIONS.
The following abbreviations are used :
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AB. Analecta Bollandiana. Brussels.
ABe. Archives belges. Liège.
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DZKR. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht. Leipsic.
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JSG. Jahrbuch für schweizerische Geschichte. Zurich.
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## p. 616 (#646) ############################################
616
Abbreviations
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MPL. Migue, J. P. Patrologiae cursus completus. Series latina.
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RBAB. Revue des bibliothèques et des archives de la Belgique. Brussels.
RBén. Revue bénédictine. Maredsous.
RCel. Revue celtique. Paris.
RCHL. Revue critique d'histoire et de littérature. Paris.
RE? . Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. Herzog
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RH. Revue historique. Paris.
RHD. Revue d'histoire diplomatique. Paris.
RHE. Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique. Louvain.
RN. Revue de numismatique. Paris.
ROC. Revue de l'Orient chrétien. Paris.
RQCA. Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchen-
geschichte. Rome.
RQH. Revue des questions historiques.
