EARLY CHRISTIAN ORNAMENT

Early Christian Ornament - Gradually, as the political supremacy of a country begins to decline, Art in that country begins also to decay. The decline of classic art was the natural consequence of the political weakness and final decay of the Western Roman Empire, as well as of the decisive victory which Christianity finally obtained over Heathenism. In all the old historic styles there exist an intimate connection between religion and art.

Art developed under the aegist of religion and was so strongly influenced by it that a style of art produced under the influence of a certain religion could never harmonise with any other religion except that from which it sprung. When, therefore, Christianity received into its hands the remains of classic art, it was obliged and necessities, without a the same time entirely freeing itself from classic influences. On the ruins, therefore, of the Western Roman empire, the Christian condition of affairs, and making use of the peculiar element of Byzantine art, then in its full glory to form a new style of art of its own. The Byzantine influence was so powerful at that time, that it is often a matter of real difficulty for the art historian to say whether certain works of art belong to the Early Christian or to the Byzantine style. The antiquities discovered in the ancient city of Ravenna show most remarkable traces of Byzantine influences.

Early Christian art may be regarded as a period of transition the tendency of which was to free it self alike from Classic and Byzantine influence. It was only when this latter influence had been entirely overcome, when, about the year 900 A. D., the Romanesque style of architecture began to develop itself, the art began again to move along secure lines.

The attempts to change classic art into forms more suitable to Christianity were, however, not confind to the Western Roman empire. Atempts in this direction were also made in Asia Minor, but were finally rendered unavailing by the spread of Islamism.
Before their contact with the Romans, the art of the Celts, if we exclude architecture and Sculpture, even though primitive, was still a throughly characeristic, peculiar one. The Eastern Goths, who ruled Italy from 493 to 555, but who soon lost their peculiar inviduality, did not cherish this style of art as the Lombards did. These latter, who settled in Northern Italy under Alboin in the year 568, preserved it carefully, and to such an extent that it actually exercised a very remarkable influence on the development of Italo-Romanesque art.

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BYZANTINE ORNAMENT
Byzantine is the title given to that conglomerate style of art which was developed in the Eastern Roman Empire from all the different styles which were in existence at that early period. The first impulse to the development of a Byzantine style was given in the year 30 A. D., when Byzantine or Constantinople became the seat of the royal residence of the emperor Constantine. READ MORE.

ROMANESQUE ORNAMENT
So soon as charlemagne had succeeded to a certain extent in consolidating his empire, he selected Aixla-Chapelle as his place of residence, and called around him in that city artist of all kinds both from the former Western as well as from the Eastern Roman empires. These artist were engaged in decorating and adorning his palaces, and it was here that a new style, the Romanesque style, based upon classic architecture. READ MORE.