EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

With the building of Christian basilicas in the late 4th century, wall and ceiling mosaics were adapted to Christian uses. The earliest examples, such as those of the first basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul were all destroyed, but the mosaics of Santa Constanza and Santa Pudenziana, both from the 4th century, survived. The winemaking putti in the ambulatory of Santa Constanza still follow the classical tradition (ie. feast of Bacchus). The so-called Tomb of the Julii, near the crypt beneath St Peter's Basilica, is a fourth-century vaulted tomb with wall and ceiling mosaics that are given Christian interpretations. The former Tomb of Galerius in Thessaloniki, converted into a Christian church during the course of the 4th century, was embellished with very high artistic quality mosaics. Only fragments survived of the original decoration, especially a band depicting saints with hands raised in prayer, in front of complex architectural fantasies.



In the following century Ravenna, the capital of the Western Roman Empire, became the centre of late Roman mosaic art (see details in Ravenna section). Milan also served as the capital of the western empire in the 4th century. In the St Aquilinus Chapel of the Basilica of San Lorenzo mosaics executed in the late 4th-early 5th centuries, depict Christ with the Apostles and the Abduction of Elijah; these mosaics are outstanding for their bright colors, naturalism and adherence to the classical canons of order and proportion.

Albingaunum was the main Roman port of Liguria. The octagonal baptistry of the town was decorated in the 5th century with high quality blue and white mosaics representing the Apostles. The surviving remains are fragmentary.
A beautiful mosaic pavement depicting humans, animals and plants from the original fourth-century cathedral of Aquileia have survived in the later medieval church. This mosaic adopts pagan motifs such as the Nilotic scene but behind the traditional naturalistic content is Christian symbolism (ichthys, fisherman). The sixth-century early Christian basilicas of Sant' Eufemia and Santa Maria delle Grazie in Grado also have magnificent mosaic floors.
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