1. Dream of Constantine
Piero della Francesca fresco cycle The Legend of the True Cross Bacci Chapel, Church of San Francesco, Arezzo
According to tradition, Constantine had a vision the night before the battle in which he saw a flaming cross in the sky and heard these words: “In this sign you shall conquer.”
XP—Chi Ro—Christos
The Edict of Milan 313 CE
330 CE dedication of Byzantium –called Constantinople

2. The Arch of Constantine CE This arch was built to commemorate Emperor Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE.

3. A relief panel from the Arch of Constantine.
Do these two panels seem primitive? What is being privileged?
Stokstad writes, “This two-dimensional, hierarchical approach and abstract style are far removed from the realism of earlier imperial reliefs. This style, with its emphasis on authority, ritual, and symbolic meaning rather than outward form, was adopted by the emerging Christian Church” (283).
What do we mean by two-dimensional?
What do we mean by hierarchical approach?
What do we mean by abstract style?
What do we mean by symbolic meaning?

4. Big Ideas Christian Symbols (see page 294 in Stokstad)
the dove the fish the lamb the symbols for the four evangelists:
Matthew- a man or angel Mark- a lion Luke- an ox John – an eagle
Alpha/Omega (IX) chi rho 4

5. Hinton St. Mary Mosaic
central panel of a Roman mosaic found at Hinton St Mary (Dorset, England)
This mosaic is probably one of the oldest surviving depictions of Christ. It comes from a Roman villa in Dorset. Christ is portrayed as a fair-haired and clean-shaven man wearing a tunic and cloak. Behind his head are the letters chi (X) and rho (P), the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ - Christos. Christ's head is a part of a larger mosaic, also containing pagan elements. These include the Greek hero Bellerophon riding Pegasus and slaying the monstrous Chimera. When did the Roman Empire become Christian? In AD 312 the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and the religion began to spread freely throughout the Roman Empire. Britain was at that point a far-flung province of the empire that would be abandoned 100 years later. This mosaic may have come from a villa's dining room or house-church owned by one of Britain's long-established Roman aristocratic families. Combining Christian and pagan imagery was common in this period and Bellerophon slaying the monster may represent Christ's triumph over death and evil.

6. the head of Christ appears in a circle (halo)
Christ Catacomb of Commodilla late 4th century
the head of Christ appears in a circle (halo)
between the alpha and omega—the Greek letters signifying the beginning and the end

7. the good shepherd: Hermes the shepherd Orpheus among the animals
Good Shepherd c mosaic in the lunette over the west entrance, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Christ as a young adult with a golden halo wearing imperial robes of gold and purple and holding a long, golden staff that ends in a cross in stead of a shepherd's crook
the peculiar forms—rocks?—at the lower edge separate the worshiper from the divine image
the good shepherd: Hermes the shepherd
Orpheus among the animals
Psalm 23:1 “the Lord if my shepherd, I shall not want”

8. notice the personification of the Jordan River—see the river god?
Baptism of Christ Baptistery of the Orthodox, Ravenna, Italy early 5th century
the background has been transformed into the gold of paradise—naturalism has been sacrificed so that the image will communicate divinity
notice the personification of the Jordan River—see the river god?

9. Mosaic from the Church of San Vitale, 526-5479

10. dome-symbolic vault of heaven
Christ Pantokrator mosaic in the central dome Church of the Dormition Daphni, Greece Central Dome c
father and the son
savior and judge
dome-symbolic vault of heaven

11. Hagia Sophia

12. Hagia Sophia

13. Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

14. Emperor Justinian and His Attendants c
Emperor Justinian and His Attendants c mosaic on the north wall of the apse, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna Italy
At the foot of the apse side walls are two famous mosaic panels, executed in 548. On the right is a mosaic depicting the East Roman Emperor Justinian I, clad in purple with a golden halo, standing next to court officials, Bishop Maximian, palatinae guards and deacons. The halo around his head gives him the same aspect as Christ in the dome of the apse. Justinian himself stands in the middle, with soldiers on his right and clergy on his left, emphasizing that Justinian is the leader of both church and state of his empire.
The gold background of the mosaic shows that Justinian and his entourage are inside the church. The figures are placed in a V shape; Justinian is placed in the front and in the middle to show his importance with Bishop Maximian on his left and lesser individuals being placed behind them. This placement can be seen through the overlapping feet of the individuals present in the mosaic.4
Another panel (not pictured) shows Empress Theodora solemn and formal, with golden halo, crown and jewels, and a train of court ladies. She is almost depicted as a goddess. As opposed to the V formation of the figures in the Justinian mosaic, the mosaic with Empress Theodora shows the figures moving from left to right into the church. Theodora is seen holding the wine.

15. Empress Theodora and Her Attendants c
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants c mosaic on the south wall of the apse, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna Italy What do we learn about reverse perspective from this images in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna?
reverse perspective: parallel lines appear to diverge instead of converge
The Byzantines did not conceive of pictorial space the way the Romans had—as a view of the natural world seen through a “window.”
In the Byzantine aesthetic theory, invisible rays of sight joined the eye and image so that the pictorial space extended forward from the picture plane to the eye of the beholder and included the real space between them.
reverse perspective: parallel lines appear to diverge instead of converge
the Byzantines did not conceive of pictorial space the way the Romans had—as a view of the natural world seen through a “window”
in the Byzantine aesthetic theory, invisible rays of sight joined the eye and image so that the pictorial space extended forward from the picture plane to the eye of the beholder and included the real space between them

16. St. Marks Cathedral c