The Art of Empire

Christian Art in Its Imperial Context

Lee M. Jefferson, Robin M. Jensen, Lee M. Jefferson, Robin M. Jensen

• Éditeur: Fortress Press
• Année: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781506402840
• Sujet: Theology & Religion
• Sous-sujet: History of Christianity

In recent years, art historians such as Johannes Deckers (Picturing the Bible, 2009) have argued for a significant transition in fourth- and fifth-century images of Jesus following the conversion of Constantine. Broadly speaking, they perceive the image of a peaceful, benevolent shepherd transformed into a powerful, enthroned Jesus, mimicking and mirroring the dominance and authority of the emperor. The powers of church and state are thus conveniently synthesized in such a potent image. This deeply rooted position assumes that ante-pacem images of Jesus were uniformly humble while post-Constantinian images exuded the grandeur of power and glory. The Art of Empire contends that the art and imagery of Late Antiquity merits a more nuanced understanding of the context of the imperial period before and after Constantine. The chapters in this collection each treat an aspect of the relationship between early Christian art and the rituals, practices, or imagery of the Empire, and offer a new and fresh perspective on the development of Christian art in its imperial background.

Table des matières

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table Of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• Allusions to Imperial Rituals in Fourth-Century Christian Art
• Revisiting the Emperor Mystique: The Traditio Legis as an Anti-Imperial Image
• The Memory of “Peter” in Fourth-Century Rome: Church, Mausoleum, and Jupiter on the Via Praenestina
• From Victim to Victor: Developing an Iconography of Suffering in Early Christian Art
• The Good Shepherd and the Enthroned Ruler: A Reconsideration of Imperial Iconography in the Early Church
• Representing Ritual, Christianizing the pompa circensis: Imperial Spectacle at Rome in a Christianizing Empire
• Was the Presence of Christ in Statues? The Challenge of Divine Media for a Jewish Roman God
• The Visualization of the Imperial Cult in Late Antique Constantinople
• Does the Hinton St. Mary Mosaic Depict Christ?
• Index