Building the body of Christ: Christian art, identity, and community in late antique Italy

Uittreksel

Building the Body of Christ argues that monumental Christian art and architecture played a crucial role in the formation of new religious identities in late antique Italy. Bishops and their supporters employed the visual arts to articulate and encourage specific beliefs, practices, and values that shaped the emerging institutional church.

Inhoud

Chapter 1 -- Early Christian Art and the Study of Late Antiquity -- Constructing Monoliths : Rigid Identities and the "Hostility Theory" -- The Protestant Reformation and Enlightenment -- Edward Gibbon's Grand Narrative : Past and Present -- Illuminating the Dark Ages : Christianization and Christian Art -- The "Hostility Theory" Persists -- "Graven Images" : Reassessing Christian Perspectives on Religious Art -- The Body and the Arts in Christian Formation -- The Power of Images : The Visual Arts and Identity Formation -- Between Secular and Sacred : Broadening Perspectives on Early Christian Art -- Notes -- Chapter 2 -- Peter, Paul, and Constantina : commemoration and Christianization in fourth-century Rome -- The Mausoleum of Constantina -- The Cemetery Basilica of Saint Agnes -- The Traditio Mosaics in the Mausoleum of Constantina -- Conclusion: Projecting Power and Unity -- Notes --Chapter 3 -- Trajectories of Transformation : walking the mosaic pavement of Aquileia's cathedral -- The Cathedral : Design, Decoration, and Function -- The Cathedral in Context : Shaping the Christian Community in Aquileia -- The Mosaic Pavement in the Cathedral's Southern Hall -- The North-South Axis : Visualizing the Church Community -- The West-East Axis : Community Through Baptism and the Eucharist -- Conclusion: Visualizing a New Community -- Notes -- Chapter 4 -- Gathering the Ecclesiastical Flock in Ravenna's Mausoleum of Galla Placidia -- The Mausoleum in Context : The Church of Santa Croce -- The Mausoleum in Context: The Sermons of Bishop Chrysologus -- The Mausoleum: An Overview -- Visualizing the Ecclesiastical Flock -- Conclusion: "Gathered Into One" -- Notes -- Epilogue -- The Basilica's Mosaic Program -- Conclusion: Ecclesiastical Art and Shaping Christian Identities.