EARLY CHRISTIAN AND MEDIÆVAL PERIOD. 200-1250.

Books Recommended: Bayet, L'Art Byzantin; Bennett,Christian Archæology; Bosio, La Roma Sotterranea; Burckhardt, The Cicerone, an Art Guide to Painting in Italy, ed. by Crowe; Crowe and Cavalcaselle, New History of Painting in Italy; De Rossi, La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana; De Rossi, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana; Didron, Christian Iconography; Eastlake (Kügler's),Handbook of Painting—The Italian Schools; Garrucci,Storia dell' Arte Cristiana; Gerspach, La Mosaïque; Lafenestre, La Peinture Italienne; Lanzi, History of Painting in Italy; Lecoy de la Marche, Les Manuscrits et la Miniature; Lindsay, Sketches of the History of Christian Art; Martigny, Dictionnaire des Antiques Chrétiennes; Pératé, L'Archeologie Chretienne; Reber,History of Mediæval Art; Rio, Poetry of Christian Art; Lethaby, Medieval Art; Smith and Cheetham, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. oil paintings for sale

RISE OF CHRISTIANITY: Out of the decaying civilization of Rome sprang into life that remarkable growth known as Christianity. It was not welcomed by the Romans. It was scoffed at, scourged, persecuted, and, at one time, nearly exterminated. But its vitality was stronger than that of its persecutor, and when Rome declined, Christianity utilized the things that were Roman, while striving to live for ideas that were Christian. original oil paintings

FIG. 17.—CHAMBER IN CATACOMBS, SHOWING WALL DECORATION.

There was no revolt, no sudden change. The Christian idea made haste slowly, and at the start it was weighed down with many paganisms. The Christians themselves in[37] all save religious faith, were Romans, and inherited Roman tastes, manners, and methods. But the Roman world, with all its classicism and learning, was dying. The decline socially and intellectually was with the Christians as well as the Romans. There was good reason for it. The times were out of joint, and almost everything was disorganized,oil painting on canvas for sale, worn out, decadent. The military life of the Empire had begun to give way to the monastic and feudal life of the Church. Quarrels and wars between the powers kept life at fever heat. In the fifth century came the inpouring of the Goths and Huns, and with them the sacking and plunder of the land. Misery and squalor, with intellectual blackness, succeeded. Art,paintings reproductions, science, literature, and learning degenerated to mere shadows of their former selves, and a semi-barbarism reigned for five centuries. During all this dark period Christian painting struggled on in a feeble way, seeking to express itself. It started Roman in form, method, and even, at times, in subject; it ended Christian, but not without a long period of gradual transition, during which it was influenced from many sources and underwent many changes. oil paintings on canvas for sale