Christian Art of the Second, Third, and Early Fourth Centuries

It was not until around ad 180 that Christian art began to take on distinct imagery. According to Jensen, “The appearance of ‘Christian’ art at the end of the second century may well be the natural result of changing social, economic, and demographic circumstances” (Jensen, Understanding Early Christian Art, 14). Even in its simplest and earliest form, Christian art always displayed symmetry and pattern as a reflection of the order of God’s creation (Harries, Art and the Beauty of God, 102). The first significant Christian art and architecture developed in the catacombs under the city of Rome. Art in the catacombs used symbols and imagery from both the Old and New Testaments, most of which were intended to point to Christ, the Messiah. In nearly every case, displaying the uniqueness of Christ was the aim of Christian imagery (Jefferson, “The Staff of Jesus in Early Christian Art,” 229). Athough the Roman catacombs held most of the Christian art of the first three centuries, Christian imagery is present on frescoes, floor mosaics, coffins and graves outside the catacombs, and places of worship.