VISA-3027 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cubiculum, A Place To Bury Strangers, Catacombs
4 Jul 2020
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VISA 3027: Medieval Art & Architecture
2. Constantine's Legacy
(Slide 1) Back to the Catacombs & Constantine's Legacy
N.b.
(Slide 2) Fractio Panis, Cubiculum of Priscilla, 3rd century CE
• Day of entombment by his or her family, 90 days after death
• This fresco shows 7 individuals eating a meal
• Whether this reflects a refrigurial
o Refriguiral is under a grave
o Catacomb
• Fresco's name is given by art historian and it's in the cubiculum of Priscilla
o A catacomb of Priscilla
o Fractio Panis means breaking of the bread
• Does this moment allude to a conventional moment or does this (so early 200) represent
a moment in the formation of Christian doctorate?
o Does this represent something establish by early Christian church (regular part of
mass)?
• Is this a family for a dead one or an assembly of group to worship someone?
o The main focus of Christian text: (transfixiation) breaking bread and sharing wine
before Jesus's crucifixion, bread transform into the body of Christ and wine
transform the blood of Christ (euchres - bread transformed)
(Slide 3) Cubiculum of Leonis, Catacomb of commodilla, near Rome, 4th Century
• Catacomb: groups of dead people's grave
• Cubiculum: word for roman bedroom (domestic architecture), wealthier loculus (funeral
chapel)
o Similar to having business class on airplane…
• loculus : long rectangular nitches that bodies can lie down
• Subject matter: frescoed,
o Ceiling: decorated in rectangular pattern and each rectangle has a star inside
• Roman architecture has architectural feature where ceiling is not flat that's
make from panels that recess in that pattern, called copers
• Painted redations of roman architecture in early christian space
• Pagaon context: heaven where gods and goddess resived
• Christian: heaven with one true god
o Different subject matter and symbol derives from roman artistic vocabulary and
reused
• Jesus
o Has a hallo (other worldly status), two Greek letter on side (alpha and omega - first
and last number of Greek alphabet - symbolize entirety and all encompassing
knowledge and Christian true),
o Guy in toga hitting someone with stick: depiction of St Peter, who was imprisoned in
Rome, he was dehydrated and needed water and used a staff to hit a stone
• Depiction of local miracle story in Rome
o Local roman martyrs who was
o Showing componts of early christian painting to decorate funeral chapel, to honor
Christian faith and local story and roman aesthetic
(Slide 4)
• Judaism: Aniconic (not using or permitting images)
o No figural images, traditions of Judaism manuscript but In the catacombs there is no
representation of the human forms in catacombs or cubiculum
• From exodus 20:4-5:"…no graven images"
(Slide 5) Menorahs and the Ark of the Covenant, Jewish Catacomb, Villa Torfonia, Rome, 3rd
Century CE
• No living beings, depict instead two menorahs, veil of oil, ark of covenant (contain in the
Jewish temple)
(Slide 6) Dura-Europos, Syria - plan and Aerial Views
• Coexistant of different faiths
• Dura-Europos: town of edge of syria that overlook river, urban center like roman itself
o Founded after alexander the great
o Excavated in early 1930's, serve as roman settlement and military based, reached it's
100-200 CE, town sacked in 256 CE by parthien - urban infrusture has crumbled
o Encounter a Jewish house Synagogue
• Found many Gods,
• Situation of mulitple gods and goddess and worshiped in the open, no threat of
persecution unlike capital of roman
▪ Theory of religious studies: in social structure, capital cities tend to virility
in religious faith but further outward of capital and close to edge of
empire, the more flexible religious faith becomes
(Slide 7) Wall with Torah Niche, Dura Europos, Syria, 244 - 245 CE
• Wall with niche for torah (Jewish religious text)
(Slide 8) Moses Parting the Red Sea (Detailed of Wall in a House Synagogue)
• Part of the wall with Torah Niche
• Shown at the red sea, Moses shown twice (1. red sea has parted for hebrews to pass
through to prevent Roman from following them and 2. parts of red sea that show the arm
that is lost in sea - show the miraculous salvation is through moses as an agent of God-
god's hand appearing on the top)
Document Summary
Visa 3027: medieval art & architecture: constantine"s legacy (slide 1) back to the catacombs & constantine"s legacy. Christian faith and local story and roman aesthetic (slide 4) Century ce: no living beings, depict instead two menorahs, veil of oil, ark of covenant (contain in the. Jewish synagogues uses symbols (slide 9: christian house church - on outer most edge of city. Venus), multi-colored, classic position called contrapostal, difference hair: left tetrarchs: no focus, less detailed, group representation seem to get aura of charisma, depiction of the office of the emperor (political symbol). Not devalued as they are all rulers and equal , shown as leaders with swords, type of carving, short and stubby, verticle lines but that"s match the movement of clothing, unnatural post. Installed in "apse" of the roman basilica of maxentius and constantine: stylistic shift on portrait, naturalization, stylization and idealization, key piece of evidence to show late antique style of transform of roman sculpture vs something else.
