Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/798

CHRISTIAN. roo CHRISTIAN ART. Bishop of Ilalberstadt in 161G. His military training he obtained in service in the Xcther- lands, under ilaurice. Prince of Orange, against the Spanish. After Frederick '., EU'ctor Pala- tine (q.v. ), had lost Bohemia and the Palatinate through the disastrous battle of White Hil], t'liristian otTered his sword in defense of the Electoral cause, and in lfi21, with an army of 15.000, plundered Roman Calliolic churclies and religious establishments along the river IMain and through Westplialia. He was defeated by Gen- eral Tilly at lliichst, and was dismissed by the Elector. Subsequently, as a commander under Prince llaurice, he defeated the Spaniards at Fleurus (in the modern Province of Hainaut, Belgium). Afterwards he returned to Lower Saxonv, and was signallv defeated by Tilly at Stadtlohn (August C, 1623). With English and French assistance he and Count Mansfield took the field in 102.5, in command of an army of 14.000, luuler the general direction of King Christian IV. of Denmark, the Protestant leader. ITe died, however, before anything was accom- plished. See Thirty Years' War. CHRISTIAN'A. The wife of Christian in Bunyan's J'ilfiritii's Proffress. She is left in the City of Destruction (q.v.) by her husband. In the second part of the allegory she also leaves that place, and her subsequent adventures form the chief interest of the plot. CHRISTIAN ART (E.vrly). While it is easy to show when and how Christian art began, it is not easy to say when it ended — if it has ended. In the nomenclature of art history, however, the term early Christian art is gen- erally accepted as describing the monuments pro- duced under the influence of the Christian reli- gion before the year 800, when Charles the Great was crowned Emperor of the W'est, an event which may be said to have inaugurated a new period in the history of the Jliddle Ages. It is. therefore. Christian art before its mediieval form was developed, while it still retains much of antique tradition. It falls into three divi- sions: (1) Pre-Constantinian (c.100-312) ; (2) from Constantine to .Justinian (c.312-550) ; (3) •lustinian to Charlemagne. The first period is mainly illustrated by the Roman catacombs, and shows Christian art in embryo; the second can be studied principally in the great basilicas and other churches of Italy, though the few examples at'all well preserved in the East show that art was there quite as advanced: the third is illus- trated in both East and West, but the decadence which is so evident, so finally fatal to artistic life in the West, is far less apparent in the East, whose monuments are more numerous and mag- nificent. .RriiiTECTURE. Jhere was very little opportu- nity for anything characteristic in the architec- ture of the early Christians. Constantine in 313 gave Cliristians freedom to erect places of wor- ship. All that remains of early Christian art before this date is described in the article on Catacombs.* The style formed in the Fourth Century is called basilieal, because this name was given to the large churches that were by far the most important monuments erected. Christian architects faced the proldeni of creat- ing a large interior for worshiping multitudes, in contrast with ancient worship, which was in the open air. In pagan temples nearly all the artistic efTorts had been concentrated on the exteriors. Christian art neglected the exterior, leaving it of bare brick, conditioned in it-s form entirely by the interior arrangement and ])roj)or- tions. The arrangements of these churclies are elsewhere described. ( See Basilica ; Apse ; Transept ; Atrium; Xave: .isi£; Altar; CiioiK: Confession.) Structurally they were of little importance. Xo rivalry with the great domed and vaulted halls of the Roman imixrial baths was attempted. The interiors were roofed, and'the thin brick walls had simple doors and windows. The general composition was good — columnar vestibule to a higli, encircling wall: square open court or atrium; ojien porch with tliree doors leading into an oblong interior divid- ed into tliree or five aisles by rows of columns, supporting either a straight architrave or a line of arches. The doniiiuint note of the interiors was not fonn, light, and shade, but color, given by mosaic paintings (see ^Mosaics) or frescoes (see Fresco) on the walls and rich hangings be- tween the columns. (See Ha.ngixgs.) Tliis is what might be termed the oHieial style, prevalent tliroughout Italy and in Greek lands, but else- where other ideals prevailed. The following -sdiools may be distinguished: (1) Roman — in Koine, Milan, and most Italian cities; in south- ern Gaul; and in Rhenish Germany. (2) Orwco- Iloinan — with decidi'd Hellenic and Oriental in- fluences, in several cities of Italy, where this element was strong, as in Ravenna and Naples; in the Adriatic provinces of Istria and Dalmatia; and in Greece proper and the Balkan Pciiiiisuhi. (3) Asia Minor; with use of stone and of vault- ing, with heavier projiortions and dilTcrcnces in plan. (4) tii/ria, especially in the ruined cities of the Hauran, and regions of .Viilioch and Damas- cus, where stone styles of great originality were developed. (5) Egypt, where the Christian Copts drew both from ancient Eg^'])tian and from Hel- lenic Cliristian models. (0) Xorthcrn Africa, especially the present Algeria and Tunis, where the French excavations have brought to light a large number of early churches, but all in ruins. In these schools the earliest works were nearly always the finest, because in the Fourth Century the Roman Empire was still comparatively nourishing, and Imperial funds were lavishly used in building and decorating churches. The Church itself was far richer than during the barbarian inroads. The early Christian style lasted much longer in the West than in the East or in Greece, because the decay in. the West caused by the barbarian in- vasions prevented the develo]iments and clianges that were possible in the East, where civilization continued uninterruptedly at a high level. In Italy, Gaul, Spain, and (iermany it ruled far into the Middle Ages, the basilieal type of church prevailing in many jiarts until the Twelfth Cen- tury. But in the Orient, where it never had so uniform a type, it gradually gave way to what is termed the Byzantine style. In Saloniea (Thessalonica) , which came next to Constanti- nople as a Greek centre, the wooden - ceiled churches continued to be built side by side with the domical ones until the Eighth and Ninth centuries. But elsewhere, as early as the Sev- enth Century, the flimsier wooden-roofed style had been entirely superseded by the Byzantine vaulted structures. The following are some of the basilicas which remain wholly or in part: I