Carved for a Roman city prefect who was a newly baptized Christian at his death, the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is not only a magnificent example of "the fine style" of mid-fourth-century sculpture but also a treasury of early Christian iconography clearly indicating the Christianization of Rome--and the Romanization of Christianity. Whereas most previous scholarship has focused on the style of the sarcophagus, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon explores the perplexing elements of its iconography in their fourth-century context. In so doing she reveals the distinction between "pagan" and Christian images to be less rigid than sometimes thought. Against the background of earlier and contemporary art and religious literature, Malbon explicates the relationship of the facade's two levels of scenes depicting stories from the Old and New Testaments, the connection between the scenes on the facade with those on the lid and ends of the sarcophagus, and the integration of pagan elements within a Christian work. What emerges is a carefully constructed iconographic program shedding light on the development of early Christian art within late antique culture. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Between the third and sixth centuries, the ancient gods, goddesses, and heroes who had populated the imagination of humankind for a millennium were replaced by a new imagery of Christ and his saints. Thomas Mathews explores the many different, often surprising, artistic images and religious interpretations of Christ during this period. He challenges the accepted theory of the "Emperor Mystique," which, interpreting Christ as king, derives the vocabulary of Christian art from the propagandistic imagery of the Roman emperor. This revised edition contains a new preface by the author and a new chapter on the origin and development of icons in private domestic cult.

Understanding Early Christian Art is designed for students of both religion and of art history. It makes the critical tools of art historians accessible to students of religion, to help them understand better the visual representations of Christianity. It will also aid art historians in comprehending the complex theology, history and context of Christian art. This interdisciplinary and boundary-breaking approach will enable students in several fields to further their understanding and knowledge of the art of the early Christian era. Understanding Early Christian Art contains over fifty images with parallel text.

An authoritative account of early Christian and Byzantine art.

This book honors the extraordinary contribution of Elizabeth Struthers Malbon to biblical studies. In the opening chapter, Werner Kelber places Malbon's work within the larger context of critical reflection, from antiquity to the modern era, on the role and function of discourse. Kelber locates Malbon's approach squarely within the framework of modernity and concludes that her “supremely creative achievement has been the employment of modern, narrative critical tools with a view toward uncovering the fecundity of the gospel of Mark.” Drawing from and conversing with Professor Malbon's extensive publications, each of the five sections engages a theme from her works, focusing particularly on the Gospel of Mark. This tribute includes meaning as narrative, issues in methodology, studies in characterization, narrative readings of specific texts, and aesthetic and political readings. Contributors include: Werner H. Kelber; R. Alan Culpepper; Kelly R. Iverson; Mikeal C. Parsons; David Barr; David J.A. Clines; Robert C. Tannehill; J. Cheryl Exum; Heidi Hornik and Richard Walsh.

A collection of essays exploring key aspects of the relationship between Rome and its empire.

The argument moves from the art and civilization of ancient Egypt to that of modern Europe and effortlessly reveals a full and surprising range of language in art - from the magical to the impious, from the ambiguous to the didactic, scientific, and propagandistic.

This study of the beginnings of Christian art looks at the period when Christianity co-existed alongside paganism, and identifies juxtapositions of paganism in Christian art. Chapters discuss iconography and ritual space, architecture, and the re-use of monuments and other artworks. Throughout Suzawa uses the theological concept of syncretism to analyse these juxtapositions.

Robert Couzin’s Right and Left in Early Christian and Medieval Art provides the first in-depth study of handedness, position, and direction in the visual culture of Europe and Byzantium from the fourth to the fourteenth century.