S. The Crucifix, which became the principal fea- ture of media;val churches, is naturally of still later date than the Cross, for the motives which caused the early Church to shrink from an open
the blithe spirit of Christian art in the first four centuries was certainly against the portrayal of scenes of suffering and sorrow ; representations of .scenes from the Passion are very rare (see below), and pictures of death or martyrdom do not occur.
That the death upon the Cross was ' I^^olI^^ln^'ss' to jiagans as well as a stumbling-block to the ,T( ■■ ■ " ■ ' " - " > ■- niriously illustrated by the caricature of : 1 ^nii-h was
scratched on the wall uf the p.ii:' Valine in
figure on the Cross has an ass's \u iHa wor-
shippcrwith the scrawled inscription .\Ai:.5A.>lh.M_ii iEBETE SEON (' Alexamenos adores his god ). This caricature is, as a matter of fact, the only picture of a crucifixiou that has been found within the first four centuries.
The earliest Christian example of any kind is on' a panel of the 5th cent, doors of St. Sabina at Rome, about a century and a half after Constantine had abolished the jjenalty of crucifixion. The next is in a 5th cent, ivory in the British Museum. The third is in a Syrian MS of the year 586, and is the earliest dated example. But all these three belong to the category of ' Scenes from the Gospels.' The earliest actualCrucifix that is extant is a small amulet at ^Munza, «liicli was given by Gregory the Great to AdahiwaM the sou of Queen Tlieo- dolind, and belongs therefore to the end of the 6th century. Early Christian literature (the reliability of which is illustrated by every fresh discovery in the realm of archaeology) is markedly silent on the subject, the lirst mention of a picture of the Crucifixion lii-iii'.; in tlic middle of the 6th century. At the close .f ilui . . niuiy Gregory of Tours sup- plies the cailii-i III' MU"n" of an actual Crucifix, when he telb u^ that there was one in a church at Narbonne, and that Christ appeared in a vision to rebuke this representation because of its naked- ness. About the time of Charlemagne (800) the use of Crucifixes became very general, and they gradually ceased to be of the ideal type ; but as this development belongs rather to the representa- tion of Christ in 'Scenes from the Gospels,' the details are given below under that heail.
ii. Types.— 1. Pagan. - Karly Clni-.tian art is classical not only in it^ n-^ii\i' .1I1..1U tlie Cross, not (mly in its use ol ihe oi.linai y <la>-ii'al decora- tive subjects, but also in its use ot certain pagan myths as symbolizing aspects of the Christian faith. It is remarkable that the moral value of the better elements of mythology should have been thus recognized at the very tombs of martyrs
CHRIST IN ART
CHRIST IN ART
who liad suHeied at the haniK <if ]ii<,aniMii Tin figure of 0//</(( ifs ^^as famiUai is i liiii n il \iiil 1 amon" the ancients because lit h 11 li u Eurydice from Hades- in thi i i ml i \ adopted by the Chiistians is i \iiilil il ili attractive powei of the MastLi liitic aio tm instances of Oipheus ^^lth his lyie in the Cata combs, tlie earliest being of the 2nd tentuiy. Sometimes Orphp != i t^i i scntp I m his mni pti( nm! Vhn
birds, and reptil I lltat
gather round, t r t M
in the place usually icbcnc I fut the L.uud "slKpheid
The story of Psi/( hr was similarly used, typify- ing here the love of God for the soul. Ulysses and the Sirens occuis seveial tunes on Chustian sar- cophagi, and HdiiiIls feeding the dragon with poppy-seed is also found. The jitacock and the phoenix, symbols of immoitalitj , and thus of Cbust triumphing ovei death, as well as thi (/ /j / carrier of souls to the Isles of the I'.ii I \\ other pagan types that continued m u i the Christians. In this connexion in i\ iNo 1 mentioned the ancient Egjptian symbol of the so called Nile key ^,* y> Inch v\ as used in textiles by the Christians in Egypt for seveial centuries aftei the conversion of that country.
2. OT types. — OT subjects are common in the Catacombs, and in some the principal figure is identified with Christ. This is the case with Moses striking the Kock, xvhere Moses becomes the type of Christ and the water a type of Baptism, the point being sometimes eniplias'ized by the con- junction of Christ drawing a fish out of the water, or in the sarcophagi by the raising of Lazarus. The Saerijice of Isaac was also a favourite suliject as typical of the Sacrifice of Christ. The story of Jonah was the most poimlai- of all (tlicre are 57 examples), as a type of tlic lli'suin rtiou which had been established by Christ llinisrlt (Mt, 11!'"). Im the story of TAe Three rhihlrm the- lij^ure of the Son of Man is sometimes introduced. Although such OT subjects as Adam and Eve do not readfly admit of the same typical treatment, yet in some 4th cent, sarcophagi Christ is introducpd as the Logos standing between them. Representa- tions of Noah appear as early as the end of the 1st cent., but the ark is a symliol both of deliverance and of Baptism (1 P 3-'), so that Noah represents the saved rather than the Saviour. From tlie 4th cent., when mosaics came into use, OT subjects were largely employed in the great apsidal decora-