Early Christian

1st to 6th Century

Early Christian

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

c. 359 A.D.

Marble

3'10" x 8'

Vatican Grottoes, Rome

Encaustic panel painting of Madonna and Child, flanked by

Saints Theodore and George and two angels. Perhaps made in

Constantinople at beg. 7th c. A.D. (Sinai: St. Katherine's Monastery).

68.5 x 48 cm. Frontal saints are intense and flatened. The angels are

more impressionistic. The style therefore adapts to the three levels

of reality.  

Miniature from the Four Gospels: Saint Mathew. Reims school, 845-882 (New York: Morgan Library M.728 f.14 v.). The Four Gospels were produced under the rule of Archbishop Hincmar of Reims (845-882), Europe's most powerful politician in the ninth century.