Good Research Paper On Early Influence On Art AND Architecture

Influence of Christianity on Art and Architecture in Jerusalem

Introduction
Since time immemorial, art and architecture have been a culture in various communities. While art has been used to express views about life, design has been used in the display of the socio-economic lifestyle of a community (Freedberg, 1992, p. 12). Art and architecture date as early as the time of Old Testament in Egypt when a lot of paintings and arts were encrypted on King Pharaoh’s palace. In Jerusalem, the case is the same as arts and architecture were used to inform of the lifestyles of the inhabitants. In most parts of the world, architecture has been used to portray societal lifestyles, religions and culture in their unique forms (Issar, 2015, p. 23). The main goal of this thesis is to assess the effects of religion in art and architecture, exclusive to Jerusalem. Therefore, this paper will try to establish the time-relapse of Jerusalem’s art and architecture since the inception of Christianity. Additionally, the study will endeavor to look at the growth of art and architecture under Christianity’s influence.

In the ancient days of Christianity, as early as during the apostolic era (30-100 A.D.), persecution of the Christians was the order of the day. It became so hard for one to identify himself with Christianity. Due to the constant persecutions, Christians were forced to start gathering at their houses; “On some occasions, their churches homes were burnt, and people are killed” (Folda, 1995, p. 54). In remembrance of the Christian faiths who have been persecuted for their strong beliefs, a number of sculptures, statues, and other architectural works have been made. Between 202 and 210 AD, a massive sweep of Christians by the anti-Christians was carried out in Rome, Catharge, Corinth and Alexandria (Art, 1986, p. 34). It is during this period when St. Perpetua was murdered.
Figures 1&2: Paintings of Christians being persecuted in Rome in between 202 and 210 AD (Courtesy of Alexandria Museum)
In the above paintings, Christians were being paraded in Rome and persecuted in front of a multitude. Although not as profound as modern pieces of art, but the paintings have been kept in remembrance of the Christian lives that were lost for their strong belief in Christianity. During the persecution of the Christians, most of their artworks were made in resemblance to the pagans’, possibly as a way of escaping the wrath of being prosecuted (Art, 1986, p. 13).
Upon the end of persecution, the Christians started building very large churches while setting up big statues as a reminder of their faith. Over a very short time, their architecture brought along a lot of effects. Some of these first were built in Jerusalem, which was considered as the headquarters of Christianity. Some of the statues were created to depict the events and the life of Jesus Christ. In Brazil, a big statue of Jesus has been set up by the Christian fellowship as a reminder of the God’s only son who came to earth and was persecuted for the sake of all the Christians. The 100 feet high statue of Christ the Redeemer was set up in 1931. This came years after Pedro Maria Boss had proposed building of such statute in 1850 (Freedberg, 1992, p.23).
Figure 3: Statue of Jesus at the Corcovado Mountain, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (Courtesy of National Geographic, 2008).

Consequential influence

The use of different iconographies and symbols in Christian’s art and architecture clearly distinguished the art of Christian from that of the Jewish population. Their artistic works incorporated some of the artistic languages and techniques that were specific to the Christian fraternity. They would use biblical inscriptions that are in languages like Hebrews (Weightman, 1996, p. 58).Historical records indicate that, at the end of the oppression period (late 210 A.D.), Christianity now acquired land and capital to finance their projects. The Christian art mostly in Jerusalem deviated from borrowing in other culture but to experimenting with their style (Folda, 1995, p. 89).
In conclusion, most of the architecture in Jerusalem and other places as well has been significantly affected by Christianity. The arts and paintings of Jesus to the modern days draw a lot from the original works of figures of Jesus. Christianity has been so influential in the current architecture in Jerusalem and also other cities that conform to the Christian faith (Freedberg, 1992).

References

Art, T. M. (1986). Treasures of the Holy Land Ancient Art from the Israel Museum. New York. Pp.1-102
Folda, J. (1995). The art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 1-45
Freedberg, D. (1992). The power of images. Art History (15 ed., Vol. 2). Pp. 3-54
Issar, A. S. (2015, March). Macroscope: A Geologist Looks at the Stones of Jerusalem. American Scientist, pp. 408-409.
Weightman, B. A. (1996). Sacred Landscapes and the Phenomenon of Light. Geographical Review.