The Arch of Constantine stands proud in Rome next to the Colosseum. It is a significant work of art, not only in size and design but because it has great historical and religious significance as well. It is religiously significant because it commemorates the battle that led the Emperor, Constantine to convert to Christianity. That battle is known as the Battle of Milvian Bridge and was fought in 312 A.D. It is said that Constantine had a vision that he was to conquer in the name of the Lord, marching into battle with the cross as his conquering symbol. The Arch was dedicated 3 years later after the victory, in 315 A.D. The Arch is also symbolic of the Edich of Milan that was issued, which served as a model of religious toleration. The structure itself is made of three arches, with a most of the detailed decoration dating to early fourth century C.E. work. On the top section there is an inscription over the central arch that states: “To the Emperor Constantine from the Senate and the Roman People. Since through divine inspiration and great wisdom he has delivered the state from the tyrant and his party by his army and noble arms, [we] dedicate this arch, decorated with triumphal insignia.” On either side of the inscription are panels that have been recycled to be put onto this monument and were taken from another. They are relief panels taken from the monument that celebrated the victory of Marcus Aurelius over the Germans in 174 C.E. The piers are immense statues of prisoners, and on the inner walls of the central arch and the attic of the short sides there are reliefs, all which serve to celebrate Trajan’s victory over the Dacians in the early second century C.E. The side arches have a pair of Tondi, or circular compositions, that were taken from another monument, which commemorated Hadrian. Overall this is quite and impressive structure, which was made out of recycled parts to other monuments, and served to commemorate Constantine’s victory to show is power and generosity to the public.
Christians often adapted Roman forms for their own needs. An example of this is seen in the monumental stone sarcophagi. The Sarcophagus of Constantina was constructed in 354 and reached a height of 7’5”. It was constructed out of porphyry and sits in the Musei Vaticani, Vatican, Rome. It is decorated with scenes of putti, which is the process of making wine. The three scenes on the front are framed by three circular shapes of a grapevine. The rest of the swirl shapes above and below the three framed scenes are offshoots from the main vine, but is still part of the larger grapevine. There are peacocks on the rectangular burial structure as well, which symbolize eternal life in paradise in paradise. There is a lone sheep which could be representative of a member of Jesus’ flock, and it is theorized to symbolize Constantina herself. The sides contain other scenes of putti.
The connections between the Roman art and early Christian art may be quite intriguing to an art historian but may be even more intriguing to a Christian. The history of the Roman Empire and art are intertwined with that of the history of Christianity. Christianity existed during the time of the Roman empire and was spread throughout the land of Rome, however Christian were not as popular as when Constantine decided that Christianity was the religion of the Roman Empire. Christians were persecuted and sought out as the opposing minority to the Roman Empire. However as upper-class educated Romans joined the Christian Church they established a cultural influence over the practices, rituals and doctrine of the church. The Christian art that followed the increase in popularity of the religion have roots in Roman visual characteristics. As Christians began to recreate the stories of the Bible into visual pieces, not only would the Roman styles be a prominent part of the representation but they would add to the meaning as well. For example the sarcophagus of Constantina has stylistic features to that of Roman art, the form and the figures can be related to the features of Roman art. The motifs are similar, the theme is one that is found in Roman culture. The silver plate at the beginning of Chapter 7 illustrates the strong linkage between Roman styles and culture with representations of the Christian stories. The stylistic features are that of Roman art and the connection of the story of David and Goliath could have been related to the situation of the emperor and the emperor’s enemies at the time. One other stylistic feature that can be related between the pieces I have already discussed, the Arch of Constantine and the sarcophagus of Constantina, are the circular framed scenes on both structures. Both have figures that are enacting a scene that is symbolic of something else of significance. As one can see, Christian art has been related to Roman art from the beginning.
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