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nEarly Christian art

nEarly Christian established art from non-Christian sources to represent their new Christian context. Early Christians borrowed some of art from the pagans cultures although they were restricted by spiritual teachings in the bible against production of idol (Gardner, and Kleiner, 4). In addition, the Christianity was predominantly a religion of people in the lower socio-economic status so they could not afford expensive architecture. Some of the art borrowed from pagans included mosaics, fresco, manuscript illuminations and sculptures.

nHowever, the early Christians had new meaning to the kind of art adopted from pagans culture. They adopted the image of Good Shepherd as the most common symbol representing Jesus Christ (Gardner, and Kleiner, 5). Besides, they also developed their own art since they refrained from adopting some pagan symbols such as fish (ikhtus).

nThe image of Good Shepherd is similar to the Greek symbol “Ram Bearer”. The ram bearer depicts a sacrificial goat, ram or calf being carried away on the shoulders of the owner to the place of sacrifice. The symbol existed several hundred years before the coming of Christ in Archaic Greek sculptures (Gardner, and Kleiner, 5). However, this image had a different meaning in the early church relative to the Greek culture. This symbol was used by the early church to symbolize the Lord Jesus as the Good shepherd, the protector and the loving guardian of His people.

nFurthermore the early Christian used the symbol to reflect the biblical teachings in the New Testament on the parable of Good shepherd (Gardner, and Kleiner, 7). It also acted as a representative of deeper spiritual meaning. The early Christians perceived themselves as different because their symbols were meant to encourage them in their faith during the difficult moments such as persecutions of Christian faithful.

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nWorks cited

nGardner, Helen, and Fred S Kleiner. Gardner’s Art Through The Ages. 1st ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.