Egyptian mummy portraits marked the incorporation of Greco-Roman style into Egyptian art.

At first glance, it appears that European medieval artists painting between 500 and 1300 lost all knowledge of the advances made by the Greeks and Romans. Dominated by Christianity, medieval art seems worlds apart from the light, fluid, earthly world of Greek art. But medieval artists actually absorbed Greco-Roman styles into their works. Even the golden halo that surrounds nearly every image of a saint, the Virgin Mary, or Christ has its artistic origins in the golden orb that surrounded images of Roman gods.

The Fusion of Rome and Christianity

This map of the Roman Empire during the reign of Trajan (98-117 C.E.) shows the extent of Rome's influence. Christianity and its artistic influences arose in Palestine, from where it spread westward to the rest of the Empire.

In fact European medieval art develops out of the Roman Near East.

Mosaics were far more common than paintings. This 2nd century Roman mosaic from Tunisia exemplifies Greco-Roman art at this time. Some of the features, such as the golden circle around the god Poseidon's head, can also be found in Christian art.

No culture escaped the influence of Greco-Roman art. And Rome could not escape the influence of the Near Eastern religions, such as Judaism and Christianity. While religious doctrines of both Jews and early Christians forbade creating images of living beings, paintings of biblical stories began to appear on the walls of synagogues and churches by the 3rd century.

The most spectacular paintings are found in remains of the synagogue in the ancient city of Dura-Europos in modern-day Syria and in the Christian catacombs in Rome. However, these early religious wall paintings appear crudely drawn in comparison with other Roman art of the time.

More and more, the purpose of art became to portray the spiritual world. There was no longer any interest in depicting three-dimensional figures. Rather, the new Christian philosophy scorned attention to the material body and encouraged its followers to focus on the soul. Painting mirrored this ideology.

The Purim Triumph, a 3rd-century fresco was found in the Dura Europos synagogue. The frescoes at Dura Europos fuse Roman and Near Eastern styles of painting.

Without any real precedents for painting in the Jewish and Christian religions, these early artists borrowed motifs from both Roman and Near Eastern styles. From Near Eastern art, Christian and Jewish painters used the size of figures and primary colors to indicate their importance. Often, figures are clothed in Persian garb. Intense eyes and furrowed brows, both noticeable in the Egyptian funerary portraits, become common motifs to capture piety.

Yet the paintings clearly copy styles from Greco-Roman art, too. Greek and Roman poses are adopted. Priests generally wear togas and important buildings are almost always depicted as Greek temples.

The wall paintings in the catacombs, including this one depicting Christ with his apostles, exemplify the style and role of painting in the first eight centuries of Christianity.

With the rise of the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, the political life of the Roman Empire shifted from Rome to the eastern city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). As Christianity became the official religion throughout the Mediterranean world, Christian art spread to the far reaches of the Empire.

European Medieval Art

Debate still raged in the eastern Byzantine Empire over whether Christians should even be allowed to depict images at all. Iconoclasts (from the Greek for "image breakers") in the Byzantine Empire destroyed sculptures and paintings that depicted Christ. Churches and monasteries were the only nominally safe havens for art.

Written around 800, the Book of Kells is one of the oldest surviving examples of illustrated manuscripts in Europe.

It's a wonder anything survived.

In the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great reinvigorated the creation of art as a holy act when he declared, "Painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who can read." This statement served as the guiding justification behind painting throughout the Middle Ages.

The Irish monks were the most skillful in teaching the Gospels through images in their illuminated manuscripts. Their paintings were as spiritual as the texts. The famous Book of Kells and Book of Durrow of the 7th and 8th centuries combined complex interlaced patterns from the local Celtic culture with the symbolism of Christianity. Colors continued to be used to separate some figures from the rest of humanity: Saints were embedded in gold, and bold reds and blues surrounded kings. Art increasingly focused on the supernatural, asserting complete independence from the material world. While the paintings lacked any effect of depth, they were rich in symbolic meaning.

The icon of St. John the Evangelist from the Dionysiou Monastery, dates to the 11th century. The Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire began construction of monasteries along Mount Athos as early as 971.

Not until the year 1000 did Europe start to gain political stability. Interest in the arts and other cultures flourished. Trade was ignited in Italy, and the Crusades to Jerusalem from 1095 to 1200 exposed Europeans to ancient Roman, Byzantine, and Middle Eastern artistic styles. All along the pilgrimage route, Romanesque ("Roman-like") churches — with their characteristic round arches and barrel vaults — sprang up. In France alone some 2000 churches of this period remain, and it is estimated that about 25,000 were built. The buildings were covered with sculptures and frescoes for the edification of illiterate pilgrims.

Radiant colors, suspended angels, penetrating eyes, and intricate symbols were the prevailing, motifs used to represent the supernatural world throughout the early Middle Ages.

But the rules were changing. The heavenly figures of medieval art would soon come off their golden thrones and be put back into an earthly perspective.

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