Early Christian and Late Antique Art and Architecture

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Early Christian, Late Antique, and Ravennate monuments, sarcophagi, and mosaic iconography.

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

A high-status Roman marble sarcophagus dated to 359 AD, created for city prefect Junius Bassus; it features two registers of classical column-framed niches illustrating Old and New Testament scenes flanking Christ enthroned.

Dura-Europos Baptistery

The earliest identified Christian house-church baptistery, dating to the mid-3rd century in Roman Syria, adorned with wall paintings including Christ as the Good Shepherd and Adam and Eve.

Samuel Anoints David (Dura-Europos Synagogue)

A 3rd-century synagogue wall tempera painting from Dura-Europos depicting the biblical prophet Samuel anointing David with oil in the presence of his brothers, rendered in a hieratic, frontal Late Antique aesthetic.

Christ as the Good Shepherd (Mausoleum of Galla Placidia)

A 5th-century lunette mosaic in Ravenna portraying Christ in royal gold and purple robes with a golden halo and cross-staff, seated in an idyllic pastoral setting surrounded by sheep.

Dogmatic Sarcophagus

A 4th-century early Christian marble sarcophagus (also known as the Trinity Sarcophagus) featuring two registers of biblical relief carvings and a central shell medallion portrait of the deceased couple.

Baptism of Christ (Arian Baptistery)

A late 5th-century dome mosaic medallion in Ravenna depicting the youthful Christ immersed in the waters of the Jordan, baptized by John the Baptist and attended by a personified river god.

Personification of the River Jordan

A classical river deity motif adapted into Christian iconography, depicted as an elderly bearded male figure holding a reed, reclining beside an urn of water, and bearing red crab claws upon his head.

Neonian Baptistery Dome Mosaic

A mid-5th-century mosaic ceiling in Ravenna depicting the Baptism of Christ in a central medallion, encircled by a concentric ring of the Twelve Apostles processing with crowns.

Triumphal Arch of San Paolo fuori le Mura

A monumental 5th-century Roman mosaic arch displaying Christ in a celestial roundel flanked by the symbols of the four evangelists, angels, and the twenty-four Elders of the Apocalypse holding wreaths.

Palatium Mosaic (Sant'Apollinare Nuovo)

A 6th-century nave wall mosaic in Ravenna showing the palace facade of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, characterized by arched porticoes draped with decorative curtains.

Vintage Mosaic (Santa Costanza)

A 4th-century ambulatory vault mosaic in Rome showing putti harvesting and pressing grapes into wine, uniting traditional Roman Bacchic harvest imagery with Christian Eucharistic meaning.

Asarotos Oikos (Santa Costanza Vault)

An ambulatory vault mosaic design derived from Hellenistic 'unswept floor' motifs, displaying scattered leaves, fruits, birds, mirrors, and domestic vessels across a bright ground.

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

A major 5th-century Roman papal basilica erected under Pope Sixtus III following the Council of Ephesus, containing a comprehensive cycle of surviving Early Christian nave and arch mosaics.

Melchizedek and Abraham Mosaic (Santa Maria Maggiore)

A 5th-century nave mosaic panel portraying the priest-king Melchizedek offering bread and wine to Abraham on horseback, serving as an Old Testament typological precursor to the Christian Eucharist.

Crossing of the Red Sea (Santa Maria Maggiore)

A dramatic nave mosaic composition in Rome illustrating the narrative from Exodus where the Egyptian army drowns in turbulent waters as Moses leads the Israelites to safety.

Annunciation (Santa Maria Maggiore)

A triumphal arch mosaic showing the Virgin Mary attired as an imperial Roman princess spinning purple yarn for the Temple veil while receiving the angelic message beneath a descending dove.

Adoration of the Magi (Santa Maria Maggiore)

A 5th-century triumphal arch mosaic in Rome portraying the Christ child enthroned upon a jeweled seat, attended by angels and Mary, receiving tribute from Magi clad in eastern Persian trousers and Phrygian caps.

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (Mausoleum of Galla Placidia)

A lunette mosaic depicting Saint Lawrence holding a processional cross and open book, striding toward a flaming iron gridiron opposite an open armarium containing the four Canonical Gospels.

Traditio Legis (Chapel of Sant'Aquilino)

An Early Christian visual schema depicting Christ standing atop the celestial orb, handing the scroll of the Law inscribed 'DOMINVS LEGEM DAT' to Saint Peter in the presence of Saint Paul.

Christ as Teacher Among the Apostles (Sant'Aquilino)

A late 4th-century apse mosaic in Milan depicting an enthroned, youthful Christ seated among his twelve apostles, accompanied by an open capsa containing scripture scrolls at his feet.

Basilica di San Lorenzo (Milan)

A late 4th-century imperial centralized Christian church in Milan designed as a tetraconch with a central dome, corner towers, and annex rotunda chapels including Sant'Aquilino.

Sacello di San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro

An early 5th-century funerary chapel within the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, famous for its dome paved entirely in radiant gold mosaic tiles centered on a portrait bust of Saint Victor.

Milan Five-Part Ivory Diptych

A 5th-century ivory book cover preserved in the treasury of Milan Cathedral, composed of five carved panels centered on a jeweled cross set within an architectural portal flanked by Christological scenes.

Wooden Doors of Santa Sabina

A set of carved cypress wood doors from the early 5th century in Rome containing eighteen surviving narrative panels, notable for featuring one of the earliest known artistic representations of the Crucifixion.

Lateran Baptistery (San Giovanni in Fonte)

The premier octagonal baptistery of Western Christendom, erected under Emperor Constantine adjacent to the Lateran Basilica, organized around an inner ring of porphyry columns surrounding the central font.