The term "Early Christian" is mostly used to describe buildings. It was in this time that Christianity was officially recognized as the religion of Constantine's empire in Europe, which in turn started the era of church building. In order to further understand the form of buildings from this time period, we are going to take a look at a couple of the more well-known structures.
This palace that was built under the rule of Constantine is the purest example of the basilica form. It is a column free rectangle with an apse at one end. The rectangular area was used to hold the audience and the apse for a speaker, statue, or an altar. It is a very large structure that holds great simplistic design with its importance in size and reservation with decoration. This basilica is an ancient forerunner to modern buildings that seek to explore the idea of universal space.
This building shows how architects started with the basilica form and refined it to respond to the specifics of a Christian service. Unlike the most simplistic basilica form, this structure introduced aisles with a row of columns to separate the aisles from the nave. The addition renders the building more grander and allows for more definitive space. Sant'Apollinare is also one church of many that includes a mosaic (or fresco) in the apse that features a prominent story of the life of Christ.
This basilica in Oviedo shows a distance from classical prototypes of this time. The Spanish churches of the period depart from the basilica form with their development of the transept, crossing tower, and generally more complicated interior layouts. A transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform (or cross-shaped) building and the crossing tower would typically occur centrally above the transept.
Modern Examples
Many modern churches are based off of the simple basilica form. Many sanctuaries have a main rectangular area for the audience or members of the church and an apse at the end for the speaker. This can be seen below with a modern sanctuary and the two church exteriors.
Helpful Videos
Early Basilica Churches | http://youtu.be/O1HVlFQ-t3M
Exterior of Sant'Apollinare | http://youtu.be/DznmwKqTCQA
Peer Reviews
Micah | I really enjoyed reading Micah's blog and the video she posted a link to was very helpful in summarizing Early Christian design. It's helpful to have all the ideas and main points reinforced.
Emma | The picture of the chest that Emma posted was very interesting to see since there is not much information available about furniture from this time. Emma also did a really good job at summarizing the Early Christian design period.
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