The herald., 1894-11-06
EARLY CHRISTIAN ART.
MRS. .CASWELL'S ART TALK On
SATURDAY.
The Art Bora in the CasacOmbs Dis
placed That Which Grew Under
Pagan Infiuencs-A Bright
and Instructive Address.

and Instructive Address.
In her art talk last Saturday at the
Marlborough school, Mrs. Casweli frat
referred to early Christian and Byzantine
art, saying that Pagan art dies when
Christian art is born-in the cata-
combs;" the cstacombs that were first
only sepulohres extending for only 800
miles. Then followed an interesting
description OF the catscombs; the burn
ing of their dead by the pagans, while
the Christians buried theirs. The
tombs of the bishops were made larger
than others, and decorated; hence the
chip, anchor, Good Shepherd, pelican,
peacock, naked bodies, etc. No crosa
was represented, no emblems of suffer-
ing as the Dies Ire, cruoifxions, etc.,
until the beginning of the tenth century
alter this the representations of God be-
came melancholy and terrible. Church
councils have always disagreed az to the
representations of Christ, whether they
should be haggard because of his hum
BILE origin. or beautiful because OF his
heavenly origin.
The reign of Constantine, 1923 A. D.,
marks the change from the worship of
gods and goddesses, and the building of
pagan temples, to the worship OF Christ
and the building of Christian churches.
Mrs. Caswell then spoke of the origin
of l. HI. S., the initial letters OF the in
scription, in hoo signo vinces, on the
luminous cross seen by Constantine in
the sky when in 3l2 A. D. he was on the
march to attack Maxentius, near Rome.
The battle resulted in Constantine's ia.
vor, and the omen was the direct cause
OF his conversion to Christianity.
About this time sculpture and paint.
ing took up Christian legends and Christ
Adam, Eve, Noah, and Daniel took the
place of Jupiter, Juno, Hercules, Apollo
and Mercury. Architecture developed,
too, in basilica churches in Rome and
Byzantine churches in Constanti-
nople, while the pagan ritual addressed
the ear by prayers. hymna and sermons.
Basilics was then defined as having
been originally the palace of king,
afterward used to indicate place where
the Roman courts of justice were held !;
ita former parallelogram, with portico
at either end, and covered with e roof
supported by rows of columns. Some
basilicas were later used for Christian
churches, Constantine after his conver-
sion giving them to the Roman Christ
ians, who kept the name, and added
high altar, which is the central point to
which the parallel lines of columns lead
the eye. Apse, chancsl and nave were
then defined and, g. examples of basili-
ca churches, were given old st. Peters,
San Clemente, Santa Maria Maggiore
and ST. Pauls outside the walls. Bap-
Histories and campaniles were then
spoken OF, the former. buildings used
for the performance OF the baptismal
rites; the latter, bsl-towers,
both frequently standing de-
taohsd from the building
to which they belong then the Panthe-
on of Agrippa, temple OF circular
form, built by Agrippa, son'in.law to
Augustus, and dedicated to all heather
deities; but now a church dedicated to
the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs.
| Byzantine architecture was described
as that adopted by Constatine whsn he
removed his capital to Byzantium and
renamed the city Constantinople; the
main features are the ground plan. q
cross with four equal arms i've domes,
round arches, yards OF gold mosaic. lean
fgures, with stiff draperies and no ex.
preston; delicate vines and tendrils,
and birds. Santa Sophia and ST..
Marks are the types of this style, ST..
Marks the finest architectural group
extant, Pisa the second, Florence the
third.
Mrs. Caswell was suddenly taken i'll
before she had finished and rounded out
her talk as she wished, and next Satur.
day, before the regular subject is en-
tered upon, she will give brief resume
OF the last, and all holders of single
tickets for last week will be admitted
on the same tickets next Saturday when
the regular subject is Florence and
Florentine sculptors: Ghiberti, Dona-
tello, Della Robbia. aud Michael An-
| gelo.
Henry Wilson, the postmaster at
Welshton, Florida, says he cured Case
| Of diarrhea of long standing in elk
hours with one small bottle OF mber-
lain's Collie, Cholera and Diarrhea
Remedy. What a pleasant surprise
that must have been to the sufferer.
| Such cures are not unusual with
this remedy. In many instances only
one or two doses are required to give
ro1i.f ai ks.A A,-