Art

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/54962441

A Egyptian bone panel of a ‘Pudica’ (modest) type Venus from the 4th-6th century.

She has similar features to more ancient counterparts, and adopts a symbolic pose with longstanding relevance. But in her squat body and stylised face, we can see the shifts that many art historians herald as the beginnings of “Early Medieval” art, as opposed to the high naturalism of “Classical” art.

Images like this one therefore remind us that the transition from the “pagan” to the “Christian” world was neither seamless, cohesive, nor immediate.

Late Antiquity marked a point where people experimented with form and function in art, in order to create new meanings and uses. But it also saw continuity and repetition; the preservation of ancient ways of life & being encoded in the preservation of artistic forms.

This is why studying the Late Antique world is so fascinating. It shows how change and tradition could exist alongside one another, and indeed influence one another.