The Gemma Augustea was created in the first century CE which was largely defined by the extreme skill of art and architecture. It is a large onyx cameo with two registers that glorify the emperor, Augustus, after he defeated the barbarians. It also portrays Tiberius, who was the adopted son of Augustus, as a strong and powerful new ruler who was heir to the throne. The Roman’s style was largely inspired by the Greeks and they looked back for inspiration to create their own works. For example, the idealized and perfectly proportioned figures stems from the Greeks own artistic principles. They also possess the action of the classical Greek period. However the Roman aspect of their famous portraiture is also very prominent in this piece. The faces of the figures are not flawless, but show their true character and evoke emotion from their expression. Much of the Romans artwork glorifies the rulers so much that they have a godlike appearance. In this particular piece, the top register shows that Augustus even assumes the position of Jupiter who is the king of the gods and has an eagle at his feet, also symbolic of Jupiter. The rounded circle by his head shows the symbol for Capricorn, which was his zodiac. Tiberius is placed at the far left, stepping off the chariot after defeating the Germans. On the bottom register it shows Roman soldiers raising their enemy’s armor to show their triumph and the barbarians are tied up and sitting on the ground.
The marble sculpted Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is an early Christian artwork dating back to 359 CE. Like the Gemme Augustea, it is packed with many elaborate figural scenes. The columns and entablatures that separate the registers and frames are very similar to classic Roman art and architecture. Each frame tells a story from the Hebrew Bible of a teaching or historical event of Christ and the Lord. On the top left Abraham is pictured after passing a test of faith and escaping the fate of having to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Another famous story is depicted on the bottom register, second to the left. An ashamed Adam and Eve stand next to each other with their heads turned away after they have just sinned by taking and eating the fruit from the tree in the middle of them. The conniving serpent is wrapped around it. Both the top and the bottom also have central focuses of Christ. At the top center there is Christ serving as the Roman Emperor and giving out scrolls of his word to Peter and Paul who stand on either side of him. It is shown in this image that he is the ruler of the cosmos. On the bottom it shows Jesus entering the sacred land of Jerusalem like an emperor would enter his own land. Comparing the skill of early Christian art to the Roman art that preceded it, it is quite clear that the artists lost the skill set that had before been mastered. Although this piece is very detailed and intricate, the figures do not appear as idealized or perfectly proportioned as they did before. It is also much less expressive when compared to the action filled classical art and emotional Roman portraits.
It is clear when studying Christian artwork that they had much influence from their earlier Roman ancestors. However the Romans were often said to have taken their inspiration from the even earlier Greeks. New cultures that emerge are always founded upon the past and without that inspiration to create new works of art, there would be a constant cycle of beginning from nothing. The biggest differences in the works of the Romans and Christians were the subject matter. The Romans most often centered their works on glorifying a victorious emperor just as the Gemma Augustea does to rulers Augustus and Tiberius. They looked to their historical past to create works of art that accredited certain individuals for paving the way for them. While before the only real religious references in works of art were the many mythological gods, the Christian brought upon this new idea of religion and incorporated it much more into their work. Most of the stories in Christian art are from the Hebrew Bible and show Christ as the ruler instead of glorifying an emperor. The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus shows many Biblical stories including Abraham and his test of faith, Daniel being saved by God from the lions, and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Christian artists used the Roman’s pagan past and applied it to Christian principles using the Bible as their focus instead of rulers. They also set up their pieces very similarly by having multiple registers to depict different scenes. Although there were much more marble and stone sculptures in the Roman days, some did exist in the Christian era like the sarcophagus. There are several from the Roman period that were elaborately decorated and the Christians carried this out.
