Reply To: Graven Images

[Tamara Toy]

While the earlier cultures we have looked at have had direct representations of their deities, in Early Christian Art we see more symbolism, such as the fish representing Christ in the Catacomb of Priscilla. As well, most of the art we see here is almost documentation, such as the Madonna and Child, which does not enshrine a figure to be a false god. This makes the art more of an act of worship and makes the space sacred instead of it idolizing a figure. I think this is one reason we do not see a physical representation of God, as that would make it easy to model that representation after a person and creating a false idol.