“The forms of ancient Christian, as of late Roman, art are psychologically, not metaphysically expressive; they are expressionistic but not revelatory. The wide open eyes of late Roman portraits express intensity of soul, spiritual tension, a life that is strongly emotional; but it is a life which is without any metaphysical background and as such has no inner relation to Christianity. It is in fact the product of conditions which obtained long before Christianity emerged. The tension which Christian doctrine resolves was already beginning to be felt in the Hellenistic age; though Christianity soon produced answers to the questions that troubled those times, the work of many generations was needed before those answers could be expressed in forms of art—these were by no means simultaneous with the enunciation of the doctrine itself.”
Quote by Arnold Hauser
Work
The Social History of Art, Volume 1: From Prehistoric Times to the Middle Ages
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
“Emotions drive behavior- Every decision is an emotional decision at some level.”
Source: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Source: The Charnel Rose Senlin a Biography and Other Poems - Scholar's Choice Edition
“We must create the happiness we want to feel; we should feel the thrill of happiness all the time.”
Source: You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories
Source: The Seven Storey Mountain
Source: The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict