Waldemar Januszczak shows how Christianity emerged into the Roman Empire as an artistic force in the third and fourth centuries. Early Christians had no art but practised in secret and Januszczak purports the Rotas Square found throughout the Roman Empire such as at Pompeii were early Christian symbols along with the fish and anchor. With no description of Jesus in the Bible the Christians represented their God as a young slightly feminine man until the emergence of Saint Mary and with the adoption of Christianity by the emperor Constantine how Christian artists drew on images of ancient gods for inspiration for a more masculine Jesus and the development of new forms of architecture to contain their art.

Notes:

The Dark Ages: An Age of Light is a four-part documentary television series written, directed, and presented by art critic Waldemar Januszczak looking at the art and architecture of the Dark Ages that shows the era to be an age of enlightenment. Broadcast by the BBC in November and December 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zbtmp