Art Review: Transition to Christianity, Onassis Cultural Center, NYC

CALIFORNIA LITERARY REVIEW
By Ed Voves

Plate with David fighting a Bear, Yr 628 – 30

NEW YORK - An insightful art exhibition at the Onassis Cultural Center in New York City is providing answers to one of the central mysteries of Western civilization. How did Christianity evolve from a persecuted religious sect under the Roman Empire into a global faith and one of the world’s greatest patrons of the arts? Transition to Christianity presents 170 rare artifacts from the third to the seventh centuries AD, many never seen before in the United States. These paintings, mosaics, sculptures, coins and sacred objects are the evidence for a great cultural awakening during an era often dismissed as the “Dark Ages.” Scholars now prefer the term “Late Antiquity” to show the continuity, rather than the breakdown, of civilization in this era. During this period, the early Christians borrowed and absorbed artistic motifs from the “pagan” religions around them to create a visual language for expressing their spiritual beliefs. [link]