Early Christian art borrowed many Roman and Pagan traditions with the use of their iconography and architecture. Both used sculpture to convey their ideals to their audience, for example in Rome Augustus of Primaporta, 1st century, Musei Vaticani, Bracooio Nuovo, Rome, is used to convey the idea of Augustus being a strong leader for the empire and at his legs is the god Cupid signaling his divine heritage. This sculpture stands as 6’ 8” made of marble. Early Christians used both the Roman style and use of propaganda with The Good Shepherd Anatolia, Cleveland Museum of Art. These two sculpture share naturalistic styles with the figure standing with contrapposto. Rather than being a large life size sculpture, The Good Shepherd was a mere 19 …show more content…
Natural light is used by both to create a sense of divine light by pouring through windows into the cathedral and changing the color by the use of stained glass. The Hagia Sophia uses round arches and dome decorated with many golden mosaics and marble to decorate the space and while the Cathedral of Notre-Dame uses tall pointed arches and stained glass narrative images to decorate its space. The massive middle dome of the Hagia Sophia was supported not only by the pendentives surrounding its base but by its two conches that supported the outward force the central dome was exerting. Flying buttresses supported the nave vaults within the cathedral and instead of domes pinnacles and finials were used for decorating and creating the signature Gothic look in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. The early Christians based many of their churches on the basilicas of the pagans, using them as models to construct churches such as the Old St. Peter’s in Rome. From the early years of having small churches to the time of the Hagia Sophia and Cathedral of Notre-Dame the need for a larger space grew tremendously. Both buildings were designed to hold many worshippers and both serve as architectural wonders to