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Within the 500 years of history from the introduction of Christian art around 200 CE until the ban on religious images in eighth century Byzantium,a continuity between the classical religious tradition and Christianity is evident. Syncretism, or the assimilation o ....

Middle of Essay
.... concept of a man-centered humanistic art was fading. Art shifted away from Hellenistic skills including foreshortening, atmostpheric perspective, and re-creating reality, toward a two dimensional symbolic approach with a more rigid style. "The contrast of light and shadow, the generation of natural forms, and the optical effects of classical art, gave way to newly abstracted forms with a concentration on sybolism played against the classical backdrop creating aesthic and emotional appeal. " (Byzantine Art in the Making, p.114) The Arch of Constantine and the statue group known as The Tetrarchs are examples of the collapse of the classical art forms ....