The styles of sculpture
with a lot of love for the Orthodox ecclesiastical tradition
Byzantine art is primarily called the artistic production of the Byzantine Empire, from the 4th Century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, and consequently the art that followed the same principles beyond the spatio-temporal boundaries of this specific state entity. Throughout time, the most important center of Byzantine art was the empire capital, Constantinople, but the radiance of Byzantine art spread to a large part of the Mediterranean world and to Eastern Europe up to Russia and Armenia. It also met creatively with the medieval art of the West and the Islamic world, contributing thus to the emergence of hybrid artistic currents.
By the term early Christian art, we mean the art that developed within the Christian religion area, from the first years that Christianity emerged up to the time of iconoclasm. During the three first centuries, until 313 AD, we can not literally refer to it as art, since the new religion is persecuted.
The catacombs have to display artistic elements with a symbolic character.
With the symbols, the sculptors of the time sought:
a) To make the basic truths of Christianity (faith, love, hope, salvation, eternity) understood.
b) To protect and conceal these truths from the persecutors of the new religion.
c) To spread the basic ideals of Christianity, with the appropriate selection and use of symbols.
The term Baroque refers either to the historical period 1600 – 1750 that followed the Renaissance (especially Mannerism), or to the specific artistic style that was formed during this period. The Baroque style was a new form of expression, which was born in Rome, Italy, and spread from there to almost all of Europe. It was characterized by a strong dramatic and emotional element, while it applied mainly to architecture, sculpture and music, but it is also found in literature or painting.
Thus, it was applied over time to the religious sculpture of Orthodoxy with its own special style, with well-known works adorning the Holy Temples in Pelion
