rt and squat, coarse in the joints, hands,
and feet, and almost expressionless in the face. Christian life at
that time was passion-strung, but the faces in art do not show it, for
the reason that the Roman frescos were the painter's model, not the
people of the Christian community about him. There was nothing like a
realistic presentation at this time. The type alone was given.

In the drawing it was not so good as that shown in the Roman and
Pompeian frescos. There was a mechanism about its production, a
copying by unskilled hands, a negligence or an ignorance of form that
showed everywhere. The coloring, again, was a conventional scheme of
flat tints in reddish-browns and bluish-greens, with heavy outline
bands of brown. There was little perspective or background, and the
figures in panels were separated by vines, leaves, or other ornamental
division lines. Some relief was given to the figure by the brown
outlines. Light-and-shade was not well rendered, and composition was
formal. The great part of this early work was done in fresco after the
Roman formula, and was executed on the walls of the Catacombs. Other
forms of art showed in the gilded glasses, in manuscript illumination,
and, later, in the mosaics.

Technically the work begins to decline from the beginning in
proportion as painting was removed from the knowledge of the ancient
world. About the fifth century the figure grew heavy and stiff. A new
type began to show itself. The Roman toga was exchanged for the long
liturgical garment which hid the proportions of the body, the lines
grew hard and dark, a golden nimbus appeared about the head, and the
patriarchal in appearance came into art. The youthful Orphic face of
Christ changed to a solemn visage, with large, round eyes, saint-like
beard, and melancholy air. The classic qualities were fast
disappearing. Eastern types and elements were being introduced
through Byzantium. Oriental ornamentation, gold embossing, rich color
were doing away with form, perspective, light-and-shade, and
background.

[Illustration: FIG. 19.--CHRIST AS GOOD SHEPHERD. MOSAIC, RAVENNA,
FIFTH CENTURY.]

The color was rich and the mechanical workmanship fair for the time,
but the figure had become paralytic. It shrouded itself in a sack-like
brocaded gown, had no feet at times, and instead of standing on the
ground hung in the air. Facial expression ran to contorted features,
holiness became moroseness, and sadness sulkiness. The