c. 425 AD
Mosaic
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna
Soon after the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of Rome
Christ's appearance in art underwent a radical makeover to rival those on modern daytime
talk shows. Human nature explains a great deal about this transformation from simple
Jewish carpenter's son to regal King of Heaven. Byzantine emperors, steeped in a tradition
going back to the glory days of Imperial Rome, just could not seem bring themselves to
worship images of Christ as he probably really looked.
For this reason we see Christ now wearing the finest of
Roman togas and not the simple attire a carpenter would have worn—he seems to have
been dressed by the ancestors of Armani and Gucci rather than an earlier version of J.C.
Penny's.
