The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity<br><br>The art of the catacombs is the first outward manifestation of Christian culture and shows in a remarkable Way how the external forms of the old roman-hellenistic culture were assimilated and modified by the new Spiritual forces. Early Christian art took over the traditional commonplaces of the Hellenistic house - decorator and infused them with a pro found Spiritual meaning. The subjects are mere generalised types or symbols_ - a fish a clove or a figure borrowed from heathen mythology - the value of which consists entirely in their hieratic and mystical significance to the initiated. Of these figures the most popular is that of a woman in an attitude of prayer - the oransma figure that symbolised at once the soul of the deceased the freed and enlightened Spirit of man and also the Virgin Church the Bride of the Spirit.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases an imperfection in the original such as a blemish or missing page may be replicated in our edition. We do however repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.