10 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



poverty perhaps, and perhaps by the Eastern 

 fear of the ' graven image,' continued to re- 

 present Christ as the True Vine and the Apostles 

 as sheep or as doves. 



But at the beginning of the fourth century 

 the Emperor Constantine established Chris- 

 tianity as the reUgion of the state. New, and 

 often magnificent, churches were built in each 

 town and the Emperor placed in the hands 

 of the ecclesiastics a large portion of the royal 

 revenues. 



In these grand new basilicas the simple 

 decoration of the Catacombs and tiny ancient 

 chapels was not sufficient. The ample walls 

 offered a splendid field for the mosaicist and 

 Byzantine taste demanded elaborate pictorial 

 effects. Representations of the Redeemer 

 appeared surrounded by the Apostles, the pro- 

 phets and the four-and-twenty elders of Reve- 

 lation. Saints and martyrs were introduced, 

 and later we find imperial personages, Justinian 

 surrounded by his guards and Theodora followed 

 by the ladies of her court. It became necessary 

 to distinguish the figures one from another and 

 therefore symbolism was largely introduced. 



