What are the mythologies of art

The following discussion of the uses of classical mythology in art is meant to serve as a broad overview and proceeds chronologically. For the in-depth treatment of specific mythological themes and characters in art consult the individual Representations in Art sections in the relevant chapters.

Despite the decline of the influence of the gods in the life of the cities and individuals, they continued to be a source of allegory, especially in funerary art. With the spread of inhumation (from about a. d. 140), wealthy patrons commissioned reliefs on sarcophagi (i. e., marble or stone coffins), whose mythological subjects were allegories of the resurrection of the soul (the finding of Ariadne by Dionysus, illustrated on p. 605, was especially popular in this connection), the triumph of virtue over evil (e. g., the Labors of Heracles or scenes of battles with the Amazons), or hope for everlasting life (symbolized especially by Dionysus and the vine). These subjects were equally appropriate for pagan and Christian patrons, and so classical mythology continued to provide material for artistic representations even after the triumph of Christianity.

Here are a few examples from the third and fourth centuries. In the cemetery beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is a third-century wall mosaic showing Christ with the attributes of Apollo as sun-god (see p. 268). He ascends in the chariot of the sun, whose rays, as well as the cross, emanates from his head, while in the background the vine of Dionysus is both a decorative and a symbolic feature. Also in the third century, Christ appears as Orpheus in a fresco in a Christian catacomb in Rome, and a century later Hercules is shown killing the Hydra in another Christian catacomb fresco. In the fourth century, a Christian woman, Project, had her splendid silver-gilt wedding casket decorated with figures of the Muses and of sea-gods and goddesses attended by mythological monsters. The Muses and sea divinities appear in mosaics from the provinces, including Britain and Germany, and the myth of Actaeon is the subject of a third-century mosaic from Cirencester (the Roman Corinium) in Britain.

Of all mythological figures, Dionysus proved the most durable, in part because the vine was a powerful symbol in Christian allegory, in part because Dionysus and his myths were associated with mysteries that gave hope of salvation to individuals. The myth of Ariadne (mentioned earlier) often appears for this reason. In the Church of Santa Costanza at Rome, built in the fourth century to house the sarcophagi of members of the Christian emperor Constantine’s family, the vault mosaics show Dionysus and the vintage in a Christian context. The vintage is again the subject of the reliefs on the sarcophagus of Constantine’s daughter. In contexts that may be Christian or pagan, Dionysus and his maenads, along with Hercules and his lion, appear on the silver dishes from the fourth century that were found at Mildenhall in Britain. An opponent of Dionysus, the Thracian king Lycurgus, is the subject of a floor mosaic now in Vienna and of a famous glass cup, both showing Lycurgus trapped in the god’s vine.

Scenes from classical mythology continued to inspire painters of manuscript illuminations. For example, the "Vatican Vergil" manuscript of about a. d. 400 has forty-one miniatures, and there are ten in the so-called Vergilius Romanus manuscript, which dates from the fifth century (see p. 682). Mythological figures maintained their classical forms better in the Byzantine East than in the West. They appear in manuscripts, on ivory plaques (see the illustration on p. 559) and boxes, and in many other media, including silver work, pottery, and textiles.