Blackwell Reference Online

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[xiii.b] Early Christian worship was in houses, later specifically adapted for the purpose. There followed the basilica, a rectangular building with a semicircular apse for the altar at one end, and sometimes a separate baptistery for baptism (since early times ‘altar’ in Christianity has denoted the table where the ‘elements’ of the Eucharist are placed). In the East, domed churches developed which have remained characteristic to this day; and the building itself acts as an Icon. In the West the basic rectangle persisted, divided into a nave (for the congregation) and chancel (for the priest and main altar). Church plans then grew more elaborate (especially those of cathedrals and monasteries – see Church organization) to allow for multiple altars and masses. They also reflected the increased numbers and enhanced status of the priesthood, and more elaborate worship. The medieval Gothic cathedral [71; 159: iii, iv] was a complex symbol of the heavenly Jerusalem, expressed in the vertical emphasis of the building. Churches were filled with images which were the ‘Bible’ of the illiterate laity [64; 146: viii] Renaissance centre-plan domed churches of the 15th century used styles influenced by classical antiquity. They have been accused of being merely ‘humanist’ [159: 182–4]. Their architects, however, explained them in religious Neoplatonic terms as symbols of God [207: 1]. The Counter-reformation ... log in or subscribe to read full text