Guetta Villa is a magnificent structure, built by order of American businessman Paul Getty in 1974. This building was built in Malibu, and it became part of the museum, which belonged to Getty. The building is a copy of the Villa of the Papyri, which was destroyed along with Pompeii. The museum presents ancient artifacts from Greco-Roman Empire.
The collection includes a variety of statues, antique busts, collection of coins and jewelry and a huge library, where 20,000 volumes of works covering the art of that time presented. Collection is very interesting from the point of view of the Christian religion, because visitors, who have studied the New Testament, can identify a variety of Christian symbols in the exhibits at the Getty Villa exhibition.
In the prophecies of the Old Testament, God commanded the Messiah - Jesus of Nazareth, and basic information about Jesus can be found in the New Testament. New Testament is a collection of early Christian writings, proclaiming Jesus as Lord and savior, who gives people the New Testament, restores lost, in the result of the falling of the first people, connection with God.
The Lord has left us two books: the Scriptures Book and the Creation Book.Book of Creation - that is all around us, and it must be able to read. Art uses a set of symbols to transmit complex and profound meaning of the Old and New Testament. This custom dates back to ancient times. It is believed that the graphic language appeared to humanity long before verbal language. Rather, our ancestors exchanged some signs, symbols scrawled on the stone ruins, sand, or the wall of the cave. Extant shards vessels bear the traces of the first simple ornaments that profit is not just a decoration, but a kind of prayers, incantations.
What is the "symbol"? From the Greek language, this word is translated as a mark, warning sign. The artists of past eras often used symbols to transmit the idea of a work, and it was quite understandable.
Atheism has led to the fact that the author's intent has been considered exclusively through the plot. The symbolic value of the image did not disclose further in its entirety. Meanwhile, although the symbol, it is always a certain subject, it is interesting, first of all, for content hidden in it, which is revealed only in the context of a particular work of art and the era when it was created. One and the same character in different times and in different nations sometimes acquired the opposite meaning.
The Old Testament, as we know, strictly forbade any image of God. However, the Ark of the Covenant adorned image of two golden Cherubims. In the Bible there is a description of the tabernacle: all the materials from which it and the ark have to be made, their color, all the details specified in detail by the Lord on Mount Sinai. All the colors, materials and shapes are symbolic.
Incarnation of Jesus Christ made it possible to make an image of God. Roman catacombs stun us joyful and also symbolic drawings. Christians gathered to their first worships in the multi-storey underground cemeteries and decorated those severe walls with amazing drawings.
This is not the icon, but a symbol of Jesus Christ, the conventional language that is simple and touching. Ship (Jesus Christ leads His people into the Kingdom of Heaven), an anchor (a symbol of hope), vine (Eucharistic symbol), garlands of flowers (symbol of the kingdom of heaven), butterflies (a symbol of the resurrection of the human soul, joy, ability to transformations - from a caterpillar into a butterfly ) and even quite realistic door ("I am the door ").
Yet, a language adequate to the spiritual sense of the Gospel was not created and the first Christians readily used the language of antiquity, depicting Christ, Mary and the Apostles in the form of ancient heroes. So, Christ is portrayed, as Orpheus taming animals by singing, or Hermes, the Good Shepherd. Odysseus tied himself to the mast, sailing past the island with sirens singing, symbolizes Christ on the cross, too.
Of course, these images are more than symbols. The joy of salvation filled our fathers in the faith. They were not frightened nor of gloomy walls of underground cemeteries, nor of danger of being abandoned in the arena of the Colosseum. They saw heaven opened, and as children, glorified God.
Using symbols began actively to spread Christianity in the pagan world. This was due to the need to know like-minded people, as well as hide the secrets of the heathen religious rites. Gradually Christian art are turned out a whole system of symbols, and in this circle included not only the ancient stories, but also a variety of images from the Old and New Testaments.
References
The Gatty Villa. Art. Retrieved from http://www.getty.edu/visit/villa/art.html
Jason Urbanus. (2015, April 6). The Charred Scrolls of Herculaneum. Retrieved from http://www.archaeology.org/issues/175-1505/trenches/3166-trenches-italy-herculaneum-papyri-scanned
Christian symbols and their Meaning. Retrieved from http://www.ancient-symbols.com/christian_symbols.html
Warren Carter, "Greco-Roman Jesus", Retrieved from http://www.bibleodyssey.org/people/related-articles/greco-roman-jesus
The History Learning Site. (2015, March 16). Rome and Christianity. Retrieved from historylearningsite.co.uk.
