Late antiquity is the transformation of classical theory to the ages in the Mediterranean, mainland Europe, Near East, and Africa. In addition, Individualism refers to a state where one feels that a person’s needs are more important than an individual or group’s needs. Loss of individualism on the other hand is a state where one loses sight of passion or forgets their potential of being a human. The decline means becoming less powerful from the Late Antique form by applying a new visual order based on standards rather than humanistic ones such as those of Greco- Roman art. The focus and justification are assumed to be Christianity (Olovsdotter, 2018). The processes shaped late antiquity’s abstract tendencies into an art of limited naturalism but with great spiritual intensity.
By studying individualism, one distinctively addresses the concepts of Christianity and paganism equally. In the study conducted by Olovsdotter (2018) self-care provided correctives on how Augustine depicted the western culture as not being the only game in town. Roman antics motifs were adapted by Early Christian art and architecture and were given new meanings to what it was pagan symbols.
Individualism in early Christian art was manifested through writers such as Augustine, particularly through his innermost personal counsel. He distinctively articulated the pervasive culture emancipated from the inner self visible to the subsequent generations of western writings (Olovsdotter, 2018). From the Late Antique, a decline of form and loss of individualism have been demonstrated to be among early Christian Art influences. It is seen through Augustine’s Counsel and Roman antics and many others.
Reference
Olovsdotter, A. C. (2018). Envisioning worlds in late antique art: New perspectives on abstraction and symbolism in Late-Roman and Early-Byzantine visual culture (C. 300-600). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.