Between the third and sixth centuries, the ancient gods, goddesses, and heroes who had populated the imagination of humankind for a millennium were replaced by a new imagery of Christ and his saints. This title explores the many different, often surprising, artistic images and religious interpretations of Christ during this period.

"This book presents an up-to-date and original survey of Early Christian art and its origins, and attacks the current idea of continuity between the Roman emperor cult and the art of the early church. Conservative readers may well be shocked by this lucid but utterly unconventional presentation of an often treated subject. I find Thomas Mathews's work convincing and impressive."--Hugo Buchthal

"Not only does Mathews present bold arguments that I find persuasive, but his book is exciting to read. He removes the images of Christ from the iconography of the emperor and puts them into the far more plausible context of late antique teachers and wonder-workers."--G. W. Bowersock

"This is a sumptuously illustrated book, in which the pictures are well married to the text. It makes an illuminating way into patristic theology and the religions of the first six centuries."---Leslie Holden, Theology