The term Gothic was applied originally as one of contempt in the fifteenth century by the architects of the Renaissance, who attempted to reproduce the ancient architecture of Rome, and considered Mediæval Art, which had ruled all departments of design throughout Europe during the three preceding centuries, to be no better than the invention of the Barbarians, the Goths, and the Vandals, who overran the Roman Empire in the fourth century. During the three previous centuries the persecuted converts to Christianity were driven to take refuge in any hiding-place available. In Rome they descended to the _Catacombs_, the underground workings of the ancient Roman stone quarries, consisting of narrow, low passages, their aggregate lengths amounting to hundreds of miles. There they quarried out of the rock their chambers for assembly, where they gathered for worship in the light of torches or lamps, and excavated recesses for the burial of their dead. These chambers were imitated in the form of the _Crypts_ (hidden chambers) existing under some churches and cathedrals. (Compare Plate I., Figs. 1 and 2.) The walls of the catacombs have rude incised inscriptions and carvings revealing the Christian Faith by symbols, such as the _cross_, suggesting the Crucifixion--the emblem of sacrifice; the _circle_, the line without end, the symbol of Eternity (Plate I., Fig. 3); the _triangle_, _trefoil_, and _triquetra_, symbols of the Trinity (Figs. 6, 7, and 8); the _quatrefoil_ of the four evangelists (Figs. 9 and 10). The _fish_ was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, because the letters of the Greek word _icthys_, when used as an acrostic, gave the initials of the words--Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Saviour (Plate I., Fig. 11). This symbol was extensively adopted in the decoration of baptismal fonts. The _Vesica piscis_ (Latin, the bladder of a fish) (Plate I., Fig. 5) was used as a nimbus or glory to surround the figure of a sacred personage in sculpture and in painting. Its name shows the use of Latin terms in the Roman Church as distinguished from the Greek in _Byzantium_, which was an ancient Greek city adopted by Constantine, the Christian Emperor, as the capital of the eastern division of the Roman Empire under the new name of Constantinopolis--the modern Constantinople. But the term “Byzantine” has been retained in matters relating to art. Plate I., Figs. 15 and 16, show the Greek Cross, which is a version of the Greek letter _chi_ combined with the letter _rho_ (similar to the English _P_). This symbol represented the name Christ, and was the _Christian standard, the Labarum_, chosen by the Emperor Constantine. Plate I., 3A. The sacred monogram generally found in church decoration stands for the Latin phrase _Jesus hominum Salvator_--“Jesus, the Saviour of men.” The Greek letters IHS (_iota, eta, sigma_) gave the first three letters of the name _Jesus_.