delves into the early Christian period and its artistic limitations, emphasizing the struggles and transformations within sculpture following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Bode discusses how the rise of Christianity affected artistic expression, leading to a decline in monumental art and a reliance on traditional motifs. Citing specific examples of sculptures and their connections to earlier works, he sets the stage for an exploration of how subsequent periods, including the Romanesque and the emerging Renaissance, began to revitalize and redefine the art of sculpture in Italy. This opening lays a solid groundwork for understanding the complex interplay between cultural shifts and artistic innovation throughout Italy's sculptural history. (This is an automatically generated summary.)