Early Christian sarcophagus front (Rome, Italy)
This elaborately carved marble sarcophagus, found in the cemetery of San Callisto on the Appian Way, dates to between 325 and 350. At the center is portrait shell with images of the deceased. The man wears a tunic beneath a banded toga, a sign of his senatorial rank. He clasps a scroll and makes an oratorical gesture with his right hand, a sign of his education. His wife is veiled and perhaps wearing a necklace.
The two registers are carved with scenes from both Old and New Testaments, including the raising of Lazarus, the sacrifice of Isaac, Jonah, and the miracle at the wedding of Cana. On the bottom right, two scenes are taken from apocryphal accounts of the arrest and martyrdom of St Peter.
The sarcophagus is housed in the Pio Cristiano collection of the Vatican Museums.
Follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @arturoviaggia and on Mastodon @arturoviaggia@zirk.us
Early Christian sarcophagus front (Rome, Italy)
This elaborately carved marble sarcophagus, found in the cemetery of San Callisto on the Appian Way, dates to between 325 and 350. At the center is portrait shell with images of the deceased. The man wears a tunic beneath a banded toga, a sign of his senatorial rank. He clasps a scroll and makes an oratorical gesture with his right hand, a sign of his education. His wife is veiled and perhaps wearing a necklace.
The two registers are carved with scenes from both Old and New Testaments, including the raising of Lazarus, the sacrifice of Isaac, Jonah, and the miracle at the wedding of Cana. On the bottom right, two scenes are taken from apocryphal accounts of the arrest and martyrdom of St Peter.
The sarcophagus is housed in the Pio Cristiano collection of the Vatican Museums.
Follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @arturoviaggia and on Mastodon @arturoviaggia@zirk.us