Early Christian Archaeology and Art

RIPOLL, G., Human Anatomical Dissection. The Fourth-Century A.D. Scene in the Via Latina Catacomb / Via Dino Compagni Hypogeum (Rome), in M. JURKOVIĆ, E. SCIROCCO, A. TIMBERT, D. DI BONITO & J. BEHAIM (eds.), Repenser l’Histoire de l’art médiéval en 2023. Recueil d’études offertes à Xavier Barral i Altet, Dissertationes et Monographiae 19, International Research Centre for Late Antiquity and Middle Ages, University of Zagreb, Brepols Publishers, 2023, 447-464 (DOI: 10.1484/M.DEM-EB.5.134957).
The pictorial scene in the Via Latina catacomb/Via Dino Compagni hypogeum in Rome known as the Anatomy Lesson is probably one of the first images, if not the first, in which a human anatomical dissection is depicted. Despite the great interest that it has given rise to among researchers working on catacomb paintings and the history of medicine, there is no study that places the question in its context and orders the hypotheses as regards its iconographic interpretation. In this text the iconological arguments are presented together with how the subsequent artistic sequence is established.

Engraved gems as very personal objects can reveal information about the people who wore them, about their status, profession, and religion. They can even hint at the origin of their owner, which is sometimes the case with gems depicting the oriental or native gods. In an attempt to recognize the foreign identities on the engraved gems, four engraved gems and four glass gems from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb have been singled out. One intaglio and one glass gem have no record of their finding place. At the same time, the rest belong to stray finds from different sites in the Roman Provinces of Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia. Three intaglios and four glass gems depict oriental deities Jupiter-Serapis and Isis, Jupiter Ammon, Jupiter Heliopolitanus, and Harpocrates. Last is the engraved gem showing the cavalryman with the long Celtic shield from Dalj (Teutoburgium). The group of gems discussed in the paper expands our knowledge of oriental cults in Roman provinces mentioned above and testifies to the mobility of people as well.

Are two scenes of the creation of man found on the Dogmatic Sarcophagus, Rome, and the Trinity-Spouses Sarcophagus, Arles, France, the first anthropomorphic images of the Trinity in the history of Christian art? This article argues that they have been misinterpreted as Trinitarian while in fact they are Christological in nature. As Christological images, they are witnesses to the biblical and patristic theological vision that the active agent of the creation was the Logos, not the Father, and that the only possible image of God is that of the Incarnate Word of the Father.

The City Basilica of Patara, which dates back to the second half of the 5th century AD, offers valuable evidence regarding the interior design of buildings of this type and the liturgical traffic-flow within them. Excavations conducted at the basilica have revealed diverse liturgical furnishings, including the templon, the altar, column bases associated with the ciborium, the sacred water well, the synthronon, and a section of the opus sectile flooring in the bema. This study focuses on the analysis, evaluation, and indication of potential connections among the remains of templon elements found at the City Basilica of Patara, encompassing templon stylobates, bases, slabs, columns, and column capitals. Its primary objectives are to examine the marble objects excavated in the basilica, particularly those attributed to the templon, with the intention of proposing a reconstruction of the basilica's interior, as well as to describe these objects, especially their decorative motifs, and assess their resemblance to other examples of Byzantine art and architecture. The remains of the templon in the City Basilica at Patara are carefully examined and compared to similar specimens. The analysis considers the characteristics of the decoration, dimensions, style, and materials used in the high templon arrangement. Based on this evaluation, the templon is assigned to the second half of the 5th century AD, which corresponds to the dating of the first phase of the basilica.

A Figured Bedrock Sarcophagus in the Rural of Germanikopolis (Rough Cilicia/Isauria)
Due to the modern city of Ermenek being founded on the ancient city Germanikopolis, located within the borders of Rough Cilicia / Isauria in the ancient period, no architectural remains are encountered. However, there are many rock tombs belonging to the city’s necropolis on the rocks to the north of the town center. In addition, rock tombs are discovered in the city’s immediate vicinity. Four tombs were identified 250 m southwest of Ermenek Karalar Neighborhood, located approximately 4.5 km south of the beeline distance of the ancient city. These are probably the surviving elements of a small rural settlement. Three of these tombs are bedrock sarcophagi, and the fourth tomb is a chamasorium located 20 m northwest of this group. One of the bedrock sarcophagi is particularly striking because of the reliefs it carries. On the relief on the tomb, which we date to the Roman Imperial Period, the father of the family is depicted protecting his family with his spear against a bear. The subject of this study is the tomb with reliefs, which is stylistically similar to the reliefs of the Isauria Region.

Pasquale Iacobone, per l'attenzione e il concreto sostegno rivolti alle ricerche in corso sulla catacomba di S. Ippolito. Lo studio si inserisce nel quadro del progetto di Dottorato di Flavio Pallocca "La catacomba di S. Ippolito sulla via Tiburtina a Roma. Dati topografici, monumentali e devozionali di un insediamento funerario cristiano nel suburbio orientale di Roma" condotto presso l'Università di Roma Sapienza (tutor Donatella Nuzzo). 1 Al nuovo cubicolo è stata attribuita la sigla e15c coerente con il sistema di Bertonière 1985, cui si fa riferimento nel presente contributo. 2 Nuzzo 1991. 3 De Angelis D'Ossat 1930-32, pp. 160-165. 4 LP I, pp. 115-116. 5 In occasione del restauro della basilica di S. Giovanni in Laterano, nel 1425, il papa Martino V autorizzò il recupero di marmi provenienti da edifici ecclesiastici abbandonati situati al di fuori della città (Bianca 2000, pp. 629-630). In questa occasione fu verosimilmente prelevato dal cimitero l'epi

Jennifer Awes Freeman presents a compelling case for the reinterpretation of the image of the Good Shepherd in early Christian images and texts. Many art historians, including Theodore Klauser, Henry Chadwick, R. Grigg, and Robin Jensen, have discussed images of the Good Shepherd as representing the humility and modesty of the early grassroots movement of Christianity. This traditional interpretation juxtaposes this early humble shepherd imagery with the later imperially-sponsored images of Jesus-as-emperor situated on a throne within the spaces of church apses. Awes Freeman charges that these interpretations assume that the Good Shepherd is a Christian invention and overlook understandings of shepherd imagery from the ancient world. The author draws on the work of Thomas F. Matthews, specifically The Clash of Gods (Princeton University Press, 1993), to challenge prevailing scholarship. She argues that early Christian writers were employing an image and idea of the Good Shepherd that drew on earlier understandings of this imagery, which "carried connotations of divinity and empire" (p. 4) and was not associated with the humility and modesty that inform current interpretations. Instead of housing a static and straightforward anti-imperialist meaning, the Good Shepherd changes meaning over time and includes conflicting meanings related to power and violence. This book situates the Good Shepherd within the art and literature of the Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman worlds and demonstrates the flexibility and fluidity of the image and its meaning through the Early Middle Ages. This is an ambitious project of recontextualizing a familiar image type across several thousand years of history and several thousand miles of geography. She describes the particular cultural and geographical meanings of the Good Shepherd through time and place, offering appropriate context without getting lost in any particular contextual tangent. Awes Freeman succeeds in presenting a compelling case for reinterpretation that remedies this literary and art historical oversight. This is no small feat and offers an important model for scholars looking to do similar work in tracing the development of a particular artistic theme. Chapter one examines the ways in which Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Israelite rulers styled themselves in relation to shepherd imagery, which emphasized the king as a shepherd who brought justice to the people (Mesopotamia), guided souls (Egypt), and was divinely appointed (ancient Israelites). The connection between kings and shepherds appears in literary and art historical sources including the Sumerian King List, the Epic of Gilgamesh, stelae, cuneiform tablets, statues of rulers, numerous inscriptions, and the Hebrew Bible. Chapter two examines shepherds as guides of the people in ancient Greece and Rome, drawing examples from the Iliad, the Odyssey, Plato's Dialogues, Livy's History of Rome, the New Testament, mosaics, sculpture, and other archeological finds. Chapter three looks at the theme of the "shepherd-victim as lawgiver" (p. 79) in the early Church, drawing on examples from early Christian art, hymns, Augustine's City of God, and writings about emperors. Chapter four examines Old English, Carolingian, and Romanesque art and writing to lay out a case of the Good Shepherd as "guide, protector, and judge" (p. 122), using art and literary examples. While few scholars could claim expertise in the many languages and cultures covered in this chapter, Awes Freeman demonstrates remarkable dexterity in surveying the relevant scholarship, much of it from the last decade, that describes and explains the examples she uses. She offers grounded examples that support her themes without losing the thread of a coherent narrative. Still, such an all-encompassing project tracing a single theme through history is likely to contain flaws in specific translations and to overlook important conversations that exist regarding the particular examples offered. It is a hazard of such a project. Nevertheless, the author creates her argument with care and through diligent citation. The book will hopefully prompt new discussion around the meaning of the Good Shepherd and inspire other scholars to resist inherited wisdom and recontextualize the things we think we know about early Christian art and ideas.

Nella sua ricchissima produzione scientifica, Fede Berti ha curato – tra le altre cose – lo studio della raccolta archeologica conservata presso la casa museo di Remo Brindisi a Comacchio: una collezione composta da una cinquantina di oggetti antichi (o presunti tali) che l’artista esponeva in un armadio-vetrina, accanto alla ben più amata collezione di giocattoli meccanici. Rispetto a quest’ultima, infatti, la collezione archeologica non venne rielaborata in alcun modo – se non per il fissaggio di alcuni oggetti in metallo e del ritratto su un supporto in legno che si andrà a trattare– né la vetrina in cui era esposta disponeva di un’illuminazione propria, facendo ritenere che la raccolta non fosse al centro degli interessi di Brindisi.Nella raccolta, composta essenzialmente da ceramica, da un paio di esemplari di coroplastica votiva di dubbia produzione e datazione e da oggetti vari in metallo (anse, anelli, un asse tardo repubblicano…) spiccano due thymiateria in bronzo di epoca ellenistica e un ritratto maschile in marmo, di piccole dimensioni, che hanno suscitato in Fede Berti «stupore e interesse» per la loro «singolarità o rarità». La sincera passione per
la conoscenza di Fede è d’altronde universalmente nota: con questo contributo si intende rispondere alla sua vivace curiosità con l’approfondimento dello studio di uno dei pezzi che l’hanno particolarmente colpita, proponendo la rilettura del piccolo ritratto di epoca imperiale alla luce dei più recenti approcci interpretativi sulla ritrattistica romana.

Η αύξηση της γυναικείας παρουσίας σε πανεπιστημιακές θέσεις (καθηγητικές, εργαστηριακές, ερευνητικές) συντελείται διεθνώς με τρόπο αργό κατά τον 20ο αιώνα. Η υπο-εκπροσώπηση και οι όροι συμμετοχής των γυναικών στα πανεπιστήμια απασχολούν εντατικά την έρευνα κατά τα τελευταία χρόνια. Με ερευνητικές ψηφίδες που παράγονται για χώρες, πανεπιστήμια, σχολές και επιστημονικούς τομείς, αργο-συντίθεται μiα συνολική εικόνα της γυναικείας επιστημονικής παρουσίας. Το άρθρο αυτό επιχειρεί να συνεισφέρει στη σταδιακή συμπλήρωση αυτής της εικόνας. Στη Φυσικομαθηματική Σχολή του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, κατά την περίοδο που εξετάζουμε, εμφανίζονται οι πρώτες γυναίκες. Εισέρχονται στον "ivory tower" που είναι το πανεπιστήμιο, μέσα από δύσκολες διαδικασίες, με πολλούς περιορισμούς και συχνές ανασχέσεις. Κάθε βήμα αυτής της αφετηριακής διαδικασίας έχει ιδιαίτερη αξία. Η εξέτασή του, εκτός από ερμηνείες για το πώς η γυναίκα γίνεται πανεπιστημιακός, έχει να μας δώσει καίριες ερμηνείες για τις γεν...

Gold glass bottoms generally found in Roman catacombs, are some of late antiquity’s most enigmatic objects. Originally conceived as vessels, once they were broken, their bases were reemployed to be embedded in the mortar sealing of the slabs of certain loculi. Drawing on the different hypotheses on the origins of the bowls or glasses these bottoms were obtained from, and reflecting on the reasons for and ways of using these glass bottoms to decorate loculi, this paper aims to reassess the position of gold glass in the culture of late antiquity by questioning its pertinence or link to "popular" culture.

Din judeţul Sălaj, în ultima vreme, au fost semnalate şi publicate o serie de studii referitoare la arta rupestră1. Unele din monumentele prezentate în acestea sunt sanctuare în natură pentru diferite divinităţi, unde au loc iniţieri, reprezentând totodată locuri de oferire, închinăciune, jertfă etc.
Semnele de pe ele ne oferă posibilitatea de a determina uneori perioada de timp, dar un loc sacru, odată cunoscut, este păstrat în tradiţii, iar el inspiră sentimente de veneraţie care oferă respect deosebit pentru urmaşi. Unii vizitatori doresc să semnaleze trecerea lor prin acele locuri,
marcându-şi numele sau redând unele din simbolurile pe care le cunoaşteau. Pentru aceste semne ulterioare este greu de precizat perioada când au fost realizate, ca, de altfel, şi pentru primele, fără studii detaliate despre uneltele sau instrumentele cu care au fost marcate. Asocierea semnelor ne oferă uneori posibilităţi de interpretare. Dar, pentru interpretarea lor, trebuie să ţinem cont de vecinătăţile istorice, ca şi de drumurile sau cărările în vecinătatea cărora se află.

Art in the 3rd and 4th centuries underwent transformations and adapted certain representations which were typical of ancient iconography to the new needs and tasks of Christian art. Among the abundant examples of this process, many continue to be popular and recognizable, such as the representation of Hermes Kriophoros, which evolved to become Christ the Good Shepherd, or the sleeping Endymion, which became part of the "Jonah cycle." The adaptation of patterns from antiquity for the purposes of Christian iconography was both popular and quite common, but only a fraction of the representations developed in that period survive today. This paper discusses the representations that have been forgotten. Relying on the examples of the phoenix and the dolphin-rescuer, the paper analyzes factors that affected the partial (phoenix) or complete (delphinus salvator) disappearance of images which were typical of early Christian art and which relied on ancient imagery.

The project “Conservation of mural decoration, architectural sculptures and flooring of the Basilica of Panagia Acheiropoietos in Thessaloniki”, included the conservation of all the wall mosaics, the layers of mosaic and opussectile revealed on the floors of the side aisles, the marble floor in the centre aisle and all the marble architectural members of the church. Moreover, conservation work was executed on the frescoes, including the Byzantine fresco of the Forty Martyrs at the southern aisle. The open excavation pit that obscured the movement of the pilgrim at the northern aisle of the church was covered with glass floor panels, thereby highlighting the three revealed mosaic floors of the royal public Roman bath. The same technical solution was implemented for the protection and emergence of the two sections of marble opussectile floor revealed in the south aisle, which until recently were covered with wooden flooring. Intense deposits of soot and oil spills, coming from the oil heaters that existed in the temple, were documented on the marble monumental decoration. During the mapping of the columns layers of preparation and pigments were revealed at various locations. The preservation works concerned the removal of old cement mortars and rust stains from the surfaces, the removal of waxes, the fixing and welding of the preserved detached parts and the welding of supplements where deemed essential for aesthetic reasons. After the cleaning of the excellent marble floor of the church, a series of colored mortar specimens was created in order to choose one that would best conceal the discontinuity created by the cracks and losses. The maintenance work on the frescoes followed the methodology of the interventions on the mosaic and sculptural decoration work. We believe that we have completed a thorough conservation programme and delivered this universal monument to the public with its unique decoration finely restored.

What mysteries and more importantly what insights emanate from the catacombs of Rome, where the bones of saints and sinners rest in silent repose? Not wanting to cremate their dead due to their belief in a bodily resurrection, the early Roman Christians buried their dead in simple graves or in the burial vaults of sympathetic patricians. However, in the second century A.D. they began to excavate large-scale catacombs outside the city boundaries, along roads such as the Via Appia, as Roman law forbade burial within the city. The catacombs consist of vast systems of galleries and passages built on top of each other, several meters below the surface, with narrow steps descending as many as four stories. Burial niches (or loculi) were carved into walls (fig. 1) of the passages where the bodies were placed in stone sarcophagi. Besides burial, the catacombs were used for memorial services and celebrations of the anniversaries of martyrs.

Art in the 3rd and 4th centuries underwent transformations and adapted certain representations which were typical of ancient iconography to the new needs and tasks of Christian art. Among the abundant examples of this process, many continue to be popular and recognizable, such as the representation of Hermes Kriophoros, which evolved to become Christ the Good Shepherd, or the sleeping Endymion, which became part of the “Jonah cycle.” The adaptation of patterns from antiquity for the purposes of Christian iconography was both popular and quite common, but only a fraction of the representations developed in that period survive today. This paper discusses the representations that have been forgotten. Relying on the examples of the phoenix and the dolphin-rescuer, the paper analyzes factors that affected the partial (phoenix)
or complete (delphinus salvator) disappearance of images which were typical of early Christian art and which relied on ancient imagery.

W sztuce III i IV wieku dochodziło do transformacji i dostosowania niektórych przedstawień ikonografii antycznej do nowych potrzeb i zadań, jakie stawiała przed nimi sztuka chrześcijańska. Przykłady można mnożyć, zaczynając od tych bardziej znanych i do dziś rozpoznawalnych, jak chociażby przedstawienie Hermesa Kriophorosa, które ewoluuje do figury Chrystusa Dobrego Pasterza, czy śpiącego Endymiona, które wejdzie w skład tzw. cyklu Jonasza. Zjawisko akomodacji wzorców antycznych dla potrzeb ikonografii chrześcijańskiej było wówczas działaniem popularnym i dość powszechnym, ale jedynie część z powstałych w tym czasie przedstawień, przetrwało do dnia dzisiejszego. Właśnie takim zapomnianym wyobrażeniom poświęcono powyższe rozważanie, gdyż na przykładzie przedstawień feniksa i delfina ocalającego, prześledzono czynniki, które wpływały na częściowy – feniks, lub całkowity – delphinus salvator, proces zanikania, niektórych obrazów sztuki wczesnochrześcijańskiej, bazujących na wzorcach antycznych.

This dissertation expands the analysis of Damasus' acts to synthesize elements of space and architectural theory, sensory theory, and anthropological issues to fully explore the impact of his works related to martyr sites on the minds and bodies of pilgrims visiting such sites during martyr festival.

In the journal Bullettino di archeologia della storia dalmata (Vol. 22) from 1899 a small article entitled “Spomenik, kojemu euharistično značenje još nije utvrgjeno” (pages 25–26) was published, and signed by the journal editorial board. The subject of this article was an intaglio of carnelian from the glyptic collection of the Archaeological Museum in Split. The article includes a high quality, enlarged picture of the engraved gem with a brief discussion of this engraved motif to which the great names of Early Christian archaeology, such as Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Józef Bilczewski and Orazio Marucchi, devoted their attention. The motif is described as depicting either a fish or a dolphin on a tripod and is associated with the early Christian period (its symbolic meaning being related to the Eucharist).
The problem here lies in the representation of a dolphin. The motif was named “the Eucharist dolphin” although not attested on the Early Christian frescoes depicting the Eucharist, agape, or funeral banquets, nor on the Early Christian gems, which frequently depict dolphins either with anchors or with a Christian inscription. J. Spier, therefore, leaves the issue of the ascription of the Salona carnelian to early Christianity unresolved, categorising it as a 3rd century gem.
However, after turning away from the idea of an Early Christian motif, the iconographic analysis of Roman gems depicting tripods showed that the motif carved into the Salona carnelian actually represents neither fish nor dolphin, but rather a different kind of an animal. It is, unquestionably, a mouse, commonly depicted on tripods either standing or nibbling on a piece of bread. From this, we can conclude that the Salona carnelian should not be considered anymore as an Early Christian gem nor as depicting a so-called Eucharist dolphin. Instead, it should be included in the group of Roman gems engraved with a mouse on a tripod.

Keywords: intaglio, glyptics, Early Christianity, Roman period, eucharist, fish, dolphin, tripod, mouse

Ukazano je na stanje istraženosti i očuvanosti sedam do sada poznatih starokršćanskih lokaliteta na području današnje Općine Mostar. Pozornost je dana kasnoantičkim reljefima koji su ugrađeni kao spoliji u zidanu konstrukciju izvora Vrelo Vrba u Donjim Gnojnicama, a koji nesumnjivo ukazuju na postojanje važnoga arheološkog lokaliteta na ovome prostoru. Pod simboličkim naslovom arheološki manifesto istaknuta je važnost arheoloških lokaliteta općenito, isticanjem njihova značenja u suvremenome društvu.

Le immagini di proprietà dello Stato italiano provenienti dal territorio regionale sono state pubblicate su concessione del MiBAC -Dipartimento per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici -Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici del Friuli Venezia Giulia -Soprintendenza archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio del Friuli Venezia Giulia e del MiBAC -Polo Museale del Friuli Venezia Giulia. L'autorizzazione alla pubblicazione delle altre immagini è stata concessa dagli aventi diritto. È vietata ogni l'ulteriore riproduzione e duplicazione con ogni mezzo senza l'autorizzazione degli aventi diritto. «Antichità Altoadriatiche» © Centro di Antichità Altoadriatiche Via Patriarca Poppone 6 -33053 Aquileia (uD)

BOR 2013 (season 2)
БОР 2013 (сезон 2)
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Authors: Alexander Minchev, Vassil Tenekedjiev
Автори: Александър Минчев, Васил Тенекеджиев
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The paper is in Bulgarian
Съобщението е на български
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Presented at the Annual Archaeological Reporting Conference at National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and published in “Archaeological Discoveries and Excavations” series.

Съобщението е представено на Годишните археологически отчети в Националния археологически институт при БАН и публикувано в поредицата „Археологически открития и разкопки“.

In present-day Croatia, at the site of Gardun near Trilj in central Dalmatia, situated some 30 kilometres north of Salona, a Roman legionary fortress of Tilurium was built. Among the small finds, the site of Tilurium is rich in gem finds. Most of them are stray finds acquired during the 19th and 20th century. Among the diverse subjects engraved on these gems, erotic scenes or, more often, an erotic symbolism, can be found on four intaglios from the glyptic collections of Zagreb and Split archaeological museums.

Aus dem Gebiet des Dorfes Gardun in Kroatien, wo in der Antike das römische Militärlager Tilurium gebaut wurde, stammt, unter anderen römischen Funden, auch eine große Zahl der Gemmen. Beim Großteil handelt es sich um Zufallsfunde ohne archäologischen Kontext, doch kann aufgrund des Fundortes davon ausgegangen werden, dass sie einst im Besitz von römischen Soldaten waren. Unter diesen Gemmen, finden wir auch solche die erotische bzw. sexuelle Symbolik nachweisen. Es handelt sich um vier Intaglienderen Darstellungen von leicht erotischen (Venus pudica, Cupid der einen Schmetterling mit einer Fackel verbrennt, Nymphe Amymone) bis starken sexuellen (Satyrn und Mänaden) sind. Diese Intaglien sind in der Zeit vom 1. Jh. vor Christus bis. 1. Jh. nach. Christus datierbar.

This dissertation is an exploratory study on the interaction of architecture and Christian archaeology around the turn of the 20th century. As one of the roots of architectural historiography, Christian archaeology – the largely ecclesiastical study of the remains of the material culture of the first Christians – has had a place in architectural theory from the final decades of the 16th century onwards. It enabled the reconciliation of humanist archaeological interest in classical antiquity on the one hand and Christian apologetics on the other hand. During the 1800s, however, the role which Christian archaeology fulfilled in architecture appears to have been reversed progressively. This dissertation indicates how theorists have debated what ought to be the fundamental aspirations of religious architecture by means of argumentation rooted in catacomb archaeology in the 19th and early 20th century.

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Slipcase illustration: Ivory panel (416 × 143 mm) with an archangel (probably Michael); right panel of a diptych (left panel lost). In his right hand the figure holds a globe surmounted by a Greek cross; in his left, a long staff, perhaps a scepter. The architectural setting consists in an arch supported by fluted columns, capped with Corinthian capitals; there are steps beneath the plinths below left and right. Beneath the arch is a wreath enclosing a Greek cross; a scalloped shell frames the wreath. Above the arch, within a long narrow rectangular tabula, is written: +ΔΕΧΟΥ ΠΑΡΟΝΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΘΩΝ ΤΗΝ ΑΙΤΙΑΝ ("Receive the suppliant, although you know his guilt"); London.BM, OA.9999. (Photo courtesy Trustees of the British Museum)

The art of the catacombs was born in Rome between the second and third centuries and is manifested especially in the pictorial decorations of the cubicula and other hypogeal environments. The extremely simplified artistic typology echoes the Second Pompeian style through the use of red and green lines that run across the walls and the faces of the monuments. Initially this grid contained neutral figures selected from the pagan repertoire; later those images were replaced by Christian scenes inspired by biblical and salvific imagery. The art of the catacombs also includes funerary sculpture, particularly sarcophagi, and the so-called minor arts, such as gilded glass, ivory dolls, and mosaic tesserae. The catacombal decorations ended at the beginning of the fifth century, when funerary use ceased in these subterranean cemeteries.

Early Christian art, which evolves in late antique figurative culture, proposes extensive and cyclical representations, but especially abbreviated expressions, to the point of involving symbols. In addition to the essential signs of the anchor, the fish, the sheep, the ship and the lighthouse, naturally deriving from the great cosmic, bucolic and maritime images, arise the first biblical scenes, mainly abbreviated, but also small cycles, such as the turbulent story of Jonah. The symbols/signs and the pictorial cycles have surprising comparison with the contemporaneous Jewish Art, showing a multi-religious attitude in the ideological culture of Late Antiquity.

The author published an Early Christian marble reliquary shaped as a cross with a frectangular  bed cut on the rear side for incerting of a small reliquary in. The unusual reliquary was found by chance at an ancient site in Northeastern Bulgaria and is dated to the 5th-6th c. AD,

1 A mio modo di vedere, resta fondamentale FAZZO 1977, a cui possiamo aggiungere BRECKENRIDGE 1978 e, più di recente, KITZINGER 1992. 2 FIOCCHI NICOLAI 2003. 3 FIOCCHI NICOLAI, GUYON 2006. 4 PENNA 2001. 5 GUIDOBALDI 2014. 6 Cfr. supra alla nota 4. RACr 93 (2017), pp. 7-48. FABRIZIO BISCONTI