CATACOMBS
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CATACOMBS
(sarcophagi) or, when cremated, in funerary urns in
a subterranean vault or hypogceum. The freedmen
and clients of the noble family to whom the tomb
belonged were buried in graves made in the upper
stratum of the earth of the area monumenti, or plot
of ground or garden in which the tomb stood. These
graves were indicated by stelce, or stone slabs, which
gave the names of the dead. Those who were first
converted from heathenism to Christianity were in-
terred in a similar manner. This is evident both
from the hypogceum of the Flavian family, which has
horizontal niches to the right and left for the sar-
cophagi, and from the stelce with symbols or inscrip-
tions that are Christian in character, although, as is
easily understood, such stehe are not numerous. The
example of the Jews, however, led very early to the
excavation, in the enclosure of the area monumenti, of
strigili came together, or else Christian symbols
were carved on the labella insert ptionis, i. e. the fiat
slab closing the grave in which the epitaph was cut.
A Christian stone-mason, probably, cut these Chris-
tian emblems on sarcophagi made in heathen work-
shops. The oldest sarcophagus showing Christian
emblems carved in relief is one found in the Vatican
quarter and now in the Lateran Museum; it has in
excellent work, between two scenes of family life, an
Orante, symbolical of the person buried, and the
Good Shepherd. Another sarcophagus, also belong-
ing to the time before Constantine and in the same
museum, has as its chief decoration the story of
Jonas; around this scene are grouped representations
of Noe, the raising of Lazarus, Moses smiting the
rock in the wilderness, a pastoral scene, and purely
secular fishing scenes.
ophagus of Junius Bassus, Christian Prefec
Christ in glory giving the Law to His Apostles.
Panel: Christ's Entry into Jerusalem
subterranean galleries or passage ways, the walls of
which offered ample space for single graves or Inculi.
From the beginning burial in sarcophagi was, on ac-
count of the expense, a privilege of the rich and of
people of rank; this is also one reason why Christian
sculpture developed later than Christian painting. As
the Christians were obliged at first to buy sarcophagi
from heathen stone-masons they avoided purchasing
those with mythological scenes. They preferred
such as were ornamented with carvings of scenes
from pastoral life, the harvest and vintage; at times
they selected sarcophagi merely ornamented on the
front with wave lines (strigili), as for example, the
sarcophagus of Petronilla, a relative of the impe-
rial Flavian family, which was found in the cata-
comb of Domitilla. The only decoration of this
sarcophagus, outside of the wave lines, were figures
of lions at the corners; on the upper edge of the
sarcophagus was the inscription
Will UAK. PETRONILLAE. FILIAE. I>\ I.- CISSIMAE.
"To Aurelia Petronilla. sweetest daughter". There are still in tin- catacombs of Priscilla, Domitilla, and Pnetextal us :i number of sarcophagi, the most an- i iont of which show no Christian sculpture.
It was not until Inwards (he end of the third cen- tury th' 1 ( hri inn sarcophagi were ornamented with
sculpture; at first the carvings were small figures of
the Good Shepherd or an Orante placed where the
Christian sculpture on sarcophagi was not fully
developed until about the middle of the fourth cen-
tury; two sarcophagi of this period, that of Junius
Bassus in the crypt of St. Peter's, and another similar
in style, in the Lateran Museum, are the finest ex-
amples of early Christian carving. When it became
customary, in the vicinity of the great basilicas, to
build mausoleums or mortuary chapels, in which
the sarcophagi were either sunk in the ground or ex-
posed along the walls, sculpture as a Christian art
developed rapidly. The growth was perhaps too
rapid, for the comparatively small number of Chris-
tian sculptors could only meet the constantly in-
creasing demand by over-hasty or half-finished
work. To this period which extended from the
second half of the fourth into the first decades of the
fifth century belong by far the greater part of the
sarcophagi found, most of which are in the Lateran
Museum. The terrible misfortunes that befell Rome
after it had been conquered and plundered by the
Goths in I Hi checked and finally put an end to carved
decoration on Christian sarcophagi.
Naturally, the reliefs of the sarcophagi show the same fundamental ideas as are expressed in the
Eaintings of the catacombs, and they an- conveyed y the presentation of the same Biblical scenes. Plastic art. however, followed its own course in the development of the themes. This is evident from the large number of figures employed for the scenes,
