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Early Christian sarcophagi

Early Christian sarcophagi are those Ancient Roman sarcophagi carrying inscriptions or carving relating them to early Christianity. They were produced from the late 3rd century through to the 5th century. They represent the earliest form of large Christian sculpture, and are important for the study of Early Christian art.

Sarcophagi of Helena and Constantina, daughter of Constantine I, from her mausoleum at Santa Costanza (now in Vatican Museums).
Detail of the central panel of the Sarcophagus of Stilicho, Basilica of Saint Ambrose, Milan

The production of Roman sarcophagi with carved decoration spread due to the gradual abandonment of the rite of cremation in favour of inhumation over the course of the 2nd century throughout the empire. However, burial in such sarcophagi was expensive and thus reserved for wealthy families. The end of the Christian persecutions desired by Gallienus in 260 began a period of peace for the Christians that lasted until the end of that century and allowed Christianity to spread in the army, in senior administrative posts and even the emperor's circles. In the second half of the 3rd century, especially due to increased demand from this group of wealthy Christians, the use of sarcophagi spread widely, with plastic treatments following trends in contemporary sculpture.

Production and typology edit

The sarcophagi seem to have been produced by workshops who also created pieces with pagan or Jewish iconography. The techniques are the same, but Christian sarcophagi developed a rather different style of layout, with framed scenes, later arranged on two tiers. The images of Christ move in an iconic direction, very unlike the depiction of gods in pagan equivalents, where deities are normally shown, if at all, in narrative scenes.

Iconography edit

 
Lateran Museum, Rome, Italy. Rome - Early Christian sarcophagus, Lateran Museum, story of Isaac; Moses on Mount Sinai; healing blind; Peter denies Lord; healing sick; turning water into wine. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection

A wide variety of subjects are shown on sarcophagi, with the most elaborate containing small cycles of narrative scenes from the gospels and simpler ones symbols such as the Chi Rho. Other motifs depicted include the Hetoimasia, a representation of the empty throne with a book as preparation for the Last Judgment, the Traditio Legis or "giving of the law", with the scroll of the New Covenant given to St. Peter with St. Paul on the other side of Christ, and Christ in Majesty ("Maiestas domini")- representations of the majesty of the lord ranging from visions of prophets to Christ on a throne between the apostles with his feet on a footstool

Notable examples edit

 
Engraving of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus.

Sources edit

  • De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Elda Cerchiari (1999). I tempi dell'arte (in Italian). Milan: Bompiani.

early, christian, sarcophagi, help, expand, this, article, with, text, translated, from, corresponding, article, italian, december, 2008, click, show, important, translation, instructions, view, machine, translated, version, italian, article, machine, translat. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian December 2008 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the Italian article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 3 068 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at it Sarcofago paleocristiano see its history for attribution You may also add the template Translated it Sarcofago paleocristiano to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Early Christian sarcophagi are those Ancient Roman sarcophagi carrying inscriptions or carving relating them to early Christianity They were produced from the late 3rd century through to the 5th century They represent the earliest form of large Christian sculpture and are important for the study of Early Christian art Sarcophagi of Helena and Constantina daughter of Constantine I from her mausoleum at Santa Costanza now in Vatican Museums Detail of the central panel of the Sarcophagus of Stilicho Basilica of Saint Ambrose Milan The production of Roman sarcophagi with carved decoration spread due to the gradual abandonment of the rite of cremation in favour of inhumation over the course of the 2nd century throughout the empire However burial in such sarcophagi was expensive and thus reserved for wealthy families The end of the Christian persecutions desired by Gallienus in 260 began a period of peace for the Christians that lasted until the end of that century and allowed Christianity to spread in the army in senior administrative posts and even the emperor s circles In the second half of the 3rd century especially due to increased demand from this group of wealthy Christians the use of sarcophagi spread widely with plastic treatments following trends in contemporary sculpture Contents 1 Production and typology 2 Iconography 3 Notable examples 4 SourcesProduction and typology editThe sarcophagi seem to have been produced by workshops who also created pieces with pagan or Jewish iconography The techniques are the same but Christian sarcophagi developed a rather different style of layout with framed scenes later arranged on two tiers The images of Christ move in an iconic direction very unlike the depiction of gods in pagan equivalents where deities are normally shown if at all in narrative scenes Iconography edit nbsp Lateran Museum Rome Italy Rome Early Christian sarcophagus Lateran Museum story of Isaac Moses on Mount Sinai healing blind Peter denies Lord healing sick turning water into wine Brooklyn Museum Archives Goodyear Archival Collection A wide variety of subjects are shown on sarcophagi with the most elaborate containing small cycles of narrative scenes from the gospels and simpler ones symbols such as the Chi Rho Other motifs depicted include the Hetoimasia a representation of the empty throne with a book as preparation for the Last Judgment the Traditio Legis or giving of the law with the scroll of the New Covenant given to St Peter with St Paul on the other side of Christ and Christ in Majesty Maiestas domini representations of the majesty of the lord ranging from visions of prophets to Christ on a throne between the apostles with his feet on a footstoolNotable examples editSarcophagi of Helena and Constantina Sarcophagos of Livia Primitiva debated Sarcophagus of Santa Maria Antiqua Sarcophagus of Stilicho Dogmatic Sarcophagus Sarcophagus of the Two Brothers Sarcophagus of the Good Shepherd Sarcophagus with the miracles of Christ Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus nbsp Engraving of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus Sarcophagus of the Passion Sarcophagus of AdelphiaSources editDe Vecchi Pierluigi Elda Cerchiari 1999 I tempi dell arte in Italian Milan Bompiani nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paleochristian sarcophagi Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Early Christian sarcophagi amp oldid 1133626648, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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