Early Christian sarcophagi
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Early Christian sarcophagi are those
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
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
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
Notable examples
- Sarcophagi 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
- Sarcophagus of the Passion
- Sarcophagus of Adelphia
Sources
- De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Elda Cerchiari (1999). I tempi dell'arte (in Italian). Milan: Bompiani.