Part 72

If the tombs of the early martyrs, before "the peace of the church," were commonly decorated with paintings at all, which is not probable, it is almost certain that some of those paintings have been renewed at various subsequent periods. The best monuments of the first three centuries are the tomb stones with inscriptions and small simple emblems incised upon them.

It is difficult to decide by the art of drawing only between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth century. But this art was in the height of perfection in the first century, in the second it was still very good, in the third it had begun to decline, but not so rapidly as to justify the assumption that the very bad drawings in the catacombs belong to that period, with the exception of those already mentioned as not Christian. The drawing of the figures in the mosaic pictures in the vault of S. Constantia, which are of the first half of the fourth century, are decidedly better than any of the Scriptural subjects in the catacombs. The mosaic pictures of the fifth century on the sides of the nave of S. Maria Maggiore, published by Ciampini, are much more like them.

S. Paulinus, bishop of Nola, writing in the fifth century, says that he had painted a catacomb, _for the pilgrims_, and gives his reasons for doing so. He thought good to enliven the whole _temple_ of S. Felix, in order that these colored representations might arrest the attention of the rustics, and prevent their drinking too much at the feasts. The _temple_ here evidently means the tomb or crypt in which the commemorative feasts were held, and were represented by paintings. His expressions imply that such paintings were not then a received custom.

That the painted vaults in the catacombs were used for feasts on various occasions in the same manner as the painted chambers in the Pagan tombs, is evident from the manner in which several writers of the fourth and fifth centuries mention them; in addition to the letters of Paulinus of Nola and S. Augustine, and the hymns of Prudentius, there is also a remarkable passage in a sermon of Theodoret on the Martyrs (written about A.D. 450):

"Our Lord God leads His own even after death into the temples for your Gods, and renders them vain and empty; but to these [Martyrs] He renders the honors previously paid to them. For your daily food and your sacred and other feasts of Peter, Paul, and Thomas, and Sergius and Marcellinus, and Leontius, and Antoninus, and Mauricius, and other martyrs, the solemnities are performed; and in place of the old base pomp and obscene words and acts, their modest festivities are celebrated, not with drunkenness and obscene and ludicrous exhibitions, but with hearing divine songs and holy sermons, and prayers and praises adorned with tears. When, therefore, you would dilate on the honor of the martyrs, what use is there in sifting them? Fly, my friends, the error of demons, and under their guidance seize upon the road that leads to God, and welcome their presence with holy songs, as the way is to eternal life."

Bosio enumerates six _cubicula_ or family burial-chapels in the cemetery or catacomb of Priscilla, and thirteen arched tombs with paintings. These pictures, of which he gives engravings, were far more perfect in his time than they are now. His engravings are good for the period when they were executed; but it was a time when all drawing was bad, slovenly, and incorrect, so that the general idea only of the picture is all we can expect. The costume and ornaments do not indicate any very early period of art, but rather a time when it had declined considerably. Costume in Rome, as in the East generally, was far more stationary and less subject to changes than in the West, and these _may_ be as early as the fourth or fifth century, but can hardly be earlier. Several of the martyrs buried in the Via Salaria suffered in the tenth persecution under Diocletian, called the great persecution, about the year 300: the decorations of their tombs, therefore, can not be earlier than the fourth century, and many of them have been restored or renewed at subsequent times. John I., A.D. 523, is recorded to have renewed the cemetery of Priscilla, and this probably means that he renewed the paintings in the style of his own time, as the greater part of the paintings now remaining are of the character of that period.

On comparing the costumes of the figures in this catacomb with those in the illuminations of the celebrated manuscript of Terence, usually attributed to the seventh or eighth century, and which can hardly be earlier than the fifth, we see at once that the long flowing robe was the ordinary costume of the period, and that the narrow scarf of black ribbon hanging over the shoulders, with the ends reaching nearly to the ground, was the usual badge of a servant. This seems to have been adopted as part of the costume of a Christian going to pray to God, whether in a church or chapel or any other place, emblematical of the yoke of Christ, as Durandus says. The surplice and stole of the priest of the Anglican Church is a more close copy of this ancient costume than any now worn in the Roman church. The rich cope, cape, or cloak was the dress of the Roman senator and of the Pagan priests; it was probably adopted by the Bishop of Rome when he assumed the title and office of Pontifex Maximus, and after a time the custom was followed by other bishops and priests of his communion.

GLASS VASES.

A valuable work on the ancient glass vases found in the catacombs was published by F. Buonarotti in Florence, nearly simultaneously with the work of Boldetti on the catacombs, and of Fabretti on the inscriptions found in them. This is the foundation of all the subsequent works on the subject; the figures are badly drawn and engraved, according to the fashion of the period, but many of the later works are not much better. The subjects are generally the same as in the paintings on the walls: the Good Shepherd, more numerous than any other; Adam and Eve, Moses striking the Rock, Noah and the Ark, the raising of Lazarus, Peter and Paul, generally busts--these are very numerous. Both the style of drawing and the character of the inscriptions indicate late dates and frequent copying from the same type. In one are three figures, S. Peter, S. Paul, with S. Laurence seated between them. S. Agnes occurs frequently, always drawn as in the usual type of the eighth century. Other busts are evidently portraits of persons interred. In some are the father, mother and child;--one has the name of Cerontius; another of two busts, Cericia and Sottacus;--another is a family group, father, mother and four children; the name is partly broken off ....N ... BVSVISTRIS. P. Z. remains.--Abraham with a drawn sword in his hand, and Isaac with his eyes bound, kneeling at his feet, with the ram. A tall female figure with the hands uplifted in prayer; the inscription is PETRVS PAVLVS ANE possibly for AGNES. Another similar subject consists of two figures seated facing each other; over the left hand figure the name CRISTVS, over the right hand one ISTEFANVS. Several of the subjects are distinctly Pagan; others are evidently from the Jews' catacomb, as two lions guarding the ark, and under them two of the seven-branched candlesticks, with leaves and vases and palm-branch.

S. CALIXTUS.

This is one of the earliest of the catacombs; it is mentioned at a very early period as a burying-place, then in use, not as being then just made. Michele de Rossi, in the course of his investigations in this catacomb, found a brick staircase and some brick _loculi_, evidently an alteration of and addition to the original catacombs, and the stamps on these bricks were those of Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 161-180. This staircase is in the lower part of the catacomb, made for the purpose of enlarging it, and seems to show that the ground had been used as a cemetery in the first century. The original part was probably made before there were any Christians to be buried. Although the staircase is later, and the bricks used again, they were probably found on the spot.

Calixtus is said to have been entrusted with the government of the clergy, and set over _the cemetery_ by Zephyrinus his predecessor, before he became bishop or pope. This expression, _over the cemetery_, seems to prove that the whole of the catacombs were considered as one cemetery, and that he had the general superintendence of the burial of the Christians.

This is the catacomb usually exhibited to strangers and now used for pilgrimages; its present state is very uninteresting to the archæologist. The upper part of it nearest to the entrance has been so much _restored_ that it has lost all archæological importance. This portion of the catacomb is illuminated on certain occasions, and is employed to excite the devotion of the faithful. A low mass is said at an altar fitted up in the cemetery chapel of S. Cæcilia, on the anniversary of her martyrdom, and this part of the catacomb on that occasion is illuminated with candles.

The other parts are in the usual state, stripped of nearly every inscription, and the graves empty. The earliest inscription from this catacomb, of ascertained date, is of A.D. 268 or 279; it is dated by the names of the consuls, which would apply to either of these two dates. One important inscription of Bishop Damasus is preserved, and is valuable in many ways; it shows that the cemetery chapel, in which it was found, was made in his time, and the slab of marble on which it is engraved has a Pagan inscription on the back of it, evidently proving that it was used merely as a slab of marble, without reference to that inscription. It shows for what purpose _some_ of the Pagan inscriptions found in the catacombs may have been brought there. Two small and very curious tombstones, consisting of mosaic pictures said to have been taken from this catacomb, are now preserved in the sacristy of the church of S. Maria in Trastevere. They were for some centuries in the nave, built into one of the piers; but during the _restorations_ made in 1868-76, they were removed and built into the wall of the sacristy. One represents a landscape, with building in the style of the third century, and a harbor or a lake with a vessel, and fishermen dragging in a great net, evidently intended for the miraculous draught of fishes. This is an extremely curious mosaic picture, the probable date of which is the beginning of the fourth century. The other small mosaic represents birds of various kinds, and is much earlier than the view of the harbor, perhaps as early as the first century. Possibly the birds were intended to be symbolical of the souls of the faithful. These are engraved by Ciampini in his work on Mosaics. Some of the original paintings [Bosio gives, on eight plates, engravings of a number of vases and lamps found in this catacomb, several views of _cubicula_, and upwards of seventy paintings. The same subjects have been repeated by Perret and Signor de Rossi.] remain in the lower part of this catacomb that have not been restored, and these are of the usual subjects: Daniel and the two lions, Moses striking the rock, the raising of Lazarus, etc.

[Illustration: PAINTED CEILING.]

THE LAST SUPPER.

S. CALIXTUS.

This painting has more the appearance of being really intended for the Last Supper than most of the paintings of this class. The central figure has a certain dignity about it. Upon the round plates on the table are fishes, and the eight baskets are full of bread. It may be a Christian painting of a bad period, and intended to commemorate some of our Lord's miracles. The principal lines on the edges of the dresses have been renewed. This painting is under an _arco-solium_ in the chapel of the Sacraments, the burial-place of the Bishops of Rome in the third century. All the paintings in that part of this great catacomb that is usually open to the public, and in which masses are said on certain occasions, have long been said by well-informed persons to have been _restored_ within the last twenty years, but this is now denied by the Roman Catholic authorities.

An engraving of this painting is given by Bosio in the sixth _arco-solium_ of this catacomb, p. 523; he calls it Christ and the Apostles. It is also given by Perret in the modern French style, vol. i. p. 28; and by Dr. Northcote in plate xiii., much embellished by color and improved by the skill of modern artists.

S. PONTIANUS.

The Baptistery, with the Baptism of Christ painted on the wall, over the arch. He is represented standing in the River Jordan up to His waist in water, in which fishes are swimming, and at which a hart is drinking; the Holy Dove is over His head. S. John Baptist is standing on the bank, and pouring water on His head, or perhaps only holding out his hand to touch it. On the opposite side is another figure in a white dress, hiding his face. All the three figures have the nimbus.

AN AGAPE.

An Agape, or love-feast, is a common subject of the paintings in the catacombs, and sometimes seems to be evidently a representation of the family gatherings that were held on the anniversaries in these tombs, in the same manner as they were in the painted tombs in the Via Latina or the Via Appia. These paintings are often supposed to be the LAST SUPPER, and sometimes may be so, but the one before us can hardly be intended for Christ and his Apostles.

CHRIST AND THE CHURCH.

These two figures, one on either side of a small table, on which are two dishes, one with a fish upon it and the other with bread, are supposed to represent our Lord after the Resurrection, and the Christian Church in the form of a woman, with the hands uplifted in the Oriental attitude of prayer, such as is usually called in the catacombs an Orante. This explanation is of course conjectural only, but seems not improbable. The painting is so much damaged that it is difficult to tell to what period it belongs. A part of this great catacomb is as early as the second century. In this passage _stravit_ may mean covering the walls with slabs of porphyry also, as well as the floor. It is evident that in several instances the word _platonia_ is applied by Anastasius to a chapel lined with marble plates for inscriptions, as at S. Sebastian's.

HEAD OF CHRIST IN AN AUREOLE.--MARY, MOTHER OF CHRIST, AND MARY MAGDALENE.--ST. MARK, ST. PAUL AND ST. PETER.

This cemetery or catacomb is on the western side of the Tiber, about half a mile beyond the Porta Portuensis, on the road to Porto, but on the hill above, and on a higher level than the road in what is now a vineyard. The soil in which this catacomb is made is quite different from the others; instead of the granular tufa, or volcanic sand, which is the soil generally used for them near the Via Appia and the Via Ardeatina, this is an alluvial soil formed by the action of water on the bank of the Tiber. Whether from this cause, or from some others that have not been explained, the paintings in this catacomb are far more perfect than those in any other; they are the most celebrated and the most popular, and those that have been more often engraved and published than any others.

[Illustration: CHAMBER OF A CATACOMB. (_With head of Christ, etc., of the first century._)]

The picture of the head of Christ is a very fine one, in an aureole or circular nimbus, with the cross on it, called also a cruciform nimbus. This head has been many times engraved and published, and it is amusing to compare those commonly sold in the shops of Rome with the original as shown in the photograph. These will illustrate the manner in which the clever modern artists have _improved upon_ the originals; it is difficult to understand that they are intended for the same picture.

The figures of the three saints, St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Mark, are painted on the ceiling, while Mary, the Mother of Christ, and Mary Magdalene are over and on the left side of the head of Christ.

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TRUTH OF THE BIBLE.

It may seem presumptuous for us to undertake to write upon this subject. "It is to paint the sun with charcoal," for the most scholastic divine to give his reflections on the Word of God. With the most devout feeling of the infinite value of such an article or the great evil which might result from the complexity of its appearance, we have concluded that nothing but the most reverential feeling of the sacredness of the subject can secure us from falling into dangers not to be lightly regarded, not merely in regard to facts, but in respect also to comments and reflections; but with this caution such an article may be rendered eminently edifying and interesting.

Why should we conclude this work, in this age of infidelity, without at least stating what was known of the Bible? Why should we not bring the "cloud of witnesses" of the ruins we have already described? The discovery of the Assyrian and Babylonian historic records running contemporaneously with Scripture narratives have afforded innumerable points of proof. From the ruins of Nineveh and the Valley of the Nile; from the slabs and bas-reliefs of Sennacherib and the tombs, the catacombs with their 1,100 Christian inscriptions, and the monuments of Pharaoh; from the rolls of Chaldee paraphrasts and Syrian versionists; from the cells and libraries of monastic scribes and the dry and dusty labors of scholars and antiquarians, the skepticism of history has almost been silenced by the vivid reproductions of the ancient and eastern world.

An attentive perusal of the present volume will afford many illustrations of these remarks. Knowing that the substance of the narrative is drawn from sources of indisputable authority, the reader can have no anxiety respecting the truth of the facts recorded. He will, therefore, be able to resign himself altogether to the gracious influence which such a history is calculated to exercise on the mind.

The assistance which the reader will derive from a well-arranged narrative of these sublime events will be found of importance, not only as exciting attention to facts, otherwise less noticed, but as habituating him, in perusing the divine originals, to arrange and classify the several portions of the history for himself. When this ability is acquired, the mind will have a readier command over the materials of reflection, and the several arguments on which the proof of heavenly truth is founded will be seen with greater distinctness, and appreciated with a more practical feeling of their strength and value.

With the assistance of the many scholarly productions on this matter, why should we not at least set the Bible side by side with Homer, Herodotus, Virgil, Horace, and others, which have already taken quite a space in the present work. The Scripture surely contains, independently of a divine origin, more true _sublimity_, more exquisite _beauty_, purer _morality_, more important _history_, and finer strains both of _poetry_ and _eloquence_, than could be collected within the same compass from all other books that were ever composed in any age or in any idiom.