EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTER, Italian
(active 4th century in Rome)

The Raising of Lazarus

4th century
Fresco
Catacomb of Via Latina, Rome

In the second half of the fourth century, Christian iconography diversified, with the emergence of new narrative, cyclical and Christocentric forms. This new taste for cycles is apparent in funerary art, as is shown by some private hypogea, discovered in the anonymous catacomb on the Via Latina (Via Dino Compagni). Here the iconography becomes more complex, with subtle expressions of the religious beliefs of the deceased.

The picture shows a fresco in a hypogeum in the anonymous catacomb on the Via Latina. The pictorial narrative focuses on the moment when Christ commandsLazarus to rise up. Opposite the figure of Christ, an aedicula is shown as a metaphor for the grave of Lazarus.




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