The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus ca. 359 CE Marble Approx. 4' x 8' x 4' Museum of Saint Peter's Basilica, The Vatican, Rome Khan Academy, video (4:26) https://youtu.be/UjX4ExCixWY The sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, a coffin made of marble, is one of the earliest surviving high-status examples depicting Early Christian iconography. When we speak of iconography, we are referring to the traditional and conventional images or symbols that are associated with a subject, and especially a religious or legendary subject. With the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus we find the earliest visual example of, yet again, adopting and adapting here, Roman convention for depicting imperial and godly figures in the service to Christianity. When in the year 313 CE Emperor Constantine granted religious toleration throughout the empire under the Edict of Milan, the persecution of Christians officially ended. Shortly before his death in 337, Constantine himself was baptized as a Christian and thereby aligned the seat of the Roman Emperor with the divine authority of the Christian Church. As Christianity became an official practice, the long tradition of visually honoring Greek and Roman gods was now necessitated for the depiction of Christian iconology and doctrine. Remember still, the majority of the population was illiterate but had a great deal of training in visual literacy, and the power to communicate important tenets through images was inherited by Christian leaders. This sarcophagus belonging to Junius Bassus, a Roman prefect or regional governor, who died in 359 at age 42, is indicated through the Latin inscriptions on the cornice above the top register to have been recently baptized. He was a praefectus urbi as well, which was the highest level of administrative function in the city of Rome at that time, and had recently become a convert to Christianity, which had only been legal in the Roman Empire for 50 years or so. The Senate decided to give Junius Bassus the honor of a public funeral, as he was still serving the Empire at the time of his death. The sarcophagus was placed behind the confessio (typical early-Christian resting place under an altar for a saint or martyr) at Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The face of the sarcophagus has been divided into two registers, think back to the Standard of Ur, and is structured to emulate a two-story Roman temple façade supported by composite columns, and divided into ten panels by a colonnade at the top and bottom. The upper register supports an architrave and cornice that is finished with a gable roof which at one point was elaborately carved with additional sculpture. On the front side, ten scenes derived from the Old Testament (four scenes) and the New Testament (six scenes) are carved into the marble providing a moralizing program, that is, Old Testament scenes are set against New Testament scenes as prefigurations (forerunners) for Christ. The two end (side) panels of the sarcophagus depict four scenes, two on each end, representing the four seasons and the typical occupations of the seasons, namely, the harvesting of grapes, wheat and olives by Cupids. The figures all wear togas of the classical Roman upper class, and are modeled along the same style of the Late Empire sculptures, Portrait of the Tetrarchs and the Constantinian relief sculpture from the Arch of Constantine, depicting figures with larger heads and shorter bodies. The scenes on the front side are, from left to right, upper register: 1) Sacrifice of Isaac; 2) St. Peter Taken Prisoner; 3) Christ Enthroned (treading the Head of the Roman pagan god of the heavens, Coelus) between Peter and Paul, the veritable saints of Rome; 4 & 5) Jesus before Pontius Pilate at his Trial (last two compartments). The scenes from left to right, lower register: 6) Suffering of Job; 7) The Temptation of Adam and Eve; 8) Jesus’ Entry Into Jerusalem on a Donkey; 9) Daniel in the Lion’s Den; 10) St. Paul led to his Martyrdom (The Execution of Paul). Before the time of Constantine, the figure of Christ was rarely directly represented. On the sarcophagus here we see Christ prominently represented in a formula derived from Roman imperial art as the enthroned emperor (panel 3). Christ's gesture of holding a scroll in his outstretched left arm in Panel 3, with St. Peter standing to Christ's right and holding a scroll himself, is known as the traditio legis, "handing over the law," and it became a classic convention of early Christian art. It displays an aspect of the deity, Christ, as a lawgiver and a teacher; it is an eloquent symbolic representation here of the teacher passing on his legacy to St. Peter as the founding father of the Church. In Roman imperial art it was used to indicate the emperor as a lawgiver or one who was investing someone with authority. The classical tradition continued to be a recurring element in Christian art throughout the Middle Ages. For today, I would like for you to choose one of the scenes (panels) from the front of the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus above to research. Define the subject of the panel you have chosen to delve into and share it on your post. Then, knowing the story behind the subject, think about how the artist represents the scene. Is it an accurate description of the subject? Does the artist choose certain characteristics, elements, or attributes to hint at the subject? Would anyone looking at this work understand what these images represented? How does the artist depict the story? I will be evaluating your responses for a grade this time around, so legitimately research, use Brittanica, use the resources of Christian iconography listed on the class website's Resources Page, look at the Life of Jesus in Art handout on the ART 101 page, and share succinctly but with detail for your fellow colleagues. Comments are closed.
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