Identifier: monumentsofearly00lowr (find matches)
Title: Monuments of the early church
Year: 1901 (1900s)
Authors: Lowrie, Walter, 1868-1959
Subjects: Christian antiquities Christian art and symbolism Church architecture Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
Publisher: New York, The Macmillan Company London, MacMillan & Co.
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
tween the two accusing elders.^^— ■ ^^— ^^^fe^. Sometimes Dan- iel appears asjudge and deliv-erer (Fig. 67). Inthe Capella greca in S. Priscilla thestory is depictedwith u n u s u a 1dramatic interestand in severalscenes. In thecemetery of Pre-textatus thereis a paintingwhich representsa lamb betweentwo wolves, andthe inscriptioninforms us that we have before us Susanna and the elders. Far more frequent both in the frescos and on the sarcophagiw^ere the Three Children of Babylon. They are commonlyrepresented standing in the attitude of prayer amidst theflames of a furnace which is fed below by an attendant.Sometimes a fourth person, evidently the Lord, appears intheir midst. They are always clothed in the Phrygian cos-tume, which was used in Roman art to denote the inhabitantsof the extreme Orient. This was probably the suggestionwhich led to their association with the Three Magi from theEast who followed the star to Bethlehem, for they also we ierepresented in the same costume.
Text Appearing After Image:
Fig. 67. — Susanna and the eldt-rs judged by Daniel, frescothe catacomb of Callistus. Second century. PAINTING—The Magi 211 This brings before us a curious, but characteristic trait ofearly Christian symbolism; for these two subjects were notonly compared, but in a certain sense confused, in art. Thisappears in many instances upon the sarcophagi, and always insubstantially the form which is illustrated in Fig. 89. In thiscase the Three Children are represented in the act of refusingto worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar. On the other sidethe Magi, similarly clad, offer their gifts to the infant Jesus.It will be noticed that the Three Children turning away fromthe image are pointing to a star, and are thus brought into still

Note About Images