The Trinity Sarcophagus
Community Through Art: Judaism and Christianity Back in the times when one couldn’t communicate their ideas through social media and technology, the way to portray one’s self, culture, and civilization was through art. The Jews and Christians were no stranger to this, and their artistic representations in history would begin to emerge in the Late Roman period, under the tyrannical rule of the Roman Empire. The Jews and the Christians used this medium to express what bound them as communities, what common values they held and messages they intended to give. The Christian sarcophagus piece I will be discussing is known as the “Trinity Sarcophagus,” dating back to 320-350 C.E. The Trinity Sarcophagus was uncovered whilst rebuilding the Basilica
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The creator of this sarcophagus is not known, and possibly was comprised of more than one carver or sculptor. The name “Dogmatic Sarcophagus” was attributed to this piece because the scene in the top left of the sarcophagus appearing as though the dogma of the Council of Nicaea, 325, is being proclaimed. The sarcophagus contains an upper and lower level, the upper level contains five scenes, two stories from Genesis and Christ’s miracles; the lower level contains six scenes, one of Christ’s birth, another of a biblical story, and three others linked to St. Peter. The Christian community was in its very early stages at this time, freshly birthed from Jesus’ crucifixion a few centuries before, and many of its artistic creations were centered on the core tenets of Jesus’ message. The upper level of the sarcophagus is a caricature of the beginnings of the bible, the start of the universe according to the Christians and their source of belief. The two miracles of Jesus in the upper level work to centralize Jesus’ importance in Christianity as a spiritual teacher and son of God. The sarcophagus’ ornateness an intricacy is akin to a book, telling a tale from “the Fall and the Redemption,” a compilation of Christian spiritual and literal history[]. The sarcophagus is a communal piece, telling
The creator of this sarcophagus is not known, and possibly was comprised of more than one carver or sculptor. The name “Dogmatic Sarcophagus” was attributed to this piece because the scene in the top left of the sarcophagus appearing as though the dogma of the Council of Nicaea, 325, is being proclaimed. The sarcophagus contains an upper and lower level, the upper level contains five scenes, two stories from Genesis and Christ’s miracles; the lower level contains six scenes, one of Christ’s birth, another of a biblical story, and three others linked to St. Peter. The Christian community was in its very early stages at this time, freshly birthed from Jesus’ crucifixion a few centuries before, and many of its artistic creations were centered on the core tenets of Jesus’ message. The upper level of the sarcophagus is a caricature of the beginnings of the bible, the start of the universe according to the Christians and their source of belief. The two miracles of Jesus in the upper level work to centralize Jesus’ importance in Christianity as a spiritual teacher and son of God. The sarcophagus’ ornateness an intricacy is akin to a book, telling a tale from “the Fall and the Redemption,” a compilation of Christian spiritual and literal history[]. The sarcophagus is a communal piece, telling