Vatican Museums

This large marble slab, found reused in the floor of the Church of San Martino ai Monti, originally sealed the tomb of the young Proiecta, laid to rest in 383 in an unknown cemetery in the suburbs. The exceptional nature of the epitaph, written in poetic verse reminiscent of classical authors such as Virgil and Ovid, is linked not only to the elegance of the characters and the layout, but also to the identity of its author, Pope Damasus (366-384). Damasus composed numerous poems, which he then had carved in marble by the skilful calligrapher Philocalus. They mostly consist of praise for the holy martyrs, and were intended to be placed at tombs venerated in shrines around the city; most of them are now lost and are known only from fragments or copies. The case of Proiecta is among the rare examples of a virtually intact Damasian inscription, conceived as the epitaph of one of the simple faithful.