Vatican Museums

The slab closed the tomb of a boy named Asellus, who died before the age of seven and was buried in the cemetery of Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina. On the right the short text of the epigraph is arranged, written in irregular characters in rather inaccurate Latin, as is typical of later inscriptions (those dating from the end of the fourth century). On the left there are the faces of the apostles Peter and Paul, with respective captions, alongside a Christological monogram (combination of chi and rho, the first two letters of the Greek name Christós). The faces, distinguished by their intense gaze, create two simple but very effective “portraits”, faithful to the canonical features attributed to the two saints in the ancient Church. Ideally, it was the intention of whoever prepared the tomb that the little Asellus (“little donkey”, probably an affectionate nickname) should be entrusted in the Hereafter to the two revered patrons of the Roman Church.