Vatican Museums

This sarcophagus was found in the Basilica of St. Sebastian on the Appian Way, and before reaching the Christian Museum in 1757, reduced to its front panel only, it was used for the tomb of a cardinal in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. The beautiful frieze in high-relief retraces the story of Salvation, intended as a wish for the destiny of the deceased: it begins with Adam and Eve, cast out of Paradise, receiving the symbols of work from God (ears of grain for Adam, to indicate agriculture, have been substituted with a stick in the eighteenth century restoration), followed by various depictions of the miracles worked by Jesus, interrupted in the centre by the episode of the entry into Jerusalem, with the figure of Christ seated on a donkey inspired by the ceremony of imperial visits. Finally, the scenes of the miracles emphasise the salvific power of the Messiah: the curing of the paralytic, the water turned into wine at the wedding at Cana, the healing of the man blind from birth, and the resurrection of Lazarus.