Vatican Museums

Little Tetianus (Tezianus on the stone, possibly also indicating Titianus) died before reaching the age of one year, and was probably buried by his parents, who make no mention of themselves. The epitaph is limited to declaring the number of months and days the deceased lived, adding at the end an invocation of peace: dulcis anima in pace, “may (your) sweet soul (rest) in peace”, of clear eschatological meaning. The figurative group engraved on the right is also evocative of heavenly peace: it represents a dove and a bird at the sides of a vase. The circle on the right, if not an incomplete crown, was perhaps intended to contain a monogram of Christ, not subsequently engraved.