Fragment of lintel with Christ between Peter and Paul
Photogallery
Fragment of lintel with Christ between Peter and Paul
Recent restoration has enabled us to recognise at the base of the bas-relief a hole to accommmodate the hinge of a door: it is, therefore, an architectural fragment, transformed into a sort of framed image by the sculptor and restorer Bartolomeo Cavaceppi at the time of its entry into the Christian Museum in 1757. At the centre of the relief there is a depiction of Jesus, a halo around his head, seated on a throne and holding an open codex; beside him the two apostles Peter and Paul, both joyous, can be recognised. The presence of the halo (aureole) around Jesus' head enables the work to be attributed to the late fourth century. The theme, inspired by the concept of Christ the teacher surrounded by his disciples, recalls in its solemn arrangement the imperial representations of the throned sovereign flanked by his dignitaries, an important iconographic reflection of awareness of the triumph of faith in the Roman Christian community at the time of the emperor Theodosius (379-395).