Allr:corieal Scenes make up another smaller but important class. The oft-repeated scene of the vine among which little genii are climbing and playing or picking the grapes, reminds us at once of the familiar parable, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." The parable of the \Vise and Foolish Virgins is also represented in some early paintings. But the most import ant of all is the figure of the Good Shepherd. This parable was one that was cherished with great tenderness by the early Christians as the type of the salvation brought by Christ into the world. The subject is treated hundreds of times and in many ways. The Good Shepherd sometimes stands in the midst of his flock, sometimes he is seated caressing a favor ite, but most often he is represented as bringing back tenderly on his shoulders the one lost sheep. To this series ought perhaps to be attached some of those scenes that seem borrowed from classic art, like Cupid and Psyche.
third class of subjects contains entirely figured compositions which have often both a symbolic and an allegorical mean ing. They are taken from both the Old and the New Testament, but are invested with a meaning far beyond the historical, being chosen not as striking or picturesque episodes in history, but as inculcating some great religious or moral lesson. Art was rapidly becoming the handmaid of Religion. In Noah and the ark we find symbolized the salvation through baptism and regeneration. The Deluge washed the world of its sins; the Ark represents the true Church, and Noah the typical believing soul. Many other subjects taken from the Old Testament, like Cain and Abel, Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, Job, Samson, and the Three Children in the fiery furnace, have a similar significance. One of the greatest favorites with these early artists was the history of Jonah; every episode in it is repeatedly treated, and sometimes an entire ceiling is cov ered with the different scenes. . Two of these scenes are illustrated in Fig ure 2 (p1. 28). Other subjects will be mentioned in describing the Plates.
Historical, Iconographic, and Liturgical Subjects. fourth category includes historical and iconographic subjects, like portraits of Christ, the Virgin and Child, portraits of Paul and Peter, etc., and to the fifth belongs a very limited number of so-called liturgical subjects.
Early Frescos : Ccincloy of Lilo* na. Plate 27 (fig. 1) and Plate 2S (fig. i) are reproduced two excellent examples of catacomb frescos. The earliest (p1. 28, fig. i) is taken from the Cemetery of Lucina, where it adorned the vault of a chapel. It belongs, probably, to the second cen tury, and, though much damaged, is a fine example of the style halfway between the early purely decorative Pompeian-like designs and the more religious compositions of the third century. The general scheme of the decoration is charming—a large circle, supported on pendentive-like frames, enclosing figures. In a small central circle is a much-mutilated figure of
Daniel standing between two lions; in a cross-like framework outside the circle are four charming heads with long and wavy locks, and, beyond, four more, of larger size, with hair standing up. According to Garrucci, the first heads represent the region of the stars and planets; the second, which rest on scroll-like flowers, that of the winds and vapors.
In the pendentives are four figures, each standing on a flower, which are in reality but two repeated. One is the Good Shepherd, the other a female figure whose outstretched arms are raised in prayer. In early Christian art this figure—which we call the °revile, or praying figure—stands for the soul of the believer. It is sometimes represented as in Paradise between the two emblematic trees, frequently on the slabs that close the loath. It came to symbolize the Church of believers, and later the Virgin Mary, who quite early was considered to represent the Church.
Between the peudentives are four compartments, each containing a winged flying figure, quite naked, with flowing drapery behind, holding in one hand a crook and in the other a vase or flower: these figures probably represent the four seasons. Iii this charming ceiling the heavy plain lines that enclose the figures are offset by a network of garlands and flowers and decorative motifs. The figures themselves are full of grace and beauty, 1)e111g sometimes, as in the winged genii and the orante, almost Greek in man ne r.
tit. second example ( fv. 27, Av. i) is almost as calk. as that of I,ncina, and shows a similar stage of art, in which the decorative was placed aide by side with the religious. This fresco ad )rns the vault of a chapel in the Catacombs of St. Callixtns. Ornamentation takes here a much less important share than in the prex ions work. In the central compartment, in the midst of a land scape, is Orpheus, in Phrygian cap and trousers, seated on a rock, play ing on the 1\ re. Around him, in a charmed circle, are the animals attracted by his mnsie—wild animals like the lion and the panther, tame animals like the horse and the rain, together with a snake, a turtle, and many birds in the overhanging trees. Eight small compartments surround this centre; four of these contain only landscape scenes, with trees, cows, and rams, while in the other four are depicted biblical scenes. First we see the slight but vigorous youthful figure of David holding in his hand his sling ready for action; next is 1\loses striking the rock—a symbol of the water of life; the third and fourth subjects are Daniel between two lions and Christ raising Lazarus, whose mummy-like body stands in a small tabernacle.