The ancient catacombs of St. Domitilla sprawl for more than 10 miles (17 kilometers) in a labyrinth of tunnels beneath Rome and contain numerous tombs, many belonging to the city's elite.
Now, using a technique called laser cleaning, in which lasers are used to remove centuries of grime, researchers have uncovered elaborate frescoes in two sections of the catacombs: the burial chamber used by a grain purchaser (sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as a baker) and the "introductio," which shows a "a personal presentation of the dead to Christ," said Barbara Mazzei, an archaeologist with the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, the organization that unveiled the newly visible frescoes at the end of May.
The chambers were first discovered about 400 years ago by an explorer named Antonio Bosio.
"Only the wealthiest families could afford a burial chamber," Mazzei told Live Science in an email. The catacombs date back about 1,600 years and are considered to be among the oldest Christian cemeteries.
When the lasers had been used to chip away the soot along with the rest of the particles that had built up throughout the years, a 1,600-year-old fresco was revealed and it showed a grain purchaser in great details. Researchers had previously known about the individual and said that he had been called the Baker.
The grain purchaser had been buried in the chamber and he was dressed in a tunic that was said to be richly decorated and found behind a big modius, a container used for measuring and the distribution of grain. Walls close to the image of the grain purchaser show the details of Annona`s activities, an office which is said to deal with the purchase and the distribution of the grains supply for Rome.
The grain purchaser was said to be someone of high rank along with relevance in the office of Annona. It was said that the grain purchaser seemed to be extremely proud of the work he was doing and the social level that he had gained. Also revealed in the catacombs was a bucolic scene featuring a shepherd and another one with Christ sat on the throne and seated between two groups of apostles. Other scenes had been drawn from the old and the New Testament.
Close to the fresco of the grain purchaser in a different section of the catacombs in Rome, the cleaning showed details of a fresco that showed Christ sitting on a throne with his right arm being raised, with two individuals that were deceased along with their patron saints. It is thought that they are the Princes belonging to Paul and Peter, waiting to be let into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mazzei had said that the subject is very rare in regards to the repertoire of the catacomb paintings. Mazzei went on to say that there are more frescoes needing to be cleaned in the region close to the tomb of the grain purchaser along with other regions in the ancient catacombs which are underneath Rome.
No comments:
Write σχόλια