Peter, Paul, Andrew and John in a catacomb of the fourth century
The oldest icons of the apostles Peter, Paul, Andrew and John have been discovered in Rome in a cubicle of the Roman catacombs of St. Thecla, by way of Ostia, near the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls
The important archaeological discovery was announced today in the capital, at a press conference with Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, Monsignor Giovanni Carrù, secretary of that committee, Professor Fabrizio Bisconti, superintendent of the catacombs and Professor of Archaeology Christian and Medieval Archaeology at Roma Tre and Barbara Mazzei, responsible for the restoration. At the same cubicle in June 2009 archaeologists discovered a face of St Paul of the fourth century after Christ, the Osservatore Romano announced: "We have continued the restoration with the laser and, behind a veneer limestone, we have discovered these frescoes in the sensational time the cubicle. They are the first representations as icons at all ', says Bisconti.
Once in the cubicle, there are also images of a Roman matron (probably the woman who has been buried there) and "dense lacunar perhaps imitating the basilica of St. Paul, we know that at the end of the fourth century it was reconstructed" martyrium Pauline ", and other sources tell us that the ceiling was all beams and plates of gold."
"The cubiculo - continues Bisconti - emulates a mausoleum or a basilica. Nearby is the image of a college of the Apostles with Christ at the center of the apostles, as was usually depicted in the apse of the Roman basilicas. The matron is bejeweled with her daughter in a prayerful attitude. "
According to the archaeologist "all matches" with the Christian religious life of Rome at that time: "At the end of the fourth century St. Jerome lives in Rome, which triggers a sort of almost monastic asceticism, involving several matrons of the city. And the woman buried in that cubicle could be one of those aristocratic, converted to Christianity, then travels to the Holy Land to see the sights of the apostles. Then, in return, does reproduce their images on the tomb. In any case - concludes Bisconti - are the oldest full-length icons of Peter and Paul and by far the most ancient of Andrew and John. "
Source: http://www.lastampa.it
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