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Another Christian sarcophagus has on it the multiplication of loaves, the denial of Peter, and a representation of Christ unbearded, which is the earliest form. Another, again, represents him unbearded holding a scroll, on the right St. Peter and two other apostles holding rolls, and three apostles on the left; on the lid is an orante.
But to return to the antique conception of the "Donna orante" or so-called Virgin Mother, I will mention here only the moat remarkable examples; for to enter fully into the subject would occupy a volume in itself. When this figure stands alone and unaccompanied by any attribute, I think the signification doubtful: but in the Catacomb of St.
The fish, whose Greek name is formed by the initial letters of the titles of our Lord, was carved on the marble tablets and sarcophagi as the anagram of the Saviour; and an Orante, or female figure praying, was represented as the symbol of the Church.
Christ enthroned in a vesica is supported by two angels; below is the Madonna as orante, surrounded by the Apostles. The border consists of fine leaf-scrolls, late twelfth century in character. A silver statuette of the Madonna and Child is of the fourteenth century. The Child is nude, tall, and thin, and wears a crown decorated with pearls and trefoils.
The museum contains a Christian sarcophagus on the staircase, with an orante, a woman praying with uplifted hands in the midst, on the sides the striking of the rock and the multiplication of the loaves.
The back has an Orante or Virgin in the centre, and male figures at the ends, with S-shaped striations between. There is also a very beautiful torso of Venus accompanied by Cupid, and in one of the more distant museums two fine fragments of a relief of undoubtedly Greek work.
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