|
previous
|
|
|
|||||||
| |
Sarcophagus lid found in the Vatican Necropolis, typically dated at late 4th century. The lead astrologer (or king, in other readings) points to the star and offers a gift (crown?) to the toddler Jesus.
Early analysts (e.g. Deichmann) interpreted the animals as oxen, although they may be camels. The details of the scene are not consistent with those of the canonical gospels, but are consistent with apocryphal
texts such as Pseudo-Matthew and the Protoevangel of James. Vatican Inv. 31463.
|
||||||||
Copyright 2007 by William Storage and Laura Maish |
|
||||||||
Keywords: ancient Rome, iconography, archaeology, imperial portraiture, emperor