Images: Web Gallery of Art; Wikimedia
Clavis number: ECMA 139
Other descriptors: none
Location: Museo Nazionale Romano al Palazzo Massimo, Rome
Accession number: Inv. no. 455
Category: sarcophagi
Related literature: Acts of Peter, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, Martyrdom of Blessed Peter the Apostle, by Pseudo-Linus; Passion of Processus and Martinianus
Featured characters and locations: Jesus Christ, Lazarus, Peter (apostle).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: white marble
Size: 2526 × 1338 cm.
Images: the center of the lid bears an inscription (see below); to the left (from left) are images of the nativity (with ox and ass), the hemorrhaging woman, the sacrifice of Isaac, and Moses and the Law; to the right (from left) is found a portrait of Marcus flanked by two harvest scenes. The lower features (from left): the water miracle of Peter, Peter’s arrest, and then several depictions of Jesus: turning water into wine, the feeding of the thousands of people by multiplying loaves, an orant figure, then the healing of a blind boy, prediction of Peter’s denial, and the miraculous healing of Lazarus, with the hemorrhaging woman at his feet.
Inscription: L(ucio) V(alerio) C(laudio) M(aximo) Claudiano/ v(iro) p(erfectissimo) q(ui) v(ixit) p(lus) m(inus) annis/ XLIII d(epositus) VIIII K(alendas) Dec(embres)/ in p(ace) (CIL VI 41428). The first line reads “To Lucas Marcus Claudianus”; the following lines say that he died at the age of 43 on the 8th kalends of December (i.e., November 24).
Date: 330–335 CE
Provenance: the sarcophagus was found in the 1884 in Via della Lungara, near the church of San Giacomo in Settimiano.
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
The depiction of the ox and ass are related to the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew:
Now, on the third day after the birth of the Lord, Mary went out of the cave and into a stable, and she placed the boy in a manger, and an ox and an ass bent their knees and worshiped him. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, who said, “The ox knows his owner and the ass the manger of his Lord.” And these animals, staying by his side, were constantly worshiping him. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Habakkuk, who said, “Between the two animals you will make yourself known.” And so Joseph and Mary remained in the same place with the child for three days. (14; trans. Brandon W. Hawk, The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary [Early Christian Apocrypha 8; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019]).
The water miracle is found in the Martyrdom of Blessed Peter the Apostle, attributed to Linus, and the Passion of Processus and Martinianus:
But the guards of the prison, Processus and Martinianus, together with the other magistrates and those associated by way of their office, appealed to him, saying, “Lord, go where you wish, because we believe that the emperor has now forgotten about you. But that most wicked Agrippa, enflamed by lust for his concubines and the intemperance of his passion is eager to destroy you. If an order from the king were accusing you, then we would have a command concerning your execution from Paulinus—a very prominent man to whom you were handed over and from whom we received the order to guard you. After we believers in this region of the Mamertine prison were baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity in a spring brought forth from stone by prayers and the glorious sign of the cross, you went around as freely as you pleased. No one bothered you or would be doing so now, if the demonic fire that troubles the city had not taken over Agrippa so violently. For this reason we beg you, minister of our salvation, to do us this favor in return. Because you freed us from the chains of sin and demons, now depart free from prison and being fettered with chains—a cruelty that we are charged to enforce—not just with our permission but our request, for the salvation of so great a multitude.” (Lin. Mart. Pet. 5; trans. David L. Eastman, The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul [WGRW 39; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015])
The arrest of Peter is reported in the various accounts of Peter’s martyrdom, the earliest being found in the Acts of Peter.
While Peter was saying these things and all the brothers and sisters were weeping, four soldiers arrested and took him to Agrippa. Agrippa, on account of his illness, ordered him to be crucified. (Acts of Peter 36:7; trans. Eastman)
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beck, Herbert, and Peter Bol, eds. Spätantike und frühes Christentum: Ausstellung im Liebieghaus, Museum alter Plastik, Frankfurt am Main: 16. Dezember 1983 bis 11. März 1984. Frankfurt am Main: Liebieghaus Museum alter Plastik, 1983.
Bovini, Giuseppe, and Hugo Brandenburg. Repertorium der christliche Sarkophage I: Rum und Ostia. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1967.
Dresken-Weiland, Jutta. “The Role of Peter in Early Christian Art: Images from the 4th to the 6th Century.” Pages 115–34 in The Early Reception an Appropriation of the Apostle Peter (60–800 CE): The Anchors of the Fisherman. Edited by Roald Dijkstra. Euhormos 1. Leiden: Brill, 2020 (pp. 116–20).
———. “Christian Sarcophagi from Rome.” Pages 39–55 in The Routledge Handbook of Christian Art. Edited by Robin M. Jensen and Mark D. Ellison. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Engemann, Josef. Untersuchungen zur Sepulkralsymbolik der späteren römischen Kaiserzeit. Münster: Aschendorff, 1973.
Löx, Markus. “The Death of Peter: Anchoring an Image in the Context of Late antique Representations of Martyrdom.” Pages 135–71 in The Early Reception and Appropriation of the Apostle Peter (60–800 CE): The Anchors of the Fisherman. Edited by Roald Dijkstra. Euhormos 1. Leiden: Brill, 2020 (esp. 155–63).
Moorsel, Paul van. “Il miracolo della roccia nella letteratura e nell’arte paleocristiane.” Rivista di archeologia cristiana 40 (1964): 221–51.
Paolucci, Antonio, ed. Petros eni — Pietro è qui: catalogo della mostra, Città del Vaticano, Braccio di Carlo Magno, 11 ottobre 2006 – 8 marzo 2007. Rome: Edindustria, 2006.
Taylor, Joan E. What Did Jesus Look Like. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988 (pp. 93–94).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
“Sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus.” Christian Iconography.
“Sarcophago di Marcus Claudianus.” Wikipedia.
Entry created by Oluwafunmilayo Balogun, under the supervision of Tony Burke, York University, 2 April 2021.