The first Christmas Nativities linked both birth and the death
ARTSY.NET
By Konstantina Karterouli
The earliest depictions of the Nativity were very different from our current conception; they typically formed part of a larger cycle narrating the life of Christ carved into the surfaces of Roman sarcophagi, thus bringing the message of death inherent to a sarcophagus in direct relationship to the most important birth in the history of Christianity. The earliest securely dated example of the Nativity scene is from 343 A.D., from a sketch of a now-lost fragment of a sarcophagus from the catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter in Rome. [link]
By Konstantina Karterouli
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| The Sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus from San Giacomo in Settimiana, ca. 330MarbleVia della Lungara, Museo Nazionale, Rome |
