Sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham (center) with Isaac (right) carrying the wood for the sacrifice, Catacomb of Priscilla, 3rd century, Rome.

Adam & Eve aware of their sin.

Progression in the veneration of martyrs now begins to bring the remains of the martyr from a catacomb beneath the high altar into the church itself. Here we see the very early form of the altar/table with four stone legs ...

On the right side of the apse is the tomb of the Pope Adrian VI, 1522-1523. As a reforming Pope his Pontificate was brief and he was the last non-Italian pope until the election of John Paul II in 1978.

Arcosolium damaged by grave robbers, Catacomb of Domatilla, Rome. Note the damages which mark the places both for inhumation and possibly for ashes.

Relatively undamaged arcosolium and sarcophagus with pagan themes, Via Latina Catacomb, Rome. The term arcosolium refers to the arched niche usually in the cubiculum (i.e. square room) in a catacomb.

But ark, or "tevah" in the Hebrew is a word of ambiguity, meaning an ark for the scrolls of the Torah or that of Noah.

Origen claimed the magi as descendants of Balaam, but Jerome captured the spirit of their role when he wrote: "To confound the Jews a star arose in the East, they [the Jews] were to learn of the birth of Christ from the ...

Two other important groups of symbols while without direct iconographic antecedents, emphasized the personalistic emphasis of Christian iconography in the 3rd century: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Catacomb fresco of ...

Baptistry with fresco of the Baptism of Christ; note loculi above fresco. (Also see CAT0040)