Christ the Good Shepherd

Abstract

It was simply no longer popular for a Christ who is greater than Caesar to be portrayed as a humble shepherd. The motivation has now changed, for it is now an imperial faith which stands above, or at least in league with, the empire. As a result we have a whole new group of symbols, most of them drawn directly from existing imperial iconographic vocabulary. Catacomb fresco from San Callisto crypt of Lucina, 3rd century.