A conversation with Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker in front of Christ as the Good Shepherd, 300-350 C.E., marble, 39 inches high (Museo Pio Cristiano, Vatican Museums, Rome)
Its nice to see modern parallels to this now. In most of the deceased Catholic/Christian's place of rest or columbariums there is always the passage:" The Lord is my shepherd, there's nothing I shall want." I thought that was pretty interesting!
At the risk of being silly, I can't get over his sandals / leggings - very Legend of Zelda chic. I'm of course reminded of Scripture (e.g. James 10). He is indeed a good shepherd and I like this depiction of that intimate relationship.
From memory there was a comment on the previous upload of this video that this sculpture was, in fact, originally a relief. Anyone any idea if there's any truth in that?
Yes, there has been speculation that this may have originally been the corner post from what would have been an elaborate tomb. Its origins are undetermined and are understood based on style and content, and as we hope to show in the video, the subject was common in early Christian art but also goes back much further in time.
No, that is not what we mean. Artists use different styles to convey different messages. I suspect you have used different typefaces in different circumstances. The script used for a wedding invitation might not be appropriate on a traffic sign for example. A stop sign needs to be very clearly written. Tombs were often created for dark spaces where detail would be lost. Similarly, style can carry symbolic meaning. It's not only about money.
