Our Lord under the Symbol of Orpheus. From a picture in the Cemetery of Domitilius.
“I see,” said Torquatus, “a shepherd with a sheep over his shoulders—the Good Shepherd; that I can understand; I remember the parable.”
“But why is this subject such a favorite one?” asked Tiburtius; “I have observed it in other cemeteries.”
“If you will look over the arcosolium,”[103] answered Severus, “you will see a fuller representation of the scene. But I think we had better first continue what we have begun, and finish the ceiling. You see that figure on the right?”
The Good Shepherd. A woman praying. From the arcosolium of the Cemetery of Sts. Nereus and Achilleus.
“Yes,” replied Tiburtius; “it is that of a man apparently in a chest, with a dove flying towards him. Is that meant to represent the Deluge?”
“It is,” said Severus, “as the emblem of regeneration by water and the Holy Spirit; and of the salvation of the world. Such is our beginning; and here is our end: Jonas thrown out of the boat, and swallowed by the whale; and then sitting in enjoyment under his gourd. The resurrection with our Lord, and eternal rest as its fruit.”
“How natural is this representation in such a place!” observed Pancratius, pointing to the other side; “and here we have another type of the same consoling doctrine.”
“Where?” asked Torquatus, languidly; “I see nothing but a figure bandaged all round, and standing up, like a huge infant in a small temple; and another person opposite to it.”