Conversion, salvation, transfiguration and triumph: the mosaic program of Tomb M in the Vatican necropolis

Abstract

Within the second-and-third-century Roman tombs of the Vatican Necropolis, the monument with the modern name Tomb M (of the Julii) has become famous for its interior decorative program of wall and vault mosaics featuring some of the earliest known Christian imagery executed in the medium. The smallest of the 23 tombs excavated beneath St. Peter's basilica, this decorative program, combined with the tomb typology, date of construction and, perhaps above all, location offers a unique opportunity to examine the convergence of Roman funerary cult, with its emphasis on ancestor worship and the Christian cult, which in this context has strong soteriological and eschatological context. The sights, sounds, smells, flavors, and textures around Tomb M intuit its experience. Tomb M was experienced as a Roman tomb and, subsequently, as a Roman Christian tomb. Its small size, approximately six feet by six feet, make it impossible to have a familial celebration of the dead within, celebrations which were part of the Roman calendar. This could only have occurred outside the tomb on the small street, where many celebrations were going on around. While many of the excavated tombs in the Vatican necropolis have mosaic pavements, Tomb M is the only one with wall and vault mosaics. Very little is written about the tomb being strictly Roman. Most scholars believe that the image of Jonah (which represents transfiguration) make the other three mosaic images - that of the fisherman (which represents conversion), the good shepherd (which represents salvation) and Sol Invictus (which represents triumph) - distinctly Christian. Mosaic wall and vault decoration is much more expensive than fresco wall and vault mosaic. Also, it takes much more time to create a mosaic. The choice of tesserae, made of glass with gold foil, is quite unusual for its time. (Gold tesserae backgrounds on mosaics didn't become popular until the Byzantine era in the fifth century). The owners of Tomb M, in deciding on its redecoration in the mid-third century CE, made extraordinary choices in theme, design, time and costs. The evidence suggests that they did so as a social comment as well as a religious statement.