The Sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva is an Ancient Roman stone coffin with ornamental engraved with a Latin text and figures of the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd ( el, ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 ...

, a fish, and an anchor and was originally housed in

the Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. Initially thought to be an ancient Christian sarcophagus, but now it is thought to be pagan.

Description

The Sarcophagus was originally discovered in the Ostrianum and

Vatican Cemetery Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. The good shepherd is seen with one sheep on each of his sides. There has been speculation on the religious origins of the Sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva. It was thought to be Christian because the artwork was tied to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, but later evidence strongly suggests that this artifact was built for a

Pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

entombment. Livia Primitiva was 24 years and 9 months of age at the time of her death. Raoul Rochette suggest that Livia Primitiva's monument was actually

and had Christian elements added later. Victor Schultze agreed with Raoul-Rochette's theory. Schultze argues that in Christian monuments, the shepherd either carries the sheep with both hands, or he carries the sheep by the legs with one hand, or the sheep lies on the shepherds shoulder without being held for any support. The shepherd on the sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva the sheep is seen on the shepherds shoulder while the shepherd is holding the sheep providing it support and therefor the inscription on the monument proves to not be Christian. The style in which the shepherd is carrying the sheep indicates that Livia Primitiva's sarcophagus was suspected to be that of a Pagan faith.
File:Fronte frammentario di sarcofago di livia primitiva, 200-225 dc ca..JPG, Fragmentary Front of the Sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva, 200-225 File:Plaque du sarcophage de Livia Primitiva.jpg, Plaque of the sarcophagus of Livia Primitiva. The text is ''Livia Primitiva dead at 24 years and 9 months old, regreted by her sister Livia Nicarus''. The image of Good Shepherd surrounded by His sheep, presence of a fish and an anchor show the belonging to the Christian community.

References

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Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...