The so called Bethesda Sarcophagi are a group of 14 sarcophagi from the end of the 4th century, mostly neglected by archeologians as well as by church historians. The paper will present the sarcophagi as relics and therefore testimonies of Holy-Land-Piety in the Theodosian Age, especially in Gaul and Spain, where the most fragments were found. It will analyse the contents and arrangement of the five biblical scenes presented on the sarcophagi, and with the help of literary sources (such as the Itineraria of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux and Egeria, and Jeromes Epitaphium Paulae) it will be shown, that the iconographic programme represents the stations of a late antique pilgrimage route from Jericho to Jerusalem. Thus, the origin of the iconographic programme is to be situated in Palestine. The customers of the sarcophagi seem to be former pilgrims or persons drawn to Holy-Land-Piety, that can be found, for example, in the pious circle of women to which the pilgrim Egeria addressed her report.
No comments:
Post a Comment