A FUNERAL IN THE CATACOMBS 



Photogravure from the Painting by Adolf Crafs 



The Catacombs of Rome are no longer used as funeral depositories, but in 

 the early period of Christianity they were the common sepulchral places of 

 the dead. The artist, in a famous painting here reproduced, has presented a 

 typical scene of the ceremonial rites performed in the Catacombs about the 

 tenth century. The body of a maid, exposed on a bier, after the custom of the 

 time, is bewailed by nine virgins who attend in the capacity of mourners and 

 recite prayers while the celebrant pronounces a benediction, after which an 

 Epithalamium is sung, and the body is then committed to a vault, as shown 

 in the painting. 



