A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



in combination. The dove as depicted on the sepulchral inscriptions 

 of the catacombs at Rome of the first four centuries A.D. is Noah's dove 

 with the olive branch in its mouth, either accompanied by the ark (ren- 

 dered literally as a rectangular box with the lid open) or more frequently 

 by itself. The dove symbol is equivalent to the words IN PACE of the 

 inscription it illustrates, and it also signifies the Holy Ghost and therefore 

 in another sense the soul 1 of the departed. Doves in early Christian art 

 are usually arranged symmetrically in pairs facing each other with a vase, 

 or the Chi-Rho monogram of Christ, or the cross in the centre between 

 them. On a sculptured sarcophagus of the fifth century in the Lateran 

 Museum at Rome engraved in J. W. Appell's Monuments of Early 

 Christian Art (p. 21) a pair of doves are perched on the horizontal arms 

 of the cross with the Chi-Rho monogram above. On the sarcophagus 

 of the emperor Honorius in the mausoleum of Galla Placidia at Ravenna 

 the pair of doves are perched on the arms of the cross which is combined 

 with the Agnus Dei standing on the mountain with the four rivers of 

 paradise flowing from its foot. The two-handled cup or vase was per- 

 haps, as Dean Burgon has suggested, the Jewish Passover cup adapted to 

 Christian purposes. In shape it resembles the vases which are seen so 

 frequently on Romano-British mosaic pavements forming the central 

 object, on each side of which the rest of the design is arranged symme- 

 trically. In early Christian art the two-handled cup is no doubt used as 

 a eucharistic symbol, and in support of this view it may be mentioned 

 that the most ancient chalice now in existence 2 is of this shape. It is 

 also used as a symbol of baptism in the well-known mosaic in the bap- 

 tistery of the basilisca at Salona 3 near Spalato in Dalmatia. The cup 

 occurs in the third or fourth century catacombs at Rome * with a dove 

 holding the olive branch on each side and the Chi-Rho monogram of 

 Christ, and in the seventh century we find the same symbol, but with the 

 olive-branches omitted, the vine added and the cross substituted for the 

 monogram. 6 Sometimes again the doves are replaced by a pair of pea- 

 cocks. 6 The Christian vine was clearly copied from Roman art, 7 and its 



1 In the twelfth-century Spanish Commentary on the Apocalypse in the British Museum Library 

 (Add. MSS. No. 1 1,695) doves or birds flying are inscribed ' anlmce interfectorum' 



8 The chalice now in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, found at Gourdon, Chalons-sur-Marne, 

 with medals of Anastasius and Justinian A.D. 508-527 (A. de Caumont's AbMdaire <T Anheokge Archi- 

 tecture Refigieuse, p. 117). 



3 The vase here represents the Fountain of Life, and there are stags on each side drinking from it. 

 The inscription, ' Sic ut cervus desiderat ad fontes,' etc, explains the meaning of the subject. (Dr. R. 

 Munro's Boznia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia, p. 264 ; and R. Garrucci's Storia dell* Arte Criitiana, iv. 278. 



4 P. Aringhi's Roma Subterranea, ii. 348. 



6 On the end of the sarcophagus of Archbishop Theodore in the church of S. Apollinare in Classe 

 at Ravenna (J. W. Appell's Monuments of Early Christian Art, p. 30). 



6 On a sculptured parapet in the church of S. Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna, and on the sarcopha- 

 gus of Archbishop John in the church of S. Apollinare in Classe at Ravenna. A cross and pair of pea- 

 cocks but without the vase occurs on the front of the cathedral at Athens (A. N. Didron's Christian 

 Iconography, i. 389). 



7 The ceiling of the vaulted aisle of the church of S. Constantia (A.D. 320) at Rome, and a sculp- 

 tured sarcophagus with the Good Shepherd in the Vatican Museum are decorated with vintage scenes 

 which are more suggestive of the worship of Bacchus than of anything Christian. A fine example of the 

 ceiling of a chamber in the catacombs at Rome with the Good Shepherd in the centre and the classical 

 vine is given in Dr. E. L. Cult's History of Early Christian Art, p. 163, after Bottari, pi. 3. 



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