CHRISTIAN
707
CHRISTIAN
The work of De Rossi which best reveals his im-
mense learning and the scientific manner in which
his investigations were carried out is his "Roma
Sotterranea" (Rome, 18G4-77, 3 vols., fol.). The
time that has elapsed since the publication of the
last volume of this truly magnum opus has con-
firmed in the main the theories of its author. on the
civil and religious conditions of the primitive Chris-
tians, and on the symbolic character of early Christian
art. In 18(53 he began the publication of his " Bullet-
tino d'archeologia cristiana", a periodical almost as
indispensable to the student of Christian archaeology
as the "Roma Sotterranea". De Rossi left at his
death a school of archaeologists, trained in his scien-
tific methods, and capable of continuing his work.
The three earliest of his disciples, Armellini, Steven-
son, and Marucchi, have published numerous works
giving the results of their own investigations, or
popularizing the general results of Christian archaeolo-
gical discoveries, besides continuing the publication
of the Bullettino under the title " Nuovo Bullettino
d'archeologia cristiana". A publicist who accom-
plished considerable work of permanent value in
the domain of Christian archaeology was the Jesuit
Garrucci. His most important publication was a
"History of Christian Art", in six volumes, which
contains five hundred tables of illustrations.
Many of these, however, have been found inaccurate
and must be used with caution. His text also has
been in a great measure superseded by that of recent
writers. The best results achieved since the death
of De Rossi are attributable to a young German priest,
whose love for archaeological studies drew him to
Rome nearly two decades ago: Mgr. Joseph Wilpert.
Wilpert has devoted himself in a special manner to
the study of early Christian painting, a department
of archaeology to which De Rossi was unable to give
the attention the subject deserved. In 1889 Wilpert
published his "Principienfragen der christlichen
Archaologie", a brochure defending the principles of
interpretation of the Roman school of archaeologists
against the attacks of German non-Catholic authors.
In 1892 appeared his study on "Die Gottgeweihten
Jungfrauen", a valuable contribution on the origins
of the religious life. In 1S95 he published his
"Fractio Panis," wherein he describes the cycle of
sacred representations in the crypt of St. Priscilla,
known as the "Capella Greca", and shows their
relation to the principal scene depicted in that
chapel, the eucharistic, or sacred-banquet, scene of
the apse, which he appropriately named "fractio
panis , the Breaking of Bread. The signification of
Orantes (praying) figures so frequently depicted on
early Christian tombs was first satisfactorily ex-
plained by this writer in his "Cyclus christologischer
Gemalde" (1891). His greatest work is his "Male-
reien der Katakomben Roms" (Freiburg, 1903).
It consists of two folio volumes, one of plates re-
producing more than six hundred catacomb frescoes,
half of them in colours; the other of text, in which
the author, after laying down his principles of in-
terpretation, classifies and describes the various
cycles of the cemeterial paintings and interprets
their symbolical meaning. Another German priest
resident in Rome, Mcr. de Waal, the founder and
editor of the "Romische Quartalschrift", has written
extensively on archaeological subjects; one of his
best known works is a description, with illustrations,
of the sarcophagus of Junius Has. us (Home, 1900).
The impetus given to the study of early Christian
monuments by the discoveries and publications of
De Rossi was immediately felt in every country of
Europe. Two Enirlisli priests, Xortheote and Brown-
low, were among the first to appreciate (lie im-
portance of his work, which they popularized in
their excellent "Roma Sotterranea" (London, 1869;
second edition, 1878). Dr. Northcote also published
a useful work on early Christian inscriptions under
the title "Epitaphs of the Catacombs" (London,
1878). The former of these works was translated
into French by Allard; Kraus's "Roma Sotterranea"
was partly a translation of Northcote and Brownlow,
and partly an original work. Smith and Cheetham's
"Dictionary of Christian Antiquities" (London,
1875-80) is an evidence of the influence on English
Protestants of the Roman explorations, and the
recently published manual of Lowrie, "Monuments
of the Early Church" (New York, 1901), bears
witness to the intelligent interest of American
Protestants in the most recent results of Christian
archaeological studies. Among the first in France
to be influenced by the archaeological revival of
De Rossi was the Abb<5 Martigny, who in 1865 pub-
lished his, for that time, remarkable "Dictionnaire
des antiquites chrefiennes" (third edition, Paris,
1889). Perret's "Catacombes de Rome" (Paris,
1851-55) is a pretentious work of little value; his
illustrations are inaccurate, and his text unreliable.
Desbassayns de Richemont's "Catacombes de Rome"
appeared in 1870, and in the following year Allard's
translation of Northcote and Brownlow. These
works did good service as popular manuals, but
original investigations of great importance were
carried on by another French archaeologist, Edmond
Le Blant. The first volume of Le Blant's "In-
scriptions chreriennes de la Gaule" appeared in 1856,
the second in 1S65, the third in 1892. These were
followed by two volumes on the Christian sarcophagi
of Aries and of France (Paris, 1878-86), and various
studies on Christian epigraphy. At the present time
(1906) a highly useful and excellent work in course
of publication, is Cabrol and Leclercq's "Diction-
naire d'arche'ologie et de liturgie" (since 1903).
The discoveries of Count de Vogii6 in Central Syria
["La Syrie Centrale" (Paris, 1865)], and in the Holy
Land ["Les eglises de la Terre Sainte" (Paris, I860)]
were of great importance for the history of early
Christian architecture. The writings of Pere De-
lattre and of Stephen Gsell are indispensable for
the study of the Christian monuments of North
Africa. In Germany Professor Franz Xaver Krans
did more, probably, than any other writer to popu-
larize the results of Christian archaeological studies.
Besides his "Roma Sotterranea" Kraus edited the
excellent "Real-Encyklopiidie der christlichen Alter-
thiimer" (Freiburg, 1882-86, 2 vols.), and published
(Freiburg, 1896-97), an (unfinished) history of Chris-
tian art in three volumes, of which only the first
concerns Christian archaeology. It is the most
complete general work on this subject that has yet
appeared. Kraus also published in two volumes
(Freiburg, 1890-94), a collection of early Christian
inscriptions from the Rhineland, besides a number
of monographs of an archa>ological character.
Among German Protestant archaeologists may be
mentioned Victor Schultze, uhose studies on the
catacombs of Naples and Syracuse, and "Archaologie
der altchristlichcn Kunst " (Munich, 1895) are of
importance. Of contemporary German writers on
the monuments of Christian antiquity space will not
permit more than the mention of a few of the princi-
pal: Midler, Ficker, Krumbacher.Strzygowski, Kirsch,
Kaufmann, and Baumstark.
II LrrEBARl Sim i,, i- -The knowledge of early Christian society derived from the study of the oldest
existing Christian monuments has thrown light on many obscurities in the Church's early history, as it was known from the literature that has come down
to us from the first age of Christianity. It is equally true that the study of Christian monuments would be impossible apart from the study of the various literary sources of Christian antiquity. Christian literature and Christian monuments supplement one another. First among the literary sources indis-
