LAMBECK
756
LAMBECK
generally regarded as symbols of the Eucharist, but
Mgr. Wilpert dissents from the received opinion, and
regards all frescoes in which allusions to milk occur as
symbolic of the joys of Heaven. Both the earlier and
the later interpretations depend on a well-known text
of the Acts of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas. While in
Crison awaiting martyrdom, St. Perpetua tells us she eheld in a vision "an immense garden, and in the centre thereof the tall and venerable figure of an old man in the dress of a shepherd, milking a sheep. Raising his head, he looked at me and said, ' Welcome, my daughter.' And he called me to him and he gave me of the milk. I received it with joined hands and partook of it. And all those standing around cried 'Amen'. And at the sound of the voice I awoke, tasting an inde- scribable sweet- ness in my mouth." The community of ideas between this description and the catacomb fres- coes of the sheep and milk-pail is so apparent that, at first view, the cur- rent interpreta- tion of this class of representations would seem to be obviously a c c u- rate. Wilpert, however, calls at- tention to the fact that the things described in the vision of St. Per- petua took place not on earth, but in heaven, where the Eucharist is no longer received. Hence he regards the frescoes of the milk-pail class as symbolic of the joys which the soul of the deceased possess in paradise.
The lamb, or sheep, symbol, then, of the first class described, has, in all catacomb paintings and on sar- cophagi of the fourth century, always a meaning asso- ciated with the condition of the deceased after death. But in the new era ushered in by Constantine the Great the lamb appears in the art of the basilicas with an entirely new signification. The general scheme of apsidal mosaic decoration in the basilicas that every- where sprang into existence after the conversion of Constantine, conformed in the main to that described by St. Paulinus as existing in the Basilica of St. Felix at Nola. " The Trinity gleams in its full mystery ", the saint tells us. " Christ is represented in the form of a lamb; the voice of the Father thunders from heaven; and through the dove the Holy Spirit is poured out. The Cross is encompassed by a circle of light as by a crown. The crown of this crown are the apostles themselves, who are represented by a choir of doves. The Divine unity of the Trinity is summarized in Christ. The Trinity has at the same time Its own em- blems; God is represented by the paternal voice, and by the Spirit; the Cross and the Lamb denote the Holy Victim. The purple background and the palms indicate royalty and triumph. Upon the rock He stands Who is the Rock of the Church, from which flow the four murmuring springs, the Evangelists, living rivers of Christ" (St. Paulinus, " Ep. xxxii, ad Severum", §10, P. L., LXI, .336). The Divine Lamb was usually represented in apsidal mosaics standing on
the mystic mount, whence flow the four streams of
Paradise symbolizing the Evangelists; twelve sheep,
six on either side, were further represented, coming
from the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem (indi-
cated by small houses at the extremities of the scene)
and proceeding towards the Lamb. The lower zone,
no longer in existence, of the famous fourth-century
mosaic in the church of St. Pudenziana, Rome, origi-
nally represented the lamb on themountain, and prob-
ably also the twelve sheep; the existing sixth-century
apsidal mosaic of Sts. Cosmas and Damian at Rome,
gives a good idea of the manner in which this subject
was represented.
According to the "Liber Pontificalis", Constantine the Great presented to the Lateran baptistery, which he founded, a golden statue of a lamb pouring water, which was placed between two silver statues of Christ and St. John the Baptist; the Baptist is represented holding a scroll inscribed with the words: "Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi." From the fifth century the head of the lamb began to be encir- cled by the nimbus. Several monuments also show the lamb with its head surmounted by various forms of the Cross; one monument discovered by de Vogii6 in Central Syria shows the lamb with the Cross on its back.
The next step in the development of this idea of associating the Cross with the lamb was depicted in a sixth-century mosaic of the Vatican Basilica, which represented the lamb standing on a throne, at the foot of a Cross studded with gems. From the pierced side of this lamb, blood flowed into a chalice, whence again it issued in five streams, thus recalling Christ's five wounds. Finally, another sixth-century monument, now forming part of the ciborium of St. Mark's, Venice, presents a crucifixion scene with the two thieves nailed to the cross, while Christ is repre- sented as a lamb, standing erect at the junction of the crossbeams. One of the most interesting monuments showing the Divine Lamb in various characters is the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (d. 358) . In four of the spandrils between the niches of the sarcophagus, Christ, in the character of a lamb, is represented as follows: (1) raising Lazarus, by means of a rod, from the tomb; (2) being baptized by another lamb, with a dove dominating the scene; (3) multiplying loaves in two baskets, by the touch of a rod; (4) joining three other lambs. Two other scenes show a lamb re- ceiving the Tables of the Law on Mount Sinai and striking a rock whence issues a stream of water. Thus, in this series, the lamb is a symbol, not only of Christ, but also of Moses, the Baptist, and the Three Children in the fiery furnace. The fresco in the cemetery of Praetextatus, showing Susanna as a lamb between two wolves (the elders), is another example of the lamb as a symbol of one of the ordinary faithful.
TyRWHiTT in Diet. Christ. Aniiq. (London, 1873). s. v. Lmnh; LoWRlE, Monuments of the Early Church (New York, 1901): Lecleucq in Diet, d'archeol. chret., s. v. Agneau: de Rossi, / Musaiei delle Chiesc di Roma anteriori al seeolo XV (Romp, 1872-92) ; Martiony, Etude archeologique sur I'ag/ieau et le hon pasteitr, suivie d'une notice sur les Agnus Dei, in Ann. acad, Mdcon, V (1862), 44-128, 129-45.
Maurice M. Hassett.
Lambeck, Peter, generally called Lambbc[c]ius, historian and librarian, b. at Hamburg, 13 April, 1028; d. at Vienna, 4 April, 1680. After studying under private tutors and at the Johanneum, he en- tere<l in 1644 the gymnasium where he came under the influence of Friedrieh Lindenborg, and especially of his mother's brother, Lucas Holste (Holstein, Hol- stenius), the most distinguished philologian, anti- quarian, and critic of his time. The latter had early recognized his nephew's gifts, and entered into a lively correspondence with the lad of barely twelve. On his recommendation Peter went in 1645 to Holland to
