The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-06
THE CATACOMBS.
A Visit to the Most Remarkable Blu
rial Place in the World.

G. Bolster, IN Harpers Weekly.
We must visit the catacombs. 1t will be
an excursion Offering nothing attractive,
and which at first sight does not appear to
to be useful either. One soon gets tired of
wandering through these endless galleries,
the walls Of which are pierced with parallel
inches. not unlike the openings in chests OF
drawers, arranged in tiers one above the
other, in which the bodies were placed
One soon finds 1t difficult to endure the
clammy dampness and sickly smell emitted
from them. But il we can get over this
first disaRreeable impression, and exam~
inc the catacombs more closely, we
find that these long enormous pas
sages have much to teach us. 10 begin
with, their very immensely, which seems
to us so fatiguing, will give us an idea Of
the great number of the faithful in the
third century. 1t is probable that each
tomb originally consisted of a small crypt
which some Christian richer than his conn
rades had hewn out as grave for himself
beneath land belonging to him. As
amongst the heather place was given in
funeral monuments to the closest friends
and the most faithful freedom of the de-
ceased, SO did the Christian collect about
him those who shared his faith. But the
number Of those to be inferred was ever on
the increase; first, the tombs were packed
more closely together. then the crypt was
enlarged. Later other parallel crypts were
added. and when they too were full the
ground was followed out beneath them till
the houses OF the dead were several stories
high. As we wander in the labyrinth Of
galleries intersecting each other ct right
angels. or sprinRing from a common center,
and climb or desceud the narrow starcases
leading from one story to another. we note
ruTgNh ytnN
turned to account, and we realize wildly
with what rapidity the new religion spread.
The catacombs teach us other more i'm
portant lessons il we have patience to ex-
anime t tombs IN detail. Let us glance
for moment at the inscriptions which time
has not yet rendered illiegble. Most of
them consist but Of one or two lines-the
name and age of the defunct, the date Of his
death-just enough to guide those who
came to pray on anniversaries at his grave.
Was he a slave or a free manl Was he
rich or poor Was he magistrate or
private citizen? What are these earthly
distinctions when the soul ia about
TO appear before its Savior 2 Nor
need we GEEK for the compliments with
which epitaphs are generally overladeu. At
the most we have now and then the cry of
some mother unable to contain her grief
who tells us of the child she has just lost,
that it was a sweet and innocent little soul.
Now and then, too. we CONS across one Of
those symbols which remind the faithful of
their common belief-the anchor, the fish,
the dove, and some pious formula which exs
presses in Il brief sentence the hopes of those
who survive-such as: "God be with thee, -
or REST in peace" How many things are
brought wildly before US by this simplicity,
this repressed sorrow, this faith which seems
too deep for words Nothing brings us into
closer rapport with primitive Christianity
than do these tombs.
Some few of the catacombs contain
paintings which have suffered greatly from
time. These paintings deserve careful
study; they are the very earliest outcome
Of Christian art, and we see in them that
from the very first art had to solve the
problem which decided it's ultimate devels
opment. To what extent was she justified
in availing herself of antique art9 Was il
necessary to find new modes of representa-
ton for the new beliefg Or might Christian
art without scruple borrow what suited her
from the artists Of the past2 There was no
need to hesitate with regard to decorative
painting; there could not possibly be any
harm In covering the walls with a series OF
charming arabesques, or even of intro
ducing wonderful birds and winged
genii amongst garlands of flowers. 1t
was in this way that Christian artists re-
produced ancient patterns without modiflca-
ton, so that we IND In the house OF the dead
elegant ceilings. reminding US of the pretty
fancies OF those OF Pompeii. But when ID
came to regular pictures the question was
more difficult to decide, and the artists be-
trayed their embarrassment by always
choosing the same subjects, The Bible sup
piled them with few, which they repro
duced perpetally In almost the same man.
ner. We have Moses making the rock bring
forth water; the three Hebrews in the fiery
furnace, whose example was an exhortation
to martyrdom; Jonah coming out alive
from tine mouth of the whale, which was to
the Christian an allegory of the resurrection
OF the dead. In dealing with the New
Testament the painters were less
at their ease and to evade their
difficulties they sometimes had re-
course to imitation of the antique. In this
way they represented Christ, now as a shep-
herd carrying lamb on his shoulder, now
as Orpheus tanning the beasts with his Tyre ::
and although Christian artists certainly did
modify the figures little, SO as the better
to express their thought, it is impossible to
deny that they borrowed most of the atti-
tudes direct from the work of heather art
lists. In this we have an example of the
path Christian art followed from the begin
ming to the end her aim was ever TO &C
commodate antique art to the faith of the
church. We see the crude early efforts in
this direction in the catacombs. We find
their final outcome in the vatican. Wee
examine alike the beginning and the end OF
this movement, and trace its whole progress
without leaving Rome.