The study and dissemination of an iconography: banquet scenes from the catacombs of Rome to the facsimile catacombs of the nineteenth century

Abstract

The text traces the discovery and the history of two important banquet scenes from the Roman catacombs (from the Catacombs of Callixtus and from the Catacombs of Priscilla). It focuses on the interpretations given to the scene from the 19th century onwards and on its fortune in Europe: reproductions of the scenes found in various churches and chapels up to the middle of the 20th century are here presented. This overview will be useful to understand how the study and reproduction of a single iconography can contribute to a general reconstruction of the development of the discipline of early Christian art history.