This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Shades of Identity: An Iconographic Approach to the Early Christian Burial Chambers in Sopianae (Pannonia) Csigi, Péter János Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 06. Oct. 2021 Péter Csigi Shades of Identity An Iconographic Approach to the Early Christian Burial Chambers in Sopianae (Pannonia) PhD Thesis King’s College London 2017 Abstract There are several burial chambers in the Late Antique cemetery of the Roman town of Sopianae in Pannonia province (modern Hungary) decorated with wall paintings resembling Roman catacomb art. These underground chambers from the second half of the fourth century contain both specifically Christian images as well as gen- eral motifs in Roman funerary art. Via the iconographic analysis of the decorations in the SS Peter and Paul Burial Chamber and the Burial Chamber with the Jar, the identity of the commissioners can be assumed. The various iconographic elements and the compositions as a whole were used in the different levels of contempora- neous communication, which will be interpreted through the concept of ‘language games’ according to Ludwig Wittgenstein’s epistemology. Six hypotheses explaining the repertoire of biblical scenes in early Christian artefacts are investigated and evaluated. The question of the presence of martyr relics (especially that of the Sancti Quattro Coronati) in this cemetery is considered and relevant hypotheses evaluated. The iconographic parallels of the key motifs in the SS Peter and Paul Bur- ial Chamber, such as the Christogram and the images of Peter and Paul, are pre- sented and compared to examples in art from Rome and the Balkans and inter- preted as showing ‘family resemblances’ also in the Wittgensteinian sense. The identification of an ambiguous wall painting in the same chamber is attempted by proposing a hypothesis of an intentionally ambiguous image combining the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace and the Adoration of the Magi in a single picture. The religious identification of the Burial Chamber with the Jar is studied by questioning the validity of the concept of ‘neutrality’ in Late Antique art. Late Antiquity is inter- preted in the framework of mutually enriching interactions between different reli- gious groups via the notion of ‘lived religion’. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ................................................................................................ 3 Table of Illustrations ............................................................................................ 6 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 9 1. Research History and Methodology ............................................................. 12 1.1. Research History of Sopianae ................................................................................ 12 1.2. Wittgenstein’s ‘Language Games’: a Framework of Interpretation ...................... 16 1.2.1. ‘Language Games’ .......................................................................................... 17 1.2.2. ‘Family Resemblances’ ................................................................................... 19 1.3. New Perspectives in Late Antiquity Research ........................................................ 21 1.3.1. The complexity of religious identities and institutions ................................... 22 1.3.2. Mutually inspiring interactions ...................................................................... 26 1.3.3. Transition from a non-Christian to a predominantly Christian society .......... 29 2. Special Characteristics of Early Christian Artefacts ....................................... 32 2.1. Theological Background and Multivalent Meaning ............................................... 32 2.2. Composition and Agenda ....................................................................................... 34 2.3. Context and Physical Setting .................................................................................. 38 2.4. Target Audience and Social Context ...................................................................... 42 3. Six Hypotheses on the Repertoire of Early Christian Images ......................... 46 3.1. Theory of Christian Artefacts’ Dependence on Jewish Artefacts .......................... 47 3.2. The Theory of the Lost Illuminated Manuscript of the Bible ................................. 49 3.3. The Theory of Deliverance from Persecution ........................................................ 50 3.4. The Theory of the commendatio animae .............................................................. 53 3.5. The Theory of Scriptural Typologies ...................................................................... 56 3.6. The Theory of Sacramental Life ............................................................................. 57 3.7. Reflections.............................................................................................................. 58 3.7.1. The theory of Christian artefacts’ dependence on Jewish artefacts .............. 58 3.7.2. The theory of the lost illuminated manuscript of the Bible ............................ 60 3.7.3. The theory of deliverance from persecution .................................................. 63 3.7.4. The theory of the commendatio animae ........................................................ 64 3.7.5. The theory of scriptural typologies ................................................................ 68 3.7.6. The theory of sacramental life ....................................................................... 69 4. Pannonia and Sopianae ............................................................................... 72 4.1. The Province of Pannonia and Pannonian Identity ................................................ 72 3 4.2. Sopianae and the Subdivision of Pannonia ............................................................ 76 4.3. Christianity in Pannonia and in Sopianae .............................................................. 78 5. The Question of the Presence of Martyr Relics in Sopianae.......................... 83 5.1. Remarks on Christian Burial Customs in the Fourth Century ................................ 83 5.1.1. Remarks on the quality of relationship between groups in the late Roman society ........................................................................................................................ 84 5.1.2. Remarks on Christian burial customs ............................................................. 86 5.1.3. In the closeness of saints: martyria in provinces and burial ad sanctos in Rome ........................................................................................................................ 87 5.2. Some Remarks on the Cults of Martyrs ................................................................. 89 5.2.1. The cult of martyrs in Rome in the fourth century ......................................... 89 5.2.2. Other fourth-century evidence outside of Rome ............................................ 95 5.2.3. The martyria: places for the commemoration of martyrs ........................... 100 5.2.4. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 103 5.3. The Sancti Quattro Coronati ................................................................................ 104 5.4. Martyr Relics in the SS Peter and Paul Burial Chamber ....................................... 108 5.4.1. Hypothesis 1: the SS Peter and Paul Burial Chamber contained martyr relics ... ...................................................................................................................... 108 5.4.2. Hypothesis 2: The SS Peter and Paul Burial Chamber contained the relics of the Sancti Quattro Coronati ......................................................................................... 114 5.4.3. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 116 6. The Iconography of Peter and Paul ............................................................