The Iconography of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990. Hardcover. Goldenrod cloth, black title block with gilt letters on spine; black & pictorial dust jacket, 256 text pp. followed by 45 BW plate pp. VG- (Slightly aged overall; dj is tanned on flaps and interior; book block edges have light foxing; page surfaces are clear; plate pp. are tanning lightly.). Item #156061
"Carved for a Roman city prefect who was a newly baptized Christian at his death, the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is not only a magnificent example of 'the fine style' of mid-fourth-century sculpture but also a treasury of early Christian iconography clearly indicating the Christianization of Rome -- and the Romanization of Christianity. Whereas most previous scholarship has focused on the style of the sarcophagus, Elizabth Struthers Malbon explors the perplexing elements of its iconography in their fourth-century context. In so doing she reveals the distinction between 'pagan' and Christian images to be less rigid than sometimes thought." (dj).
Price: $75.00