The Christian Catacombs of Rome: History, Decoration, Inscriptions

by Vincenzo Nicolai, Fabrizio Bisconti, Danilo Mazzoleni

This important book is the revised Paperback edition. It presents the most recent scientific research on the Christian catacombs of Rome. In particular, it focuses on their origins and development, their artistic decoration and the inscriptions found there. Three chapters deal with the topography, iconography, and epigraphy of the catacombs, and abundant illustrations document the current state of the catacombs after the extensive restorations of recent years and incorporate the results of the latest excavations.

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate modern guide to the catacombs, written by three of the leading scholars on the subject. Informative and insightful, where the three authors have three different chapters (as the subtitle says: history, decoration and inscriptions). They sometimes overlap and they sometimes differ in opinions - which is not a bad sign when it comes to this subject. Catacombs are an area where much research still is waiting to be done and the sources aren't always the best.

The history of the catacombs, starting with their rediscover and then a chronological history of them from the beginning, is written clearly and is very easy to follow, with good examples to make general outlines clear. The chapter on decoration is perhaps a bit more thematic (too thematic since the subjective view of the writer gets in the way of good and impartial descriptions). Finally the chapter on inscriptions is once more clear and to the point - and perhaps the most entertaining to read in its own right (which I hadn't forseen).

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for exams. Kinda disjointed, since it's just 3 large chapters by 3 different scholars. Could have been formatted better, and I would have appreciated more images in the section on catacomb decoration.