Sarcophagus front with the Madonna

myminifactory

This bas-relief originally adorned a funeral monument. Like many Christian pieces, it depicts an encounter between saints who lived at vastly different times. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is shown alongside Catherine of Alexandria, a revered Christian saint and virgin who suffered martyrdom in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. Flanking them are Saint George, a Roman soldier of Greek descent and officer in the Imperial Guard under Emperor Diocletian, who was condemned to death for refusing to renounce his Christian faith, and Saint Victor, Pope from 189 to 199.