'Oldest' image of St. Paul found

apwood · #1 29th June 2009, 03:36 PM

Not sure if this has been posted yet, looked around and didn't see anything.

St Thekla was a follower of St Paul who lived in Rome and who was put to death under the Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the 4th Century and who was subsequently made a saint but little else is known of her.

Barbara Mazzei, the director of the work at the Catacomb, said: "We had been working in the Catacomb for some time and it is full of frescoes.

"However the pictures are all covered with limestone which was covering up much of the artwork and so to remove it and clean it up we had to use fine lasers.

"The result was exceptional because from underneath all the dirt and grime we saw for the first time in 1600 years the face of Saint Paul in a very good condition.

"It was easy to see that it was Saint Paul because the style matched the iconography that we know existed at around the 4th Century – that is the thin face and the dark beard.

"It is a sensational discovery and is of tremendous significance. This is then first time that a single image of Saint Paul in such good condition has been found and it is the oldest one known of.

"Traditionally in Christian images of St Paul he is always alongside St Peter but in this icon he was on his own and what is also significant is the fact that St Paul's Basilica is just a few minutes walk away.

"It is my opinion that the fresco we have discovered was based on the fact that St Paul's Basilica was close by, there was a shrine to him there at that site since the 3rd Century.

"This fresco is from the early part of the 4th Century while before the earliest were from the later part and examples have been found in the Catacombs of Domitilla."

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican's culture minister, said:"This is a fascinating discovery and is testimony to the early Christian Church of nearly 2000 years ago.

"It has a great theological and spiritual significance as well as being of historic and artistic importance."

For the full article, visit:

'Oldest' image of St Paul discovered - Telegraph

Undeniably Blessed · #2 11th July 2009, 03:28 AM

Pretty cool.

Alhamdulilah · #3 11th July 2009, 06:05 PM

Pretty cool.

Indeed, around the time the gospels where composed people where recording all of the events that jesus ( yahshvah ) brought about, including the fire depictions of him, and his followers.

Doctor Know it all · #4 13th July 2009, 03:26 PM

I always wondered what St paul looked like ... such big eyes too.

Didn't St Paul say that he had a problem with his eyes, probably from being stoned I always thought.

Shribs · #5 25th July 2009, 07:04 AM

that is one of the coolest things i've seen

freeport · #6 12th August 2009, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by apwood

Not sure if this has been posted yet, looked around and didn't see anything.

For the full article, visit:

'Oldest' image of St Paul discovered - Telegraph

Fascinating to see that he was bald.

I love this stuff.

rockytriton · #7 12th August 2009, 11:45 PM

I figured that he would have been blond haired and blue eyed like Jesus!

MariaRegina · #8 26th August 2009, 09:21 PM

thanks

archaeologist2 · #9 28th August 2009, 02:05 AM

It was easy to see that it was Saint Paul because the style matched the iconography that we know existed at around the 4th Century – that is the thin face and the dark beard

so paul was the only man with a thin face and a dark beard at that time? hmm seems to me that people are making identifications they cannot substantiate. there is nothing that says this is a picture of the apostle paul

job293 · #10 23rd September 2009, 06:18 AM

That is amazing. I was in Egypt, in the Temple of Karnack. Parts of it were turned into a Church and it was interesting to see that the Egyptians painted Jesus and the disciples just like the one posted here. The art style was similar. The 'look' was simiar.