La traduzione figurata delle storie bibliche nella civiltà iconografica paleocristiana: i racconti continui, le figure, i simboli.

At the beginning of the 3rd century AD, the Early Christian iconographic repertoire is characterized by biblical episodes, utilized to decorate Late Antique funerary complexes and religious buildings. One of the most significant case is that of Dura Europos, dating back at the first half of the 3rd AD: the city, on the Roman limes, is characterized by a multi-religious and multi-ethnic culture. In the Synagogue a 'gallery' of connected biblical episodes alternates with 'icons' of prophets and other characters from the Bible, while in the Baptistery of the so-called Domus Ecclesiae we have an only apparently disorganized juxtaposition of scenes, inter-related by a Christological and Baptismal fil rouge. In this case, the scenes are characterized by abbreviation, typical of an 'evocative' iconographic language. The same elements and the same scene -- such as the Samaritan woman at the well, the healing of the paralytic and the Good Shepherd -- can be found at the same time in the Area I of the Catacomb of S. Callisto in Rome. A first reflection, thus, points on the presence of the same scenes at the same time in so distant places, realized following the same schemes, considering the hypothesis of the presence of 'models' or 'sketchbook' widespread in the orbis christianus antiquus. A second reflection would consider the function of those images, intended to express the salvific aspirations of the deceased or to have a possible catechetical role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]