Crispina and Her Sisters: Women and Authority in Early Christianity

Description

Discovering reliable information about women in early Christianity is a challenging enterprise. Most people have never heard of Bitalia, Veneranda, Crispina, Petronella, Leta, Sofia the Deacon, and many others even though their catacomb and tomb art suggests their authority was influential and valued by early Christian communities. This book explores visual imagery found on burial artifacts of prominent early Christian women. It carefully situates the tomb art within the cultural context of customary Roman commemorations of the dead. Recent scholarship about Roman portrait sarcophagi and the interpretation of early Christian art is also given significant attention. An in-depth review of womenæs history in the first four centuries of Christianity provides important context. A fascinating picture emerges of womenæs authority in the early church, a picture either not available or sadly distorted in the written history. It is often said "a picture is worth a thousand words." The portrait tombs of fourth-century Christian women suggest that they viewed themselves and/or their loved ones viewed them as persons of authority with religious influence. Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xiii Introduction xv 1. Women and Early Christianity: Sociocultural Context 1 2. Women and Early Christianity: Female Authority Opposed 51 3. Interpreting Early Christian Art 99 4. Women in Catacomb Frescos and Inscriptions 121 5. Commemorating the Dead: Roman Funerary Customs and Practices 159 6. Crispina and Her Sisters: Portraits on Christian Sarcophagi 195 7. More Portraits on Christian Sarcophagi 287 8. Women and Authority in the Fourth Century: Integrating the Literary Evidence 329 Appendix A: In Pace Inscriptions (n=36) 371 Appendix B: Christian Portraits with Uncertain/ Unclear Facial Features (n=113) 373 Appendix C: Tables 6.5 and 6.8: Christian Portraits by Type and Statistical Analysis of Solo Male and Female Portraits 379 Appendix D: Table 6.9: Portrait Figures with Scrolls or Capses by Gender with Statistical Computations 387 Appendix E: Table 6.11: Statistical Computations for Orans-Only Portrait Figures by Gender 393 Appendix F: Table 6.10: Summary of Statistical Outcomes for All Learned Portraits, Including Orans, Scroll, and Capsa Depictions 397 Appendix G: Table 6.12: Speech Gestures on Christian Portraits and Statistical Outcomes 401 Appendix H: Table 6.13: Both Scroll and Speech Motifs by Gender with Statistical Outcomes 405 Appendix I: Table 6.14: Statistical Computations for Scroll-Speech Iconography as a Representation of Religious Authority 409 Appendix J: Table 6.15: Listing of All Portraits with In-Facing “Apostle” Figures by Gender with Statistical Computations 411 Appendix K: Table 6.16: Christ Reliefs with In-Facing “Apostle” Motifs and a Comparison of In-Facing “Apostle” Characteristics on Portraits with In-Facing “Apostle” Characteristics on Christ Portrayals 419 Appendix L: Table 6.17: List of Images for Scroll-Capsa Learned Portraits with In-Facing “Apostle” Figure with Statistical Computations 425 Appendix M: Table 7.1: Portraits of Couples (n=64) 429 Appendix N: Listing of Dates of Christian Portrait Sarcophagi 433 Bibliography 437 Index 451